Directed by John Ford

Extremely interesting. Captivating through the commentaries from such stalwarts as Spielberg and The Duke. Spielberg's studies of Ford's symbolic portrayals of traditional ceremonies and John Wayne, as eloquent as one might not expect, are worth the viewing. Truly, Wayne expresses a sincere admiration and fondness for the artist that Ford was. A moving piece delivered by Maureen O'Hara. Very interesting that her comments were read from a written speech, but after she finished reading the speech, she broke down in tears. Hank Fonda and Jimmy Stewart's recollections of Ford's gift for creating character was a brilliant entry by Bogdanovich. John Ford's career spanned 140 films, including the silent era. Thanks to this documentary, we realize what a divine national treasure American film had.

"Directed By John Ford" is a moving, thoroughgoing, yet somehow incomplete look at that master of directors, John Ford, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, a hot young director himself when he first made this film, in 1971.

The version of "Directed By John Ford" I saw is not that version, but a retooled one made in 2006 featuring up-to-date commentary from Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, and Bogdanovich himself, among others. There's also surviving footage from the 1971 version, showing John Wayne, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Ford himself, all still alive at the time and willing to sit down and talk with Bogdanovich, though barely in the case of Ford himself.

Q: Mr. Ford, I've noticed your view of the West has become increasingly sad...Have you been aware of that change of mood? A: No.

Q: Now that I've pointed it out, is there anything you'd like to say about it? A: I don't know what you're talking about.

The others interviewed are more willing to share their views, not to mention their scars. "He dares you to do it right – do it good," notes Stewart, adding "It's not a relaxed set." Ford was a rank sentimentalist and a bullying manic depressive, pressing every psychological button among his cast, crew, and himself. Wayne and Fonda note how hard-nosed Ford could be with the amused bewilderment of Catholic schoolboys discussing a crazy nun.

The modern-day interviews are interesting, too, though not nearly so. The result here is less a retrospective than an appreciation piece, and something of a disjointed one, with half the interviews discussing Ford in the present tense and half wistfully acknowledging the world Ford left behind.

"He's like Dickens or something," says Walter Hill, the guy behind "Deadwood" and "48 Hrs." "There's a whole frame of reference and horizon-line that's Fordian." The best thing to say about this documentary is that you get some concrete sense of what the adjective "Fordian" means. His films could be messy and emotional, but there was often a economical driving force at their heart, running through them tight as a clothesline.

You also see how Ford influenced directors who came after him. One scene from a 1961 film "Two Rode Together," shows Stewart and Richard Widmark sitting at a stream and having a long conversation about Stewart's love life. It's introduced by Scorsese as an influential scene in his own film-making, but there was nothing recognizably of Scorsese in the clip I see, which is amiable, drawn-out, and too whimsical by half for Scorsese's macho style. But it did remind me a lot of Quentin Tarantino, who it turns out is a huge Scorsese fan. Ford's roots run deep, and often past a lot of people, as with me.

The film loses steam in the second half, though, with a labored reflection on how Ford captured the story of America on a chronological basis. There's some brief audio of Ford talking to Katharine Hepburn that hints at a great romance between the two, but it's thrown up late and not tied in well to anything else.

But this is a fine overview of Ford's fantastic career, however unsettled as to its perspective. Ford himself was a little unsettled, too.

Made the same year Peter Bogdanovich created his masterpiece, "The Last Picture Show," one might expect great things from this somewhat unconventional documentary on John Ford. After all, how wrong can one go with interview footage of John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and the director himself? And if that's not enough "star power," consider that no less than Orson Welles narrates. But things often go horribly wrong in this uneven, inconsistent work that's more of a random, love-letter to the director, than an insightful peek into his world.

Rather than tell the story of his life, Bogdonavich focuses on the work of John Ford. In fact, he relies heavily on film footage. It isn't all the typical sound-bite clip one comes to expect from documentaries, but often long scenes, or sequences of scenes. This works well sometimes, but all too often, the clip is simply longer than it needs to be. It makes its point, and then keeps going, and going, and going. This wouldn't be so bad if Bogdanovich, a former film critic, put more commentary into the scenes, but he usually doesn't.

Then there is the interview footage, the real reason to watch. There are some wonderful anecdotes and insights here, but they are too often constructed in disjointed, dare I say, amateurish ways.

Indeed, the whole film is inconsistent. It lacks focus, and shifts rather uneasily from one way of looking at things to another. Taken as isolated pieces, such as the the way it surveys the historical scope of Ford's work, it's wonderful, but as a whole, it's potential is never realized.

If anyone is to get anything out of this, one would probably have to possess some familiarity with the work of Ford. As a fan of the great director, I certainly found this worthwhile, but too sloppy. Those unfamiliar with Ford's work will probably find nothing of interest here, and their time would be better spent watching the actual works of Ford, than this work about Ford.

John Ford is one of our greatest American directors, and he is profiled in this 1971 documentary that features a hilarious interview with the man himself (Interviewer: How did you shoot that scene? Ford: With a camera) and actors who worked with him many times over the years: John Wayne, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Maureen O'Hara.

Narrated by Orson Welles, prominent directors talk about his influence on cinema and his gifts as a director: Martin Scorcese, Peter Bogdanovich, Steven Spielberg, and Clint Eastwood.

The most fascinating part of this documentary was the discussion - with clips - of how the master framed his shots like a painter, and the scenes shown were truly stunning.

The end of the documentary speaks to his sentimentality, belief in an afterlife and the family, demonstrated with heartwrenching scenes from "The Searchers," "How Green was My Valley," and others.

Finally there was a taped meeting between Katharine Hepburn and Ford in the year he died. The two had a great connection and perhaps even a relationship. It is most fascinating, particularly when Ford's son leaves the room and mistakenly leaves the tape recorder on.

Excellent all the way around.

Directed By John Ford (2006)

**** (out of 4)

Peter Bogdanovich directs this documentary on the life and career of the legendary director. Vintage interviews with John Wayne, Henry Fonda and James Stewart are mixed with newer interviews with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood (among others). The doc does a great job at showing what made Ford some a great director and I really enjoyed the scenes where they'd show clips from countless films in a row, showing you how Ford liked certain themes in his films. There's one section where they cover 180 years of history shown through Ford's films. I do wish the documentary had spent more time with Ford's career in the late 1910s. There's also another segment, which I felt shouldn't have been included. There's a recorded conversation between Ford and Katharine Hepburn, which was great to hear but the recorder was left on when the two didn't know it was running. This audio recording might show Ford at a softer moment but I really didn't feel comfortable listening to it.