Turner Classic Movies Honors Legendary American Director John Ford With Two-Day Ford at Fox Prime-Time Festival

Dec. 10-11 Festival Features Nine Classic Ford Films, Eight Being Presented

for the First Time on TCM

TCM Tribute to Ford Presented in Conjunction with Ford at Fox DVD Box Set,

Arriving in Stores Dec. 4 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

    ATLANTA, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- No list of the greatest American
 filmmakers of all time would be complete without the name of legendary
 director John Ford, who in many minds would actually top such a list. In
 December, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will pay tribute to Ford with a
 two-day festival of nine of his films from Twentieth Century Fox, eight of
 which are being presented on TCM for the very first time. The Dec. 10-11
 festival is being presented in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox Home
 Entertainment's Dec. 4 release of a new Ford at Fox DVD box set, featuring
 movies the director made while working at that studio. As with all films on
 TCM, the Ford films will be presented uncut and commercial free.
 
     Headlining TCM's tribute to Ford are such rarely seen gems as The
 Prisoner of Shark Island (1936) and Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), as well as
 the Best Picture Oscar(R)-winner How Green Was My Valley (1941). Other
 movies making their first appearance on TCM are Up the River (1931), Drums
 Along the Mohawk (1939), Pilgrimage (1933), Four Men and a Prayer (1938)
 and When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950). The festival also features the
 classic 1946 story about the gunfight at the OK Corral, My Darling
 Clementine (1946). A complete schedule of TCM's tribute to John Ford is
 attached.
 
     Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's Ford at Fox DVD set
 celebrates the legacy of the collected works of John Ford and their part in
 the studio's heritage and pedigree. The box set features 24 films, as well
 as the new documentary Becoming John Ford by Academy Award(R)-nominated
 documentary maker and Ford historian Nick Redman. The beautifully packaged
 collection also features an exclusive hard-cover book which includes rare,
 unpublished photographs from Ford's career, lobby card reproductions,
 production stills and an in-depth look at this maverick's work. The
 premiere Ford at Fox DVD collection will be available for a suggested
 retail price of $299.98. Three mini-collections will also be available
 including The Essential John Ford, John Ford's American Comedies and John
 Ford's Silent Epics, all for a suggested retail price of $49.98. Single
 discs of selected films from the collection will be available for $19.98.
 
     John Ford grew up with the American cinema. In the early days of
 filmmaking, his older brother Francis moved to Hollywood to work for
 Universal Pictures, and Ford joined him in 1914, forging his apprenticeship
 as a moviemaker during the formative period of the classical Hollywood
 cinema. By 1917, he had been promoted to contract director, fashioning
 westerns which often starred Harry Carey Sr. Ford moved to Twentieth
 Century Fox in 1921 and established his reputation with such films as the
 western spectacular The Iron Horse (1924). In his silent films, Ford
 composed images with a formality and a symmetry that valued order. Even at
 this stage, he had acquired the mantle of a Hollywood master.
 
     Although best known for his westerns, such as the landmark Stagecoach
 (1939), Ford worked in many other genres through his long career. Early in
 the 1930s, he led Fox's top comedy star, Will Rogers, through Doctor Bull
 (1933), Judge Priest (1934) and Steamboat 'Round the Bend (1935). Ford also
 set a number of his films in his parents' native Ireland. The Informer
 (1935), a drama of the Irish rebellion, won him the first of four Academy
 Awards for his direction. He later revisited the Irish landscape with The
 Quiet Man (1952). Ford also dealt with American history in The Prisoner of
 Shark Island (1936), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Drums Along the Mohawk
 (1939) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940).
 
     After WWII Ford created some of the best westerns ever to come out of
 Hollywood, including Wagonmaster (1950), The Searchers (1956) and The Man
 Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). This period also brought to fruition
 Ford's Cavalry Trilogy, featuring the films Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a
 Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950). Ford made it a point to shoot
 many of his westerns in Monument Valley, with its mammoth buttes and
 extraordinary vistas.
 
     Ford's final two films were Cheyenne Autumn (1964) and Seven Women
 (1965). He died of cancer in 1973 at the age of 78. When asked in an
 interview which American directors appealed to him most, famed director
 Orson Welles replied, "The old masters ... By which I mean John Ford, John
 Ford and John Ford."
 
     Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 75 million homes, is
 a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time
 Warner company. TCM presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from
 the largest film library in the world, the combined Time Warner and Turner
 film libraries, from the 1920s through the 1990s, commercial-free and
 without interruption. The network also offers critically acclaimed original
 documentaries and specials, including the Emmy-winning Stardust: The Bette
 Davis Story, Emmy-nominated Brando and Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.
 Please visit tcm.com for more information.
 
     Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and
 programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media
 environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the
 world.
 
 

 
 
                         Turner Classic Movies Presents
                              Ford at Fox Schedule
 
     Monday, Dec. 10
     8 p.m.     Up the River (1931) - This rare John Ford comedy stars Spencer
                Tracy (in his film debut) and Warren Hymer as convicts trying
                to help fellow inmate Humphrey Bogart hook up with Claire Luce.
     9:45 p.m.  The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936) - Warner Baxter plays the
                famed Dr. Samuel Mudd, who innocently treated John Wilkes Booth
                after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  This outstanding
                drama features one of the most memorable depictions of
                Lincoln's assassination ever put on film.
     11:30 p.m. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) - This beautiful Technicolor
                production stars Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda in a story
                about courageous settlers in upstate New York.
     1:30 a.m.  Pilgrimage (1933) - One of John Ford's more unusual films, this
                one tells the story of a woman who breaks up her son's romance
                by sending him off to fight in World War I, only to regret her
                actions later.  Henrietta Crosman stars.
     3:15 a.m.  Four Men and a Prayer (1938) - Four brothers join forces to
                unravel the mystery behind the father's murder.  George
                Sanders, David Niven and Loretta Young star.
 
     Tuesday, Dec. 11
     8 p.m.     How Green Was My Valley (1941) - This moving drama about Welsh
                coal miners earned Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best
                Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), Best Screenplay and Best Art
                Direction.  In addition to Crisp, it stars Walter Pidgeon,
                Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee and Roddy McDowall.
     10:15 p.m. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) - Henry Fonda takes the title role in
                this sterling drama about Lincoln's struggling early days as a
                lawyer.  Alice Brady co-stars.
     Midnight   My Darling Clementine (1946) - Henry Fonda headlines this
                exceptional depiction of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and
                the events leading up to it.  Linda Darnell, Victor Mature and
                Walter Brennan co-star, with Joseph P. MacDonald providing the
                beautiful cinematography.
     1:45 a.m.  When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950) - Dan Dailey stars as a
                young soldier during World War II in this memorable piece of
                Americana co-starring Corinne Calvert and Colleen Townsend.
 
 

SOURCE Turner Classic Movies