The director of more than 100 films spanning the silent era to the end of the classical studio system, John Ford made Westerns, comedies and dramas that both reflected and influenced American culture. Ford was unflinching in his view of the dark side of the human condition (most famously in THE SEARCHERS), but also a true romantic (THE QUIET MAN). To view his body of work is to experience the evolution not only of a great film artist, but of the way Americans chose to look at themselves throughout the 20th century.

Thursday, January 21 - 7:30 PM

Double Feature: FORT APACHE, 1948, Warner Bros., 125 min. Henry Fonda is a rigid officer bound to tradition and rules; John Wayne is the veteran soldier who values experience and humanity over protocol. As these two powerful men come into conflict, John Ford explores the values and limits of leadership and military hierarchy. Trailer

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, 1949, Warner Bros., 103 min. The second, most elegiac, and only color installment of John Ford's bravura cavalry trilogy that includes FORT APACHE and RIO GRANDE. John Wayne is the officer reluctant to retire in the face of impending hostilities. Trailer

 Friday, January 22 - 7:30 PM

Double Feature: THE QUIET MAN, 1952, Paramount, 129 min. Dir. John Ford. John Wayne is the titular quiet man, a former boxer returning home to his Irish birthplace to fall in love with feisty Maureen O’Hara and butt heads with her big brother, Victor McLaglen. Trailer

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, 1941, 20^th Century Fox, 118 min. Director John Ford’s beautiful, heartbreaking account of the plight of a Welsh coal-mining family circa turn-of-the-20^th-century won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp as the stern but loving patriarch), Art Direction and Cinematography. Seen through the eyes of Crisp’s young son (Roddy McDowall), we watch as his older brothers (John Loder, Patric Knowles, et al.) are split apart by economic hard times as well as labor strife, and his older sister (Maureen O’Hara) foregoes the mutual love she shares with poor minister Walter Pidgeon to join in a rich but loveless marriage. Trailer

Sunday, January 24 - 7:30 PM

Double Feature: THE SEARCHERS, 1956, Warner Bros., 119 min. Dir. John Ford. John Wayne gives the performance of his career as Ethan Edwards, a deeply troubled Civil War veteran who heads off in search of his kidnapped niece (Natalie Wood) and becomes more obsessive and irrational as his journey progresses. Through Wayne's character, Ford explores the contradictions and dark side of the American frontier. Trailer

STAGECOACH, 1939, Warner Bros., 96 min. Dir. John Ford. A stagecoach full of involving characters, superbly drawn and played, travels through dangerous Indian territory. After a decade in movies, John Wayne became a star once and for all as the Ringo Kid, gallantly defending vulnerable shady lady Claire Trevor, while Thomas Mitchell's drunken doctor won him an Oscar. Trailer

Wednesday, January 27 - 7:30 PM

Double Feature: New 35mm Print! YOUNG MR. LINCOLN, 1939, 20th Century Fox, 100 min. Director John Ford and actor Henry Fonda’s first collaboration produced this poignant, fascinating chronicle of Abraham Lincoln’s early life. The emphasis is on the simple joys and hardships that shaped the president-to-be’s youthful years, events that molded a shy, country lawyer into one of the most distinguished American leaders. Clip