The other John Ford showcase is being inaugurated at the Mario Gromo Library/Mediatheque, and will continue for the whole month of February.

Following the success of the showcases offered by the Mario Gromo Library/Mediatheque over the past months, in February it is the turn of a tribute to John Ford, not in his guise of undisputed father of American Westerns, but as a director who was able to move skilfully within various other genres, always successfully and with his distinctive style. The other John Ford showcase will be inaugurated by the screening of The informer, the film which won four Oscar awards, including Best Director and Best Leading Actor.

Perhaps no director embodies the concept of cinematographic “classic” more than John Ford, which acquires body and a peculiarly American ethos. His cinema, which is a tale of characters captured in the greatness and fragility that makes them so human and real, is a composite, vivacious, plural mosaic pulsating with life. It is a vast fresco, drawing the history of America, inquiring and defining its myth, now singing its epic, now highlighting its intimate but fertile contradictions. Ford is not considered by chance as one of the seminal directors in the birth, in the evolution and in the definition of the characters peculiar to Westerns, the genre that he is particularly linked to, and with which he is usually identified: masterpieces like Stagecoach, My darling Clementine and The searchers would be sufficient to prove the importance that this son of Irish immigrants had in the creation of an epic which is still  pervasive nowadays and capable of entering collective, and not only American, imagery.

But the showcase that the Mario Gromo Library/Mediatheque is dedicating to him during the month of February wishes to delve into another aspect of Ford cinema, not directly linked to Western genre canons, or to the definition of a typically “American” character, if not briefly. Through four films made over a span exceeding twenty years, we shall discover a maybe less-known Ford, but not a less worthy one because of it, in his ability for showing a humanly moral view in the existence of men who endeavour to live and who fight, never resigned in stating the value of their own identity as individuals, beyond their limits and their selfishness. In The informer and The fugitive we find men escaping from their responsibilities towards others and towards the community, animated by a desire for survival which however soon changes into an ethical acceptance of their fate, moved by the awareness that the measure of a dignified greatness dwells in this, the same one that is found in a serene acceptance of defeat, which the politician protagonist of The last hurrah inevitably goes towards. While The quiet man – played by John Wayne, Ford’s fetish actor – shows right from its title a will to provide an exemplary life tale, through a symbolic return to one’s roots; a return which can only be from the New World to that Ireland, the land of his fathers, which Ford sees as the place where existential tensions are finally diluted and where struggling (which is part of the American fibre and indeed, even of the country’s development) finally quietens.

All screenings are admission free until full seating capacity is reached, subject to free membership registration to the Library/Mediatheque and presenting an identity document.

Screenings calendar

05 February – at 3.30 p.m.

The informer (John Ford, USA, 1935, 91’, b/w)

Dublin, early Twenties in the Twentieth century. Gypo Nolan is a supporter of Sinn Fein, the Irish liberation movement fighting against English dominion. Expelled by the movement for refusing to carry out an order and blinded by rage, he denounces a former comrade and pockets the reward. But his satisfaction for this revenge does not last long and the remorseful man starts to waste his money by offering drinks to everyone, thus ending up by exposing himself and ending under the crosshairs of his former Sinn Fein friends, who intend to eliminate him. Vendetta, guilt and redemption are the themes around which one of Ford’s best films is built, winning four Oscar awards, including Best Director and Best Leading Actor.

With Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster, Margot Grahame

12 February – at 3.30 p.m.

The fugitive (John Ford, USA,1947, 104’, b/w)

In a village in Central America, a fierce anti-catholic repression in carried out by the revolutionary government and the military. A priest, the former vicar of a village in the country, is obliged to live in a clandestine way, continually escaping from an army officer who is hunting for him. The priest fights hardily for his safety, even failing the duties connected with his ministry. After going through dramatic experiences, he will finally be able to accept his sacrifice. From The power and the glory novel by Graham Greene, yet another reflection on guilt and redemption in what Ford considered one of his favourite films.

With Henry Fonda, Dolores Del Rio, Ward Bond, Pedro Armendáriz

19 February – at 3.30 p.m.

The quiet man (John Ford, USA, 1952, 129’, col.) DVD 6565

The Twenties. Sean Thornton returns to Ireland, the land of his family, to settle there after making his fortune in the United States. He is welcomed by the community with curiosity but also with a certain degree of suspicion. But when Sean decides to buy the house where he was born he soon becomes liked by everyone, except Will Danhear, who hinders the betrothal in every way as soon as he learns of Sean’s interest in his sister Mary Kate, and refuses after the wedding to hand over the due dowry. Seeing that Sean does not react to this blatant injustice, Mary Kate thinks that he is weak and decides to leave the village, but her husband catches up with her and brings her back home. An epic fight solves every conflict, allowing the two newly-weds to experience their love serenely.

With John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond

26 February – at 3.30 p.m.

The last hurrah (John Ford, USA, 1958, 121’, b/w)

Frank Skeffington, an elderly politician in New England, decides to run for the elections to obtain his fifth consecutive mandate as mayor. Certain of being able to count on a broad consensus of votes – deriving from the solid Irish and catholic base which led him to triumph at the past elections – the man does not realise that the times have changed and that politics have to deal with a completely new world, represented by his young challenger Kevin McCluskey, who unexpectedly, considering his scarce experience, wins the elections. Skeffington can do nothing but accept his defeat and stand aside.

With Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter, Dianne Foster, Pat O’Brien