3 Godfathers (1948)
Director: John Ford
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Dedicated to the memory of Harry Carey Sr ('Bright star of the early western sky'), who had starred in Ford's first version of this much-filmed story (Marked Men, 1919), Three Godfathers is much better than is usually allowed. The bulk of the film, loosely paralleling the story of the Magi as three bank robbers on the run reluctantly give up their freedom to save a baby found in the desert, and are faced with a parched and desperate journey during which two of them die, is filmed with harsh and hallucinating splendour in Death Valley. Alas, with Wayne's arrival in New Jerusalem, to lay the baby on the saloon bar on what just happens to be Christmas Day ('Set 'em up, Mister, milk for the infant and a cold beer for me...'), the distressing Ford penchant for symbols of religiosity which had marred The Fugitive does the same disservice here. The last reel, with Wayne explicitly identified as the Prodigal Son and a general collapse into mawkishness, might almost have strayed in from another movie.Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: John Ford
Producer: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, Harry Carey Jr, Ward Bond, Mae Marsh, Jane Darwell, Ben Johnson, Mildred Natwick full cast
Genre(s): Westerns
Duration: 105 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now