I’ve always wanted to write something on a great director, but I could never really think of how. I didn’t want to be boring and just write some summary of the guy’s life and style. Instead of that, I have gotten the idea to write articles based on selected works from their specific career, and let the films talk for themselves. With Ford, I’ve decided to do eight films. Hopefully you will even want to see a film or two that I write about by the time this is through. At the end, I’ll write a more formal piece on the director himself, and rank the movies.

The First Movie:

Judge Priest (1934)

Directed by John Ford

Running Time: 80 minutes

Judge Priest is one of the early films in John Ford’s career, just a few years into his career as a sound director. From what I gather from the later films of his I have already seen (namely “The Searchers”), Ford is really developing his abilities as a director right now. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the film, but rather that it seems to be a stepping stone to greater things.

The movie begins with a courtroom. Will Rogers and Stepin Fetchit are introduced to us through a rather slapstick courtroom scene regarding Stepin Fetchit and his inhibitions. It is in this scene that Ford really sets up the nature of Will Rogers character, Judge Priest. Judge Priest is one of the most lovable characters I have ever seen in a film. He embodies this ideal of a small community, where he sits at the center of it, making altruistic and unconventional decisions as it fits the nature of the community. In reality, Billy Priest’s courtroom is the entire town.

Judge Priest (Will Rogers) and Poindexter (Stepin Fetchit) have begun deriding the court proceedings by talking about fishing. The shot becomes much closer and the character framing is more level when the conversation leaves the ‘futility’ of its previous proceedings to this topic.

Whenever someone is making some decision based on what is presented to us as a negative preconception, Billy orchestrates a situation to guide everyone in the right direction. We see this most specifically through the relationship between Jerome Priest and Ellie May. Jerome’s Mother has a great disposition regarding the relationship, and wants Jerome to fall for a different girl with the higher societal rank; Virginia. We watch as Billy pulls various tricks to drive the two closer together. These situations are rather ridiculous, but they are mostly for the sake of humor. There are two other plot strings in this film, all of which will come together with this one by the end.

Jerome and Ellie talking about their relationship shyly, and referencing the mother’s issue with it. Ellie is framed so high in this shot, we understand that her true nature is pure, despite the ‘impurity’ in her social rank.

Aside from the love triangle previously mentioned, Billy Priest is also up for Re-election as town Judge. His opponent is constantly questioning Priest’s reliability, as happens in a political race. We feel that there is no place in this society for this sort of politics, though. As such, Priest’s opponent appeals to the people around him through a level of pride and nobility, which seems much more compatible with the town. Another conflict is concerning outcast Bob Gillie who has gotten in a conflict with a prick barber over a Ellie May. We come to find out that Ellie is Gillie’s Daughter, much earlier then the community, and through dramatic irony we build suspense about the outcome.
All of these plot pieces collapse in a culminating scene in the courthouse over Gillie and the Barber.

SPOILER (Highlight to See)

*First, Priest is taken off the stand over counts of subjectivity by his opponent. Downtrodden, he returns as council for Bob Gillie. Through Billy, we come to find out this mysterious man is actually a Confederate hero as well as Ellie’s Father.*

This plays heavily off of the themes we see throughout the film, touching on old hero worship and the like. Many people will watch the movie and be put off by its heralding of the confederacy or of the stereotypical performance by Stepin Fetchit. People will miss the fact that Stepin Fetchit is pretty much the first credited black film actor of all time, and John Ford gives him a triumphant credit at that. Also, as far as the confederacy is concerned, I don’t think that it’s an issue. Ford certainly isn’t advocating slavery in the film, but rather simply using the confederacy as a symbol for lost causes, and sentimentality. Also, A lot of the music used in the film is directly associated with the black servants, and as a medium of connecting and equalizing them to Judge Priest. Principally all the digetic music in the film has something to do with the servants in one way or another, too, signaling them as a source of happiness and joy throughout. I think this, and Ford’s support of Fetchit, are strong indicators against any racial motives behind the film.

Fetchit Leads a party, dressed more ‘regally’ after earning the coat for helping Priest.

The real problem of the film, to me, is that Ford gets caught up meandering around a bit from time to time, and introduces certain elements without explaining them. One such element is a scene where he speaks to his deceased wife, which isn’t really touched on before and not again after. Although the scene by itself is incredibly powerful, it feels a bit out of place. Priest is generally a one dimensional character who has been living for his town, whereas here we get a too brief hint of depth to the character.

SPOILER
*Also, the ending is a bit off-putting, as everything is just resolved with a crowd storming the judicial seat and a parade with “Dixie” playing. Gillie is free, Ellie is accepted into the town, and Priest is automatically Judge again.*

The fact that the resolution is so Utopian isn’t really the issue, but it seems that Ford’s characters lose a sense of reality by being so fickle. He makes up for this, however, by getting a great performance out of Will Rogers. Priest’s character is so lovable and charming, especially with Rogers’ mannerisms and presence, that we forget some of the story holes and simply accept that the town itself rests on the laurels of Judge Priest, and functions accordingly.

Next: John Ford Part II

The Sun Shines Bright

Slainte,

Jack Rudder.

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