Directed by John Ford

A documentary about the director John Ford. It was made while Ford was alive. Peter Bogdanovich talks to him, and the conversation is the most interesting thing in it: Ford answers questions in one word, changes the subject and refuses to comment on his own films. The documentary does not treat that as a problem and records the attitude itself. Between those passages are scenes from Ford's films. The documentary shows what recurs: a landscape seen through a doorway, westerns shot in the same valley, the same actors coming back over the years, and funerals. Among those speaking are John Wayne, James Stewart, Henry Fonda and Orson Welles. Orson Welles narrates. What Wayne and Stewart describe shows the way he worked on set: Ford allowed no rehearsal, mocked his actors and took the scene on the first attempt. The documentary also touches briefly on how Ford portrayed native peoples; the director says he tried to correct that in one of his last films. Peter Bogdanovich directed. It was re-edited years later and expanded with new interviews; the two versions differ. A first-hand source for anyone interested in film history and the western. For a viewer expecting a comprehensive life story, the film is short and does not proceed chronologically.