Print the Legend: Politics, Culture, and Civic Virtue in the Films of John Ford
As we are on the threshold today of what may prove to be revolutionary changes in the American regime, it is entirely fitting that Sidney Pearson calls our attention back to the cultural revolution of the 1960s, by way of looking to the director whose films most effectively and artfully probed the issues at stake in America's cultural revolution from the perspective of heroic America. It is also fitting that Pearson approaches the films of such a great director with such a talented lineup of essayists, including some of our most interesting commentators on political philosophy and culture. For all who admire Ford's work, and especially for those of us who draw on it in our courses, this is an important and compelling collection. (Ronald J. Pestritto, Hillsdale College)Although the marriage of political philosophy and film seems like a dubious exercise at best, these deftly crafted and persuasively argued essays show that the films of John Ford are as much entertainment as they are profound meditations on the nature and the meaning of the American experiment in self-government. One should go farther to say that in the absence of a keen understanding of American culture and political philosophy each of these authors bring their their analyses, we might never adequately appreciate and understand Ford's accomplishments. Ford's creations emerge at a critical time in American history, just as the cultural revolution of the 1960s gathered steam, when the meaning of America may have been indelibly transformed. These essays invite us to ponder, as Ford himself seems to have done, whether that transformation is in accord with our best hopes or our worst fears. (Eduardo Velásquez, Washington and Lee University)