John Ford's America: Filming the Legend and Creating the Myth in 'Stagecoach' Anonymous College

One of the most famous quotes from a film directed by John Ford comes from a movie made in the twilight of his career, The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” Few quotes so comprehensively sum up the entire career of a film director as this one sums up John Ford’s contribution to not just film history, but American history. The most famous quote attributed to John Ford himself is the simple and direct self-description of his role in Hollywood history: “I make westerns.” He did more than that, however. Ford became the first director of westerns to take to heart the message covered by Frederic Jackson Turner in his definitive essay, "The Significance of the American Frontier in American History” and his films built upon the literary output to which Turner was originally referring.

Ford, whether consciously or otherwise, set about creating a body of work in his westerns that did more to cement the mythologizing the American West than any other filmmaker. Whether this is an accomplishment deserving of credit or rebuke shall continue to be left to others, but the point is that the truth the assertion is undeniable. Beginning with Stagecoach and working along a linear line until his peak...