Motifs of John Ford's Films

John Ford, since 1952, has held the record for winning Best Director in the Academy Awards. His films have been dazzling and astonishing moviegoers for decades and he was a pioneer for shooting on-location and the extreme long shot. Of the many John Ford movies, there is an ongoing presence and repetition of several motifs. These themes are usually significant to the plot or character development in the film and often represent similar themes from film to film. Some of these motifs Ford uses in his films are dances, fights, doctors, women, and arrivals and departures. First of all, the dance is present in many of Ford’s films. Dances are used as a social event to bring together the community and signify the acceptance of an outsider. My Darling Clementine is the film where this is most prominent. The townsfolk set up wooden platforms to dance on and Wyatt and Clementine join the gathering by the river after church. This functions as the town’s acceptance of Wyatt. The same example can be used in Young Mr. Lincoln, although Lincoln warns Mary Todd against his inability to dance, he still engages after Todd insists, later commenting on Lincoln being a man of his word. Lincoln is accepted by Todd, later to become his wife. This dance Lincoln attends functions as an acceptance into the community as a lawyer and a respectable man. Wagonmaster shows how dance can be used as vulnerability when the Mormon community accepts the newcomers, good and bad. Travis Blue and Sandy Owens are received as the wagon masters and the Clegg family, wanted for murder and armed robbery. Sometimes people can’t be trusted and the dance sequence in Wagonmaster shows where this can be a problem, the Mormons invite them to join them in their festivities, making them vulnerable to manipulation. Dance is present also in Donovan’s Reef in an acceptance manner not by the characters, but by the islanders accepting their princess. This is one of the few times the camera moves in this film and