Three Bad Men: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond

by Scott Allen Nollen

Overview

These were unique, complex, personal and professional relationships between master director John Ford and his two favorite actors, John Wayne and Ward Bond. The book provides a biography of each and a detailed exploration of Ford's work as it was intertwined with the lives and work of both Wayne and Bond (whose biography here is the first ever published).

The book reveals fascinating accounts of ingenuity, creativity, toil, perseverance, bravery, debauchery, futility, abuse, masochism, mayhem, violence, warfare, open- and closed-mindedness, control and chaos, brilliance and stupidity, rationality and insanity, friendship and a testing of its limits, love and hate—all committed by a "half-genius, half-Irish" cinematic visionary and his two surrogate sons: Three Bad Men.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786458547
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/05/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	408
Sales rank:	548,316
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late Scott Allen Nollen was educated in film and history at the University of Iowa. He had written and edited more than 40 books on the history of film, literature and music.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword: Working for Mr. Ford by Michael A. Hoey
Preface: What Would Ward Do?
Introduction: Gluteus Maximus and the Power of Feeney’s Myth
 1 deleteThe Boy from Benkelman
 2 deleteGenesis and John Wayne
 3 deleteJack of All Genres
 4 deleteBoating, Booze and “Boule de Suif”
 5 deletePappy, Wild Bill, Jimmy and Brick
 6 deleteThe Big Son of a Bitch Learns to Act
 7 deletePappy’s Inferno
 8 deleteBond and the Blacklist
 9 delete’Cause Wayne Can’t Play the Part
10 deleteOne Hell of a Binge
11 deleteDuke Becomes the Devil, Judge Becomes the Coach
12 deleteA Star Steers the Wagon Train
13 deleteEl Shakespeare de San Antone: “Buenas Noches, Culo del Caballo”
14 deleteDo You Miss Ward?
Appendix A: The Films of John Ford Featuring John Wayne and/or Ward Bond
Appendix B: The Films of Ward Bond
Appendix C: The Television Performances of Ward Bond
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

in depth study”—Western Clippings; “Nollen’s book overwhelmed me with new information to digest and even enhanced a few of the movies I’d already seen…One of the most impressive elements of Three Bad Men is Nollen’s familiarity with every film he discusses. For any title mentioned we get at least an honest critical evaluation and often a little opinion too, all expressed eloquently yet in language that any film fan can understand.”—Immortal Ephema; “Those films where all three collaborated are examined in detail as is the work they did independently…Nollen’s research is meticulous and scholarly yet the writing style remains highly readable throughout…beautifully illustrated with a thoughtful and interesting selection of photographs…a worthwhile, informative, and entertaining addition to the canon of work on these men”—Riding the High Country; “indispensable…valuable insight into their working relationship…Nollen strikes an almost perfect balance between the meticulously researched and the engagingly told. I found this a fun, fast, enlightening read”—Fifties Westerns; “explores the friendship, feuds, binges, and creativity between irascible film director John Ford and his actors, the charismatic John Wayne and the flamboyant Ward Bond”—Reference & Research Book News.

From the Publisher

in depth study

Western Clippings