3 Godfathers

There's a Hardy Boys naïveté to it all, easily dismissed from a civilized point of view. But this is not a film for civilized folk. Here under one of Ford's most unassuming fables is some of his most assured direction, leaning always towards a grander Design or Purpose; couched in religion, perhaps - but maybe also the resiliency of the myth of the West, itself. The redemption of these three Outlaws as a response to sacrificial circumstance brought me to involuntary tears, more than once.

Some beautiful camerawork and editing in this. The film plays out comically, though Ford doesn't shy away from balancing that out with a few tragic events. Also another example of Ford's interest in more overtly spiritual themes, like The Fugitive.

The Three Wise Men parallels are a little too corny, but Harry Carey and Armendariz are good, and Wayne is excellent. The speech the Duke delivers after leaving the baby's dead mother inside the wagon, when he tells the other outlaws the story of how her husband's reckless incompetence led his family to destruction, is one of Wayne's finest moments. He manages--no mean feat--to project tenderness and helplessness combined with rage and contempt. Who says Wayne can't act?

A fairly straightforward Western, with John Wayne escaping with two other banditos until their plans get changed by a newborn baby. There's a pretty good mix of humor and seriousness up until the last few minutes, when it felt like somebody decided the movie wasn't "worthy" enough and it suddenly becomes spiritual and screwball (with a little-too-late romance tossed in for good measure).

One of Ford's most beautiful offerings, but it is unbearably corny.

Viewed May 19, 2018.

This movie was much more somber than I was expecting, but given that it was a Christmas movie that didn't really detract from the viewing. The last 10 minutes or so took away from the movie by having a happy ending, for the Duke anyway. Not bad, not his best but not his worst either.

Beautifully made but hokey 3 Wise Men style parable where fate places crooks on the sure path to redemption. Wayne carries the film with relative ease---Armendariz is playing a bad stereotype--and Ford's visual sense is overwhelming at times, almost surreal in the desert scenes, but there is no getting around the weakness of the material or the corny humour, a common Ford failing, although one joke involving a court/bar is unexpectedly clever and funny.

westerns have a habit of making me roll my eyes, this is no exception, but that doesn't mean that they can't hit a soft spot of mine from time to time.

Really enjoyed this one!

Stands up solidly over the test of time.

76.000

If you watch with the knowledge, it's a Christmas movie; the story takes on a different meaning. It's definitely a John Ford movie, complete with his usual cast of characters, including the desert.

Love the scenery.

Sometimes hokey, sometimes badass, sometimes bad but overall good. I wish I could delete the last 5 minutes of this movie though, damn that was gay. The technicolor looks marvelous.

Great technicolor!

Excellent.

A sweet and sentimental western.

My favorite western when I was a kid. Still magical to me! This film is so special. Doesn't rely on big action scenes or padding things out. Instead every scene counts, as it's these three against the environment, and John Ford composition works excellently. Only thing I didn't like was that they changed it to a happy ending. Had they done the same dying-at-the-church-floor fade-out as both Hell's Heroes (1929) & Three Godfathers (1936), I probable would have given this a full score.

The religious overtures are strong verging on blatant in this version of the frequently filmed story, especially in comparison to the 1936 film with its more subtle allegories. Ford lays it on thick but does so on his terms so well and so nicely balanced with light comedy that it works. A strength is the cinematography, especially in terms of composition.