- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 17,805
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
John Ford directed 27 films in the 1930s.
11 in the 1940s, but there was a war that interceded. His government output was superb.
15 in the 1950s, by which time he had hit his sixties.
The 1960s had 7 films released, with Young Cassidy, taken over by Jack Cardiff.
While there are many great productions in the 1930s and '40s, and most of the fifties films were in various forms of color, he returned to black & white for The Rising of the Moon (1957), and The Last Hurrah (1958), both stories encompassing his extraordinary Irish heritage.
Yes, I'm aware that there were two color productions with great Irish characters, the beloved The Long Gray Line, about the wonderful Marty Maher (which I'd love to see on Blu-ray, especially in stereo), and that other one, that was shot in Ireland in three-strip Technicolor.
But what interested me about his black & white work, especially The Last Hurrah, which I saw theatrically, was how beautifully he handled the black & white technology on which he cut his cinematographic teeth.
Watch the great Spencer Tracy and his band of political cohorts in television, or on DVD, and it's a nice film, but pity it wasn't shot on color.
Watch Twilight Times' new Blu-ray, however, and the sheer power and magic of black & white, as shot by Charles Lawton, who knew a bit about his craft, comes across like gangbusters.
One of the great political tales, from a group of masters, the likes of which we may never see again.
The Last Hurrah is a film that deserves a place of honor in any serious cinephile's library.
Image - 5
Audio - 5 (DTS-HD MA 1.0)
Pass / Fail - Pass
Upgrade from DVD - Yes!
Highly Recommended
RAH
11 in the 1940s, but there was a war that interceded. His government output was superb.
15 in the 1950s, by which time he had hit his sixties.
The 1960s had 7 films released, with Young Cassidy, taken over by Jack Cardiff.
While there are many great productions in the 1930s and '40s, and most of the fifties films were in various forms of color, he returned to black & white for The Rising of the Moon (1957), and The Last Hurrah (1958), both stories encompassing his extraordinary Irish heritage.
Yes, I'm aware that there were two color productions with great Irish characters, the beloved The Long Gray Line, about the wonderful Marty Maher (which I'd love to see on Blu-ray, especially in stereo), and that other one, that was shot in Ireland in three-strip Technicolor.
But what interested me about his black & white work, especially The Last Hurrah, which I saw theatrically, was how beautifully he handled the black & white technology on which he cut his cinematographic teeth.
Watch the great Spencer Tracy and his band of political cohorts in television, or on DVD, and it's a nice film, but pity it wasn't shot on color.
Watch Twilight Times' new Blu-ray, however, and the sheer power and magic of black & white, as shot by Charles Lawton, who knew a bit about his craft, comes across like gangbusters.
One of the great political tales, from a group of masters, the likes of which we may never see again.
The Last Hurrah is a film that deserves a place of honor in any serious cinephile's library.
Image - 5
Audio - 5 (DTS-HD MA 1.0)
Pass / Fail - Pass
Upgrade from DVD - Yes!
Highly Recommended
RAH
Last edited:
