Three Godfathers [3 Godfathers] *** (1948, John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey Jr) – Classic Movie Review 7458

Director John Ford’s 1948 Western Three Godfathers is the fourth film version of Peter B Kyne’s old (true) story Marked Men about fugitives John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey Jr coming across a mother while crossing the desert and befriending her newly born baby. The three bank robbers then set out to escort the baby to New Jerusalem, Arizona.

It follows Richard Boleslawski’s 1936 black and white version of Three Godfathers, with Chester Morris, Walter Brennan and Lewis Stone.

Three Godfathers (1948) is a pleasant success thanks to Laurence Stallings and Frank S Nugent’s good-hearted screenplay, the warm performances and Winton Hoch’s beautiful photography in Technicolor. However, it lacks the rigour, bite and achievement of, for example, Ford’s Stagecoach, The Searchers or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and the cynically minded will probably need a strong stomach for the sentimentally inclined story.

Amiable, easy-going and appealing, Three Godfathers is led by the three neat star turns, and also it is full of friendly Ford rep company faces. It is Guy Kibbee’s last film. The cynical Ford seems to cast his brother Francis pointedly as ‘Drunken Old Timer at Bar’.

Also in the cast are Ward Bond, Mildred Natwick, Jane Darwell, Mae Marsh, Ben Johnson, Charles Halton, Dorothy Ford, Michael Dugan, Don Summers, Fred Libby, Hank Worden, Jack Pennick, Richard Hageman and Cliff Lyons.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7458

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