John Ford (1894–1973) was an American film director whose career spanned from 1913 to 1971. During this time, he directed more than 130 films; however, nearly all of his silent films are lost. Born in Maine, Ford entered the filmmaking industry shortly after graduating from high school with the help of his older brother, Francis Ford, who had established himself as a leading man and director for Universal Studios. After working as an actor, assistant director, stuntman, and prop man – often for his brother – Universal gave Ford the opportunity to direct in 1917. Initially working in short films, he quickly moved into features, largely with Harry Carey as his star.
In 1920, Ford left Universal and began working for the Fox Film Corporation. During the next ten years he directed more than 30 films, including the westerns The Iron Horse (1924) and 3 Bad Men (1926), both starring George O'Brien, the war drama Four Sons and the Irish romantic drama Hangman's House (both 1928 and both starring Victor McLaglen). In the same year as these last two films, Ford directed his first all-talking film, the short Napoleon's Barber. The following year, he directed his first all-talking feature, The Black Watch.
In 1931, Ford began working for other studios, starting with Arrowsmith for Samuel Goldwyn. In 1934, he began a lengthy association with producer Merian C. Cooper at RKO Radio Pictures. The following year he directed The Informer, which brought him his first Academy Award for Best Director and the Best Actor Award for its star, Victor McLaglen. In 1939, Ford directed Stagecoach, which made John Wayne a major star and brought an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor to Thomas Mitchell. It was also the first time Ford filmed in Monument Valley. That same year Ford made Young Mr. Lincoln and Drums Along the Mohawk, both with Henry Fonda. The latter was Ford's first film shot in Technicolor.
In 1940, Ford made The Grapes of Wrath with Fonda and The Long Voyage Home with Wayne and Mitchell. For the former film Ford received his second Academy Award for Best Director and the Best Supporting Actress for Jane Darwell. He followed these films in 1941 with How Green Was My Valley, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, brought Ford his third Academy Award for Best Director and the Best Supporting Actor Award to Donald Crisp.
With the coming of World War II, Ford was appointed to the Office of Strategic Services as a field photographer in the United States Navy. During the war he made several documentaries. Two of these, The Battle of Midway and December 7th, won Academy Awards for, respectively, Best Documentary and Documentary Short Subject. After being released from active duty he returned to Hollywood to make They Were Expendable (1945) a war drama of PT boats in the South Pacific. He followed this with My Darling Clementine (1946), starring Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp.
In 1949, Ford also made his only foray into live theatre by directing a charity production of What Price Glory? Ford freelanced for the remainder of his career, directing occasionally for television and making several films including The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and the Civil War sequence of the Cinerama epic How the West Was Won (both 1962). Ford's final film as a director was Chesty (1970), a documentary short about Marine Corps lieutenant general Lewis "Chesty" Puller.
Ford is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential film-makers in history. Ingmar Bergman called him the greatest movie director of all time and Orson Welles regarded him highly. With four Academy Awards, he is the most honored director in film history. On February 8, 1960, Ford was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On March 31, 1973, Ford was honored with the Medal of Freedom Award and became the first person honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award. As of , eleven films directed or co-directed by Ford have been added to the National Film Registry, tying with Howard Hawks for the most. In 2012, The Searchers was ranked at number seven in Sight & Sounds listing of the 50 greatest films of all time.
Films This list of films is derived from the filmographies in Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford by Scott Eyman and John Ford by Peter Bogdanovich.
From 1917 to 1923, Ford was credited as "Jack Ford". Beginning with Cameo Kirby (1923) he was credited as "John Ford". Unless otherwise noted, all films released up until 1922 were Universal Productions. Films released from 1922 to 1930 were Fox Productions. After 1930, each film's production company is individually noted.
All films are feature length unless identified as a serial or short film. The silent shorts are identified as one, two, or three reels in length.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders sticky-header" width="100%" ! width="3%" |Year ! width="15%" |Title ! width="5%"|Director ! width="5%"|Producer ! width="5%"|Actor ! width="5%"|Writer ! width="35%" class="unsortable"|Notes ! width="2%" class="unsortable"|Ref |- | rowspan="9"|1917 | scope="row" |
| With Jean Hathaway; two reels. Ford's directorial debut film; lost. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |
| Two reels; lost. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |
| Two reels; lost. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, Molly Malone, Hoot Gibson; three reels; lost; Ford's first film with Carey and Gibson. | align="center" |
| scope="row" |Straight Shooting
| With Harry Carey; Ford's debut feature film. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey; two of the five reels survive. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; lost. | align="center" |Sources:
| scope="row"|Cheyenne's Pal
| With Harry Carey, Gertrude Astor, Hoot Gibson; two reels; lost. | align="center"| |- | scope="row"|Bucking Broadway
| With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; released as a bonus on the Criterion blu-ray of Stagecoach. | align="center"| |- | rowspan="7"|1918 | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Wild Women
| With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; story by Ford and Carey; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Thieves' Gold
| With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; only 30 minutes of footage were thought to have survived until a complete film cut was discovered in Santiago, Chile. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Hell Bent
| With Harry Carey, Duke R. Lee; print survives in the George Eastman Museum. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, Betty Schade; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Three Mounted Men
| With Harry Carey; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="15"|1919 | scope="row" |Roped
| With Harry Carey, Neva Gerber; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Pete Morrison, Hoot Gibson; two reels; lost. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Rustlers
| With Pete Morrison, Hoot Gibson; two reels; possibly directed by Reginald Barker; survival status unknown. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |Bare Fists
| With Harry Carey, Betty Schade; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Gun Law
| With Pete Morrison, Hoot Gibson; two reels; survival status unknown. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |
| With Pete Morrison, Hoot Gibson; two reels; story by Ford and Harry Carey; survival status unknown. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |By Indian Post
| With Pete Morrison, Duke R. Lee; two reels; survives incomplete. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |Riders of Vengeance
| With Harry Carey, Seena Owen; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Edgar Jones, Lucille Hutton; two reels; only the first reel survives. | align="center" | |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, Cullen Landis; based on the short story by Bret Harte; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Ace of the Saddle
| With Harry Carey, Duke R. Lee; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Rider of the Law
| With Harry Carey, Vester Pegg; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, J. Barney Sherry; Partially lost – three reels survive. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Marked Men
| With Harry Carey; remade by Ford as 3 Godfathers (1948); lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="4"|1920 | scope="row" |
| With James J. Corbett, Richard Cummings; Ford's first non-western film; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Frank Mayo, Elinor Fair; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Hitchin' Posts
| With Frank Mayo; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Just Pals
| Fox films; with Buck Jones, Helen Ferguson; Ford's first film for Fox; prints survive. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="7"|1921 | scope="row" |
| Fox films; with Buck Jones, Barbara Bedford; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, Helen Ferguson; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Harry Carey, Mignonne Golden; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Desperate Trails
| With Harry Carey, Irene Rich; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Action
| With Hoot Gibson, Francis Ford; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Sure Fire
| With Hoot Gibson, Molly Malone; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Jackie
| Fox films; with Shirley Mason, William Scott; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="3"|1922 | scope="row" |Little Miss Smiles
| With Shirley Mason, Gaston Glass; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Silver Wings
| With Mary Carr, Lynn Hammond; Ford directed the prologue only, the remainder of the film was directed by Edwin Carewe; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With Will Walling, Virginia True Boardman; only one reel survives. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="5"|1923 | scope="row" |
| With Henry B. Walthall, Ruth Clifford; based on the poem by Hugh Antoine d'Arcy; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Three Jumps Ahead
| With Tom Mix, Alma Bennett; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Cameo Kirby
| With John Gilbert, Gertrude Olmstead; Ford's first film credited as "John Ford". | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |North of Hudson Bay
| With Tom Mix, Kathleen Key; Ford has a bit part in the film; 40 minutes of footage survive. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Hoodman Blind
| With David Butler, Gladys Hulette; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="2"|1924 | scope="row" |
| With George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy; added to the National Film Registry in 2011. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Hearts of Oak
| With Hobart Bosworth, Pauline Starke; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="4"|1925 | scope="row" |Lightnin'
| With Jay Hunt, Madge Bellamy, Wallace MacDonald. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Kentucky Pride
| With Henry B. Walthall, Gertrude Astor. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |Thank You
| With Alec B. Francis, Jacqueline Logan, George O'Brien; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With George O'Brien, Billie Dove; lost. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="3"|1926 | scope="row" |
| With Janet Gaynor, Leslie Fenton, J. Farrell MacDonald; print survives at the Museum of Modern Art. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With George O'Brien, Olive Borden. | align="center" |Sources: |- | scope="row" |
| With George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor; one reel missing. | align="center" |Sources: |- | 1927 | scope="row" |Upstream
| With Nancy Nash, Earle Foxe; Once lost, but rediscovered in New Zealand. | align="center" |Sources: |- | rowspan="5"|1928