John Wayne and John Ford brought out the best in each other, as Nancy Schoenberger shows in her 2017 book “Wayne and Ford: The Films, the Friendship and the Forging of an American Hero.”

Schoenberger confesses to having a "John Wayne problem," meaning not just that she is a big John Wayne fan but that she has from girlhood admired the kind of hero John Wayne so often portrays, especially in those many films, mostly westerns, directed by Ford. Such heroes are not universally admired by modern, feminist women, but this author begs to differ. She explains why in her fine book.

Wayne was a college boy when he began working for Ford, mostly moving sets and doing an occasional stunt. Before Ford recognized Wayne's onscreen potential, another director signed him to star in some cheap westerns made for boys. Ford refused to speak to the young actor for a decade, apparently as punishment for what he considered disloyalty, but these years gave Wayne time to mature into the physical presence that helped make him a star in Ford films.

“Stagecoach” was the first of these, and Schoenberger devotes much attention to this great film in which Wayne plays, as she puts it, "a good bad man." Later she discusses the 7th Cavalry movies and the other films, although surprisingly she has relatively little to say about “The Quiet Man,” surely one of the pair's best films. But the author's focus falls mostly on the westerns.

The book is as much biography as film study, and she tells us about Ford's drinking problem (between films), his apparent homosexuality and his bullying abuse of his stars (including both Wayne and Maureen O'Hara). Wayne admired Ford too much to be too troubled by the harsh treatment he received, but he had other worries, including his difficult marriages and his money problems. Later came the cancer that would eventually kill him.

Schenberger shows us two flawed, you might even say weak, individuals who nevertheless managed to construct an ideal of what a real hero should look like. ( )

This dual biography covered the years of the cinematic collaborations of John Ford and John Wayne. It was not an extensive biography of either man, but rather a biography of the work they did together. The author is a professor in the English department of the College of William and Mary and so her focus was on how these two men created the American Western and along with it the myth of the American West as most people visualize it. The author went into the nuts and bolts of filming and of the vision of John Ford and how John Wayne executed it. It was clear throughout the book that the author's position was that Ford had the vision and Wayne was the vehicle Ford used to illustrate his vision of maleness and of the place of the American West in creating American manhood.

Throughout Ford's life he gathered big strong strapping males around him and is clear in all of his movies that he had a archetype of man. His friends illustrated this. He didn't like actors like James Stewart or Gary Cooper. He wanted big men. Men as big as the land. John Wayne and Ward Bond where his mens men. John Wayne owed his success to his training under John Ford. Even when Ford was not directing Wayne's movies it was Ford's vision and character that the audience saw.

Ford's sexuality is alluded to but the author states plainly that was not the reason she was writing this book. It was strictly about the friendship between the two men and how that translated to the screen. As a result this is a rather short book - 225 pages including the notes. Only at the end does she broaden out and include the last three films that Wayne made. None of the three were Ford pictures, but nevertheless, Ford was the creator of all three of them in that it was his character that John Wayne played in the three. I am sure that I will never watch any of these movies again without seeing the techniques Ford used to create his vision. ( )

Over the span of more than 20 years, John Wayne and John Ford made 14 movies together. Most were westerns, and all of them featured Wayne as a tough but kind heroically masculine figure. A man's man. One of my all-time favorite movies -- The Quiet Man -- is a classic Wayne and Ford movie.

In Wayne and Ford, Nancy Schoenberger presents interesting facts and background on both men, touching on their careers, personal life, health and relationships. I was surprised to learn that it took John Wayne more than 10 years to achieve success as a leading actor. He made a lot of B westerns and serials before finally being cast in more major roles. Ford made a wide variety of movies ranging from military films to academy award winning drama Grapes of Wrath. But Schoenberger points out that Ford always returned to what he loved best -- films for men about being men. Ford loved making westerns despite knowing he would never win awards for them. Ford was passionate about his work, often pushing actors and crew to the breaking point. Schoenberger doesn't try to hide the volatility of Ford's personality. She shares tales of his temper, physical altercations with actors (he even punched Maureen O'Hara in the face for no reason! yikes!), and his sometimes ridiculous expectations.

Each film that Ford and Wayne made together is featured in the book with information on plot, casting and behind-the-scenes facts. I found this information very interesting! There are lots of photos from the movies as well.

My husband is a huge western fan. Movies, television, books ..... if it's set in the Old West, he loves it. Every Christmas I buy him a special western-themed gift. The last few years it's been Gunsmoke memorabilia, but this year I decided on books. I bought him a copy of Tom Clavin's recent book about Dodge City, and also preordered a copy of Wayne and Ford because I know he will absolutely love this book!

After reading this book, I plan to re-watch all of the films that these two cinema legends made together. It's an awesome list of great, classic films! I've seen them all before but now that I know more background details on each film, I know I will enjoy seeing them all again. I can't wait for my husband to get his copy of this book because I know he will enjoy it even more than I did!

This is definitely a great book for any western movie fan! Wayne and Ford is set for release from Doubleday Books in October 2017.

Nancy Schoenberger is the author of several other books including Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Century.

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Doubleday via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.**


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