John Ford filmography

John Ford 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 and 3 Bad Men, both starring George O'Brien, the war drama Four Sons and the Irish romantic drama Hangman's House. 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 a war drama of PT boats in the South Pacific. He followed this with My Darling Clementine, 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. Ford's final film as a director was Chesty, 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 & Sound's 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 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.

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Actor	Writer	Notes	Ref
1917	'					With Jean Hathaway; two reels. Ford's directorial debut film; lost.
1917	'					Two reels; lost.
1917	'					Two reels; lost.
1917	'					With Harry Carey, Molly Malone, Hoot Gibson; three reels; lost; Ford's first film with Carey and Gibson.
1917	Straight Shooting					With Harry Carey; Ford's debut feature film.
1917	'					With Harry Carey; two of the five reels survive.
1917	'					With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; lost.
1917	Cheyenne's Pal					With Harry Carey, Gertrude Astor, Hoot Gibson; two reels; lost.
1917	Bucking Broadway					With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; released as a bonus on the Criterion blu-ray of Stagecoach.
1918	'					With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; lost.
1918	Wild Women					With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; story by Ford and Carey; lost.
1918	Thieves' Gold					With Harry Carey, Molly Malone; lost.
1918	'					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.
1918	Hell Bent					With Harry Carey, Duke R. Lee; print survives in the George Eastman Museum.
1918	'					With Harry Carey, Betty Schade; lost.
1918	Three Mounted Men					With Harry Carey; lost.
1919	Roped					With Harry Carey, Neva Gerber; lost.
1919	'					With Pete Morrison, Hoot Gibson; two reels; lost.
1919	'					With Harry Carey; lost.
1919	Rustlers					With Pete Morrison, Hoot Gibson; two reels; possibly directed by Reginald Barker; survival status unknown.
1919	Bare Fists					With Harry Carey, Betty Schade; lost.
1919	Gun Law					With Pete Morrison, Hoot Gibson; two reels; survival status unknown.
1919	'					With Pete Morrison, Hoot Gibson; two reels; story by Ford and Harry Carey; survival status unknown.
1919	By Indian Post					With Pete Morrison, Duke R. Lee; two reels; survives incomplete.
1919	Riders of Vengeance					With Harry Carey, Seena Owen; lost.
1919	'					With Edgar Jones, Lucille Hutton; two reels; only the first reel survives.
1919	'					With Harry Carey, Cullen Landis; based on the short story by Bret Harte; lost.
1919	Ace of the Saddle					With Harry Carey, Duke R. Lee; lost.
1919	Rider of the Law					With Harry Carey, Vester Pegg; lost.
1919	'					With Harry Carey, J. Barney Sherry; Partially lost – three reels survive.
1919	Marked Men					With Harry Carey; remade by Ford as 3 Godfathers ; lost.
1920	'					With James J. Corbett, Richard Cummings; Ford's first non-western film; lost.
1920	'					With Frank Mayo, Elinor Fair; lost.
1920	Hitchin' Posts					With Frank Mayo; lost.
1920	Just Pals					Fox films; with Buck Jones, Helen Ferguson; Ford's first film for Fox; prints survive.
1921	'					Fox films; with Buck Jones, Barbara Bedford; lost.
1921	'					With Harry Carey, Helen Ferguson; lost.
1921	'					With Harry Carey, Mignonne Golden; lost.
1921	Desperate Trails					With Harry Carey, Irene Rich; lost.
1921	Action					With Hoot Gibson, Francis Ford; lost.
1921	Sure Fire					With Hoot Gibson, Molly Malone; lost.
1921	Jackie					Fox films; with Shirley Mason, William Scott; lost.
1922	Little Miss Smiles					With Shirley Mason, Gaston Glass; lost.
1922	Silver Wings					With Mary Carr, Lynn Hammond; Ford directed the prologue only, the remainder of the film was directed by Edwin Carewe; lost.
1922	'					With Will Walling, Virginia True Boardman; only one reel survives.
1923	'					With Henry B. Walthall, Ruth Clifford; based on the poem by Hugh Antoine d'Arcy; lost.
1923	Three Jumps Ahead					With Tom Mix, Alma Bennett; lost.
1923	Cameo Kirby					With John Gilbert, Gertrude Olmstead; Ford's first film credited as "John Ford".
1923	North of Hudson Bay					With Tom Mix, Kathleen Key; Ford has a bit part in the film; 40 minutes of footage survive.
1923	Hoodman Blind					With David Butler, Gladys Hulette; lost.
1924	'					With George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy; added to the National Film Registry in 2011.
1924	Hearts of Oak					With Hobart Bosworth, Pauline Starke; lost.
1925	Lightnin'					With Jay Hunt, Madge Bellamy, Wallace MacDonald.
1925	Kentucky Pride					With Henry B. Walthall, Gertrude Astor.
1925	Thank You					With Alec B. Francis, Jacqueline Logan, George O'Brien; lost.
1925	'					With George O'Brien, Billie Dove; lost.
1926	'					With Janet Gaynor, Leslie Fenton, J. Farrell MacDonald; print survives at the Museum of Modern Art.
1926	'					With George O'Brien, Olive Borden.
1926	'					With George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor; one reel missing.
1927	Upstream					With Nancy Nash, Earle Foxe; Once lost, but rediscovered in New Zealand.
1928	Mother Machree					With Belle Bennett, Neil Hamilton, Victor McLaglen; Movietone sound ; John Wayne's first film with Ford, albeit in an uncredited minor role; Wayne was also a prop man in this film; three reels survive.
1928	Four Sons					With Margaret Mann, James Hall; Movietone sound ; John Wayne in uncredited minor role.
1928	Hangman's House					With Victor McLaglen, June Collyer; silent film; John Wayne in uncredited minor role.
1928	Napoleon's Barber					With Otto Matieson, Natalie Golitzen; Short film; Ford's first all-talkie film; lost.
1928	Riley the Cop					With J. Farrell MacDonald, Louise Fazenda; Silent film with synchronized music track.
1929	Strong Boy					With Victor McLaglen, Leatrice Joy; Silent film with synchronized music track; Believed lost although a print may exist in Australia.
1929	'					With Victor McLaglen, Myrna Loy; Ford's first all-talkie feature.
1929	Salute					With George O'Brien, Helen Chandler; Ward Bond and John Wayne have uncredited roles.
1930	Men Without Women					With Kenneth MacKenna, Frank Albertson; John Wayne has an unbilled bit part; all-talkie film that "survives only in a bastardized version that replaces most of the dialogue with titles".
1930	Born Reckless					With Edmund Lowe, Catherine Dale Owen.
1930	Up the River					With Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart.
1930	Seas Beneath					With George O'Brien, Marion Lessing.
1931	'					Fox; with Sally O'Neil, Alan Dinehart.
1931	Arrowsmith					Goldwyn-United Artists; with Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, Myrna Loy; United Artists; based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis; nominated – Academy Award for Best Picture.
1932	Air Mail					Universal; with Ralph Bellamy, Gloria Stuart, Pat O'Brien.
1932	Flesh					MGM; with Wallace Beery, Karen Morley, Ricardo Cortez.
1933	Pilgrimage					Fox; with Henrietta Crosman, Heather Angel.
1933	Doctor Bull					Fox; with Will Rogers, Marian Nixon.
1934	'					RKO Pictures; with Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff.
1934	'					Fox; with Madeleine Carroll, Franchot Tone.
1934	Judge Priest					Fox; with Will Rogers, Tom Brown, Anita Louise, Henry B. Walthall.
1935	'					Columbia; with Edward G. Robinson, Jean Arthur.
1935	'					RKO Pictures; with Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel; based on the novel by Liam O'Flaherty, Academy Award for Best Director; Nominated – Best Picture.; added to the National Film Registry in 2018.
1935	Steamboat Round the Bend					20th Century Fox; with Will Rogers, Anne Shirley; Rogers' last film.
1936	'					20th Century Fox; with Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart.
1936	Mary of Scotland					RKO Pictures; with Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March.
1936	'					RKO Pictures; with Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster.
1937	Wee Willie Winkie					20th Century Fox; with Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen; originally release in sepiatone.
1937	'					Goldwyn-United Artists; with Dorothy Lamour, Jon Hall.
1938	Four Men and a Prayer					20th Century Fox; with Loretta Young, Richard Greene, David Niven.
1938	Submarine Patrol					20th Century Fox; with Richard Greene, Nancy Kelly.
1939	Stagecoach					Wanger-United Artists; with Claire Trevor, John Wayne; Ford's first sound Western and his first film shot in Monument Valley; nominated – Best Picture; nominated – Academy Award for Best Director.; added to the National Film Registry in 1995.
1939	Young Mr. Lincoln					20th Century Fox; with Henry Fonda; added to the National Film Registry in 2003.
1939	Drums Along the Mohawk					20th Century Fox; with Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver; based on the novel by Walter D. Edmonds; Ford's first film in color.
1940	'					20th Century Fox; with Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell; based on the novel by John Steinbeck; Ford won an Academy Award for Best Director and Darwell won Best Supporting Actress; added to the National Film Registry in 1989.
1940	'					Argosy-United Artists; with John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell; based on four one-act plays by Eugene O'Neill; Ford's first production made by his company, Argosy Productions.
1941	Tobacco Road					20th Century Fox; With Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews; based on the play by Jack Kirkland and the novel by Erskine Caldwell
1941	How Green Was My Valley					20th Century Fox; with Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall; based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn; Best Picture; Ford won an Academy Award for Best Director.; added to the National Film Registry in 1990.
1942	Sex Hygiene					U.S. Army Signal Corps; 30-minute training film.
1942	'					War Activities Committee; with Donald Crisp, Henry Fonda; filmed in color; won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
1942	Torpedo Squadron					Documentary short for the United States Navy; filmed in color.
1943	December 7th					Documentary short for the United States Navy; co-directed by Lt. Gregg Toland, USNR; won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
1943	We Sail at Midnight					Documentary short for the United States Navy.
1943	How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines					Ford appears in this training film for the OSS.
1945	They Were Expendable					MGM; with Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed; nominated for two Academy Awards – Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Recording.
1946	My Darling Clementine					20th Century Fox, with Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature; filmed in Monument Valley; added to the National Film Registry in 1991.
1947	The Fugitive					Argosy-RKO Pictures; with Henry Fonda, Dolores del Río.
1948	Fort Apache					Argosy-RKO Pictures; with John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, John Agar; suggested by the short story "Massacre" by James Warner Bellah; the first film in Ford's "Cavalry trilogy"; filmed in Monument Valley.
1948	'					Argosy-MGM; With John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, Harry Carey Jr.; filmed in Technicolor; based on the novel by Peter B. Kyne; filmed on location in Death Valley; a remake of Ford's Marked Men.
1949	She Wore a Yellow Ribbon					Argosy-RKO Pictures; with John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar; filmed in Technicolor; based on the short stories "The Big Hunt" and "War Party" by James Warner Bellah; film on location in Monument Valley; the second film in Ford's "Cavalry trilogy".
1950	When Willie Comes Marching Home					20th Century Fox; with Dan Dailey, Corinne Calvet.
1950	Wagon Master					Argosy-RKO Pictures; with Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey Jr.; filmed on location in Moab, Utah.
1950	Rio Grande					Argosy-Republic Pictures; with John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Claude Jarman, Jr.; based on the short story "Mission with No Record" by James Warner Bellah; filmed on location in Moab, Utah; the final film in Ford's "Cavalry trilogy".
1951	This is Korea!					U.S. Navy-Republic Pictures; filmed in color; documentary about the United States Navy and Marines during the Korean War.
1952	'					Argosy-Republic Pictures; with John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara; filmed in Technicolor on location in Ireland; based on the short story by Maurice Walsh; Ford won an Academy Award for Best Director while Winton Hoch and Archie Stout won for Best Cinematography; added to the National Film Registry in 2013.
1952	What Price Glory					20th Century Fox; with James Cagney, Corinne Calvet, Dan Dailey; filmed in Technicolor; a remake of Raoul Walsh's 1926 film.
1953	'					Argosy-Republic Pictures; with Charles Winninger, Arleen Whelan.
1953	Mogambo					MGM; with Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly; filmed in Technicolor on location in Africa; based on the play Red Dust by Wilson Collison.
1955	'					Columbia Pictures; with Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara; filmed in CinemaScope and Technicolor.
1955	'					A 10-minute film in CinemaScope and Technicolor promoting Americans to buy savings bonds. Filmed on the set of The Long Gray Line.
1955	Mister Roberts					Warner Bros.; with Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, William Powell; based on the play by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan; filmed in CinemaScope and Warnercolor; Ford was replaced by Mervyn LeRoy during production; Lemmon won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
1956	The Searchers					C. V. Whitney Pictures-Warner Bros.; with John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles; based on the novel by Alan Le May; filmed in VistaVision and Technicolor on location in Monument Valley; added to the National Film Registry in 1989; ranked at number seven in Sight & Sounds listing of the 50 greatest films of all time in 2012.
1957	'					MGM; with John Wayne, Dan Dailey, Maureen O'Hara; filmed in Metrocolor.
1957	'					A short film in color for the U.S. Dept. of Defense about the USS Growler.
1957	'					Warner Bros.; with Tyrone Power introducing three stories set in Ireland: "1921", "A Minute's Wait", and "The Majesty of the Law".
1958	So Alone					Free Cinema-BFI; with John Qualen; 8-minute short film.
1958	'					Columbia Pictures; with Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter.
1958	Gideon's Day					Columbia Pictures; with Jack Hawkins; made in England; filmed in Technicolor but originally released in the United States only in black and white.
1959	Korea					A short film in color for the U.S. Dept. of Defense.
1959	'					Mirisch-Batjac-United Artists; with John Wayne, William Holden, Constance Towers; filmed in Deluxe Color
1960	Sergeant Rutledge					Warner Bros.; With Jeffrey Hunter, Constance Towers, Woody Strode; filmed in Technicolor on location in Monument Valley.
1961	Two Rode Together					Columbia Pictures; with James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Shirley Jones; filmed in Eastmancolor.
1962	'					Paramount Pictures; with John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Woody Strode and Lee Marvin; based on the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson; added to the National Film Registry in 2007.
1962	How the West Was Won					MGM; with John Wayne, George Peppard; filmed in Cinerama and Technicolor; Ford directed the Civil War segment while Henry Hathaway and George Marshall directed the film's other segments; added to the National Film Registry in 1997.
1963	Donovan's Reef					Paramount Pictures;with John Wayne, Elizabeth Allen, Lee Marvin; filmed in Technicolor; Wayne's final acting performance in a Ford film.
1964	Cheyenne Autumn					Warner Bros.; with Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, James Stewart; filmed in Super Panavision 70 and Technicolor on location in Monument Valley
1966	'					MGM; with Anne Bancroft, Sue Lyon, Margaret Leighton; filmed in Panavision and Metrocolor.
1970	Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend''					Documentary for the United States Marine Corps about General Lewis B. 'Chesty' Puller; narrated by John Wayne

Other film work

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.

Year	Title	Producer	Actor	Writer	Other	Notes	References
1913	The Battle of Bull Run					Directed by and starring Francis Ford; two reels; survival status unknown.
1914	Lucille Love, Girl of Mystery					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; John Ford: production assistant, prop man, stunts; 15-episode serial; incomplete prints exist of four episodes.
1914	The Mysterious Rose					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; two reels; survival status unknown.
1914	'					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; two reels; survival status unknown.
1914	'					With Francis Ford as Sherlock Holmes and John Ford as Dr. Watson; two reels; lost
1915	'					With Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall; Epoch Film Corp.; directed by D. W. Griffith; Ford claimed to have played one of the clansmen; added to the National Film Registry in 1992.
1915	And They Called Him Hero					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; two reels; survival status unknown.
1915	Three Bad Men and a Girl					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; two reels; survival status unknown.
1915	'					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; two reels; survival status unknown.
1915	Smuggler's Island					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; two reels; lost.
1915	'					With Francis Ford; two reels; John Ford: assistant director; lost.
1915	'					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; directed by Francis Ford; 22-chapter serial; John Ford: assistant director; lost.
1915	'					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; directed by Francis Ford; survival status unknown.
1916	Strong-Arm Squad					Directed by and starring Francis Ford; two reels; survival status unknown.
1916	'					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; directed by Francis Ford; 15-chapter serial; lost.
1916	Chicken Hearted Jim					Directed by and starring Francis Ford; one reel; survival status unknown.
1916	'					With Grace Cunard, Francis Ford; directed by Francis Ford; included on Criterion DVD and blu-ray releases of My Darling Clementine.
1917	'					With Francis Ford, Grace Cunard; directed by Francis Ford; 16-chapter serial; John Ford supposedly acted in this; survives incomplete.
	'					Directed by and featuring Francis Ford; John Ford: assistant director; prints survive.
	Under Sentence					Directed by Edward O'Fearna ; two reels; survival status unknown.
	Nero					Directed by J. Gordon Edwards; Ford worked as a 2nd unit director; lost.
1927	'					Directed by Frank Borzage; with Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell; Ford was 2nd unit director.
1927	What Price Glory?					Directed by Raoul Walsh; with Victor McLaglen, Edmund Lowe, Dolores del Río; Ford was 2nd unit director.
	Big Time					Directed by Kenneth Hawks; with Lee Tracy, Mae Clarke, Stepin Fetchit; Ford appears as himself.
	'					RKO Pictures; directed by Christy Cabanne; with Harry Carey, Hoot Gibson; based on an original story by Ford.
	'					Goldwyn-United Artists; directed by Archie Mayo; with Gary Cooper, Sigrid Gurie, Basil Rathbone; Ford directed some of the film's action sequences.
	Show Business at War					Ford is shown working with the OSS in this wartime documentary short.
1949	Mighty Joe Young					Argosy-RKO Pictures; directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack; with Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong; special effects by Willis H. O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen.
1949	Pinky					20th Century Fox; directed by Elia Kazan; with Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore; Ford was the original director but, due to illness, was replaced after one week by Kazan.
	'					Republic Pictures; produced by John Wayne; directed by Budd Boetticher; with Robert Stack, Gilbert Roland; Ford edited this film as a favor to Wayne.
	Hondo					Wayne-Fellows-Warner Bros.; directed by John Farrow; with John Wayne, Geraldine Page; filmed in 3-D and Warnercolor; based on the short story "The Gift of Cochise" by Louis L'Amour; Ford did some uncredited second-unit work.
	'					Batjac-United Artists; produced and directed by John Wayne; with John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey; Ford did some second unit work.
1965	Young Cassidy					MGM; directed with Jack Cardiff; with Rod Taylor, Julie Christie; Ford began directing the film but was replaced during production by Cardiff, who received credit in the final print.
1971	Vietnam! Vietnam!					Documentary for the United States Information Agency; narrated by Charlton Heston.
1971	Directed by John Ford					Documentary directed by Peter Bogdanovich; narrated by Orson Welles; Ford was among the people interviewed.
1971	John Ford: Memorial Day 1971					Documentary short featuring Ford.