However, In order to save money during the changing structure of the studio system and the depression, Fox replaced Ford in 1931 with three directing teams. This saved Fox almost fifty percent of the salary of Ford. (Pg. 218-19, 417-18) Ford’s next move would be to RKO studios. During the next couple of years, Ford directed at least a dozen films. His breakthrough as a director came in 1935, when he convinced Merian C. Cooper, production chief at RKO studio’s, to let him film Liam O’Flaherty’s novel The Informer. This was during the early years of sound. The Informer relates chiefly, among Ford’s preoccupations, to his Irishness. The film was known as the first great American art film. The Informer was the first of many Oscars and honors Ford received throughout his career. Ford’s next move would be to United Artist in 1938, where he directed StageCoach starring John Wayne in1939. Ford gave this film the shape and unity of The Covered Wagon by focusing on the adventures of a single stage and its occupants. In 1940, Ford’s monumental epic The Grapes of Wrath based on John Steinbeck’s novel about migrant farmers in the Great Depression. In 1941, he produced, How Green Was My Valley, based on John Llewellyn’s novel of the Welsh depressed areas.Ford had emerged in the silent era as a director of Westerns, and he bought to his mature work a developed view of American history. Through out his career as an actor, director, film producer, writer and cinematographer his first major recognition came with a best director award for The Informer. However, his most enduring works from the period were on American themes, i.e. Stagecoach, Drums Along the Mohawk, Young Mr. Lincoln, and The Gapes of Wrath. Ford has often been regarded as an outdoor director, with special affinities for the American landscape. According to, Http://us.imdb.com/name?Ford,+John, below is a list of films JohnFord’s...
