Superbly researched, and filled with fascinating insights, here is the definitive biography of a Hollywood legend. John Ford's classic films - "Stagecoach", "The Grapes of Wrath", "The Searchers" - have earned him worldwide admiration as a director whose rich visual imagination conjures up indelible, deeply moving images of the collective past. "Searching for John Ford", described as definitive by the "New York Times", surpasses all other biographies of the filmmaker in its depth, originality, and insight. Encompassing and illuminating Ford's myriad complexities and contradictions, McBride traces the trajectory of Ford's life from his beginnings as "Bull" Feeney, the nearsighted, football-playing son of Irish immigrants, to his recognition, after a long, controversial, and much-honoured career, as America's national myth maker. Blending lively and penetrating analyses of Ford's films with an impeccably documented narrative of the historical and psychological contexts in which those films were created, McBride has at long last given John Ford the biography his stature demands.

About the Author

Jospeh McBride is a film historian and associate professor in Cinema at San Francisco State University.

Reviews

"Joseph McBride's book has the sweep, passion, complexity, and tragic grandeur of a great John Ford film."--Martin Scorsese

"McBride has produced a fine, long-needed biography of a pivotal American artist."--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)

""Searching for John Ford" is a treasure, both for the Ford expert and for someone set to enjoy "The Searchers" for the first time." --"Premiere"