Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a true story adapted for the cinema by John Ford with his favorite actor.
In the late 1950s, John Ford and John Wayne were both at the height of their fame. The first already has a long career behind him, while the second has been the number 1 actor at the American box office for a decade.
It was in this favorable context that this extremely prolific duo – they had previously worked together on more than ten feature films, including some major Hollywood westerns – invested in a new film, in 1959.
For the first time in his career, John Ford decided to focus on the Civil War. A subject he wanted to address in the aborted project The Valiant Virginiansrejected by the studios.
With The Cavaliers, he is inspired by a true story: that of Colonel Grierson, who, in 1863, led a brigade 1,000 kilometers behind enemy lines in order to destroy as much equipment as possible and divert the offensive towards of Vicksburg.
Three years after The Prisoner of the Desert, John Ford returns to the western genre, by signing a work to the glory of the American cavalry, as he was able to do in the past. However, The knights confirms a turning point in his career with his darker and more ambiguous vision of human nature.
In addition to its bravery pieces (the Battle of Newton, in particular), the film’s interpretation is also remarkable, dominated by the charismatic John Wayne in the skin of a tortured soldier. With an average of 3.9/5, The knights is also the actor’s western most appreciated by AlloCiné spectators.
The knights by John Ford with Bing Russell, Basil Ruysdael, John Wayne…
Tonight on Arte at 8:50 p.m.