The Labyrinthine Ways

source: The Labyrinthine Ways

Finding simple words for this portrayal of humanity and its many frailities, would say little of the creatures of love and suffering so lovingly brought into focus by John Ford's willingness to emphasise the faults and weaknesses of the anti-hero priest, as well as to spotlight the strengths of the judas informer and his awakening to the light of understanding in his clear awareness that he is responsible for the death of a fine man, who also happens to be a priest. That film noire camera/lighting techniques feature prominently also serves the surrealistic atmosphere that envelopes this wonderful work of art dedicated to the best and worst in all of us.

Hmmm, let's see... we've got a movie about a Catholic priest trying to exercise his ministry in a Latin American country whose government has been taken over by an anticlerical revolutionary party,... he administers the sacraments to the devoutly believing people while trying to stay one step ahead of the law, which has hunted down every other priest in the country,... what do you this movie will be like? In the hands of the crusty but sentimental John Ford, you might expect this movie to be some kind of hagiography, showing the priest as he performs his pastoral labors with fierce courage as well as with patient devotion, and anticipates his fate with Christian resignation. (This would be particularly apt if Pat O'Brien or Spencer Tracy played the priest.) You might also expect the people he serves will be portrayed as simple God-fearing people with stout hearts and no illusions about the true intentions of their political leaders. The government and its agents will be portrayed as cruel and cynical tyrants, ever ready to beat on the simple folk in the name of the greater good. Fortunately, this is not the movie that Ford made. The actual movie is a good deal more complicated (and much, much better) than that. This is a balanced, intelligent account of a tragic situation born of centuries of misrule and oppression by tyrannical government working, sad to say, hand in glove with the Church that is supposed to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Pedro Amendariz in particular gives a great performance as the revolutionary government official, who, whatever his opinions may be, passionately loves his country, and sincerely wants the best for his beleaguered people. Henry Fonda, as the priest, gives at one point a stunning assessment of his motives for what he does which turns any picture of a heroic shepherd on its ear. This is one of John Ford's lesser known pictures - an unknown masterpiece.

This is an interesting film because the original story/novel its based on, "The Power and the Glory" by Graham Greene (considered one of the best novels of the 20th century), tells a very similar story but completely diferent. The novel takes place in Mexico during the 'War of the Cristeros' where after the Mexican Revolution the goverments of certain states in Mexico (Chiapas in the book) decide to rid themselves of bad priests (priests who drank, extortioned, and had several families of their own), which happened to be almost every priest. The novel and the John Ford movie tell almost the same story, but with the huge difference that the priest character (Henry Fonda) is not an alcoholic, has not fathered a son with the peasant woman, and instead of cowardly he is somewhat of a martyr. On the other hand the lieutenant of police, played very well by Pedro Armendariz, although still ruthless is now seen as being 'bad' because he is hunting down a priest. Overall the movie has great acting (particularly Armendariz), great direction, and is beautifully photographed by Mexican great Gabriel Figueroa. Its a shame that the producers decided to compromise Graham Greenes original story.

The Fugitive is directed by John Ford and adapted to screenplay by Dudley Nichols from the Graham Greene novel The Labyrinthine Ways. It stars Henry Fonda, Dolores del Rio, Pedro Armendáriz, J. Carrol Naish, Leo Carrillo and Ward Bond. Music is by Richard Hageman and cinematography by Gabriel Figueropa. Latin America and anti-cleric policies render the last remaining priest in this particular state a fugitive... Depending on which side of the fence you sit, this is either a turgid bore or one of John Ford's masterpieces. Ford himself claimed it to be one of his favourites of his own movies, but that may well just have been him standing tall in the face of criticism. Undeniably it's a visual treat as the great director blends his landscape skills with expressionistic stylings, but the religio allegory of the narrative is quite frankly dull and often too oblique for its own good. It doesn't help that Fonda is miscast either, the great director unable to steer Fonda to a performance to off set the staid screenplay he's forced to work with. While the other characters just come off as artificial. Interesting to look at and with some commentary (biblical/repression) in the mix, but it's an experiment from one of America's greatest directors that doesn't work. It's not hard to see why it was a box office stiff. 5/10

It's easy to see why THE FUGITIVE was a critical and commercial box-office failure. For some reason, none of Graham Greene's novels transfer well to the screen. The somber stories are all too melodramatic and heavy-handed, and this is no exception. Furthermore, in the role of the fugitive priest south of the border, HENRY FONDA looks decidedly uncomfortable throughout. This time John Ford struck out. The story is drab, downbeat and depressing--and both HENRY FONDA and DOLORES del RIO seem to be acting for the camera in a style that approaches silent screen acting in the worst possible way--especially during the opening scene. Del Rio is so artificial, she seems to be posing dramatically for every close-up. Even PEDRO ARMENDARIZ overdoes the villainous swagger and sneer and J. CARROL NAISH overacts in the role of an informant. Between acting styles and the extravagant use of symbolism, this is a film of many flaws, most of them in the direction and heavy-handed script. A critical failure at the time, it is in no way the masterpiece some are calling it among the user comments here. No Ford film would be complete without WARD BOND turning up as "El Gringo". At least he gives the film a touch of grim realism. The busy background score by Richard Hageman is no help at all and seems more appropriate for the score of a silent film.

I saw this film theatrically in an archival print in California....what a treat! The image of Dolores Del Rio framed in the church door has never left me...this film was shot by Gabriel Figueroa, Bunuel's cinematographer on many films and one of the great masters...it is, along with Peter Fonda's The Hired Hand and Terence Malick's Days of Heaven, the most exquisitely shot movie I have ever seen in what I would call the "intimate" style, for lack of a better term...as opposed to such a film as "Lawrence of Arabia", which otherwise would have to be considered in that list. An great example of stylistic departure as a supremely successful one shot gesture; Hitchcock achieved something of the same success several times,with "The Wrong Man" and "The Trouble With Harry", although in the latter case Hitch had done comedy before...."The Wrong Man" and "The Fugitive" stand out for me as the greatest stylistic anomalies achieved by major auteurs.

I would consider this among the poorest of John Ford's films. This is odd, as before I saw it again recently, I remembered it as being a pretty decent film. The movie is an obvious message about the dangers of communism. While this word is not used and the film is wrapped more in the guise of a Central American revolution, it's obvious that the film was intended by the studio to be an indictment against the godless communists. Because of this, it was very timely for the 1940s but today it comes off more as dated and as propaganda. Apart from the poor story (it's just way too obvious) the film is a melange of mediocrity. While there are some accomplished Mexican actors in the movie, there also are some Americans who put on thick fake accents and some who just sound like Americans--making the viewing experience strange to say the least. It's also a rather slow and heavy-handed picture--one that is easy to skip. The only real plus is the great camera-work and inventive camera angels and lighting--that DID make the picture at least look really nice.

When Herbert J. Yates of Republic Pictures made a deal with John Ford to produce The Quiet Man he first made Ford agree to do one of his cavalry epics with John Wayne because he wanted a surefire moneymaker before taking a chance on The Quiet Man. The cavalry picture was Rio Grande. He must have been talking to the folks at RKO who lost their collective shirts when the public stayed away in droves from The Fugitive. It got great critical acclaim and no box office at all. My guess is that The Fugitive was sold all wrong or was made a year or two too early. If it had been sold as an anti-Communist as opposed to a pro-Catholic film it might have done better in those beginning years of The Cold War. The Fugitive is based on a Graham Greene novel The Power and the Glory and it is about a priest in an unnamed South American country who is a fugitive because of his calling. An anti-clerical government has taken control of the country and they are doing their best to drive the Catholic religion out of the country. Henry Fonda turns in a good sincere performance as the cleric, but he's about as convincingly Latino as Toshiro Mifune. The other members of the cast are well suited for their roles. The best performance in the film is from that chameleon like actor J. Carrol Naish who could play any kind of nationality on the planet. He's the informer who rats out Henry Fonda to the police. Very similar to what Akim Tamiroff did to Gary Cooper in For Whom The Bells Toll and Naish's own performance in another Gary Cooper film, Beau Geste. This was the first of three films Pedro Armendariz did with John Ford in an effort to broaden his appeal beyond Mexican cinema. Dolores Del Rio as his estranged wife was already familiar to American audiences from the silent screen. The original novel by Greene had the priest as somewhat less than true to all his vows. He's a drinker and a womanizer. Del Rio's character is also quite tawdry. And this from Greene who was a well known Catholic lay person. But this Hollywood in the firm grip of The Code so a lot of what Greene wrote had to be softened by Ford for the screen. It lessened the impact of the film. And with the whitewashing of Fonda's character came some rather heavy handed symbolism of Fonda as a Christlike figure. Still The Fugitive might be worth a look for Ford, Greene, and Fonda fans.

For 5 years beginning in 1926, the Republic of Mexico waged all out war against Catholic armies in several states in Mexico until 1931. The movie made by John Ford, follows the massive effect this Catholic repression had on Mexicans and their society over this time period. The baptisms, the hostage taking, the executions, the effect this repression had on all classes of Mexican society, were part of this understated but brilliant depiction of Mexico during the Cristero Rebellion. The fact that John Ford used the creme of the creme of Mexican films; Emiliano "El Indio" Fernandez, an iconic figure in Mexico's Golden Age of Cinema, as an associate producer, Fernando Fernandez, an accomplished singer in Mexican cinema, Miguel Inclan (the hostage), who would go on to achieve fame as the blind man in Bunuel's "Los Olvidados", Gabriel Figueroa, by far the most accomplished Mexican cinematographer of all time, Delores Del Rio and Pedro Armendariz, two of the top stars of Mexican films, to support one of America's finest movie stars Henry Fonda, speaks volumes on John Ford's efforts to craft a movie for the ages. This film has the angst found in German films, the methodical cadence characterizing films from Great Britian, the lights and shadows of Mexico, with a good helping of an American western, thanks to another great tough guy performance by Ward Bond. The lighting, camera angles, scenic shots; Gabriel used Mexico's two most important and sacred mountains in his scenery, Popocatepetl, and Iztaccihuatl. In closing, for all you film buffs, there is a triangle relationship between this film and one of the greatest films (if not the greatest) of all times, Citizen Kane. Everyone knows that Delores Del Rio was having a relationship with Orsen Wells, during the filming of Citizen Kane. The cinematographer of Citizen Kane, Gregg Toland, was a mentor for Gabriel Figueroa in Hollywood during the 1930's!