But he must learn that a man's word to anything, even his own destruction, is his honor.

One of my favorite movies on the relationship between a father and a son is of course a movie that is so vital to understanding this blog. It is of course John Ford’s masterpiece Rio Grande.

I am sure you know the story. Lt. Colonel Kirby Yorke a hero of the Civil War (like our pal Custer) is commander of a post on the Texas border. Hostiles have been raiding and escaping across the border into Mexico. So it has become increasing frustrating as it is impossible to stop the attacks without breaking the law by following then raiders into sovereign territory of another country (Mexico).

There is an added complication as Col. Yorke’s estranged son Jeff has enlisted after flunking out of West Point. Col. Yorke accepts his enlistment but refuses to baby him and treats him even worse than the regular recruits even though his faithful Sergeant Quincannon looks after the boy. He allows his son the chance to find his way as a man without holding his hand and forcing others to kiss his ass which a lot of fucking yuppie parents could take a lesson from let me tell you.

To add to the mix, Yorkes true love his estranged wife Kathleen (Maureen O’Hara) comes to the post to plead to have her son released as he was under aged and she is too fearful that he will be hurt. So of like the yuppie moms who are afraid of their puppies playing on the freaking monkey bars in Carroll Park. But Col. Yorke let’s his son make up his own mind and he stays on to become a hero in action as he helps rescue some kidnapped children (OK Ford likes to load the dice).

Anyway, the conflict and competing tugs of the relationship of duty, family and honor are fascinating. The conflict that can occur between being a good husband and being a good father is laid bare for all to see. You can please your partner by giving in to their wishes, but that might not be the best thing for your child. Sometimes you have to break the rules if it’s the right thing to do.

Check out this film the next time you have a chance.

Oh by the way, when I first decided to comment and blog I decided to do it with a pseudonym for various reasons. I wanted to use the name the Duke used as a boxer in the Quiet Man. But I misremembered it as Trooper York. It actually was Trooper Thorn for Sean Thornton but once I figured that out I had already been commenting for months as Trooper York. So I stuck with it. You get the idea.

"Here's a stick to beat the lovely lady with."

The history of the depiction of the relationships of men and women and violence are as old as the history of the motion pictures. Tracy and Hepburn, Gable and Colbert, Stewart and Dietrich all were depicted in various famous movies engaged in hand to hand combat in the battle of the sexes. But my favorite pairing of all time is of course John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.

The famous liberal icon and all around nasty cunt Pauline Kael once disparaged Maureen O’Hara as portraying a “John Ford” woman whose main job was to keep the home fires burning and say things like “Be careful Matt.” As usual the incoherent feminist twat had no idea what she was talking about. The women of the John Ford films were tough enduring pioneer women who were creatures of their times but who were full partners with there men. Even the citified Claudette Colbert who moved to the rough Frontier in Drums along the Mohawk, toughed up and became a full partner with her husband in the fight for survival. And no one was tougher than Maureen O’Hara.

The first pairing of Wayne and O’Hara in Rio Grande has always seemed to be the best to me. They were originally meant to star in the Quiet Man but the Studio insisted on the cavalry movie first to pay for the quaint Irish tale. The themes of honor and duty and sacrifice recur throughout Fords work and he sets up the contrast between Colonel Yorkes stern dedication to his honor and Kathleen’s devotion to a genteel ideal past of the antebellum south. North vs. South. Yankee vs. Confederate. Man vs. woman. The continual battle of opposites that attract each other. It is a staple of all the movies that Wayne and O’Hara made together.

In the Quiet Man, they are transported to Ireland as Sean Thornton woos and marries Mary Kate Danaher despite the obstacle placed in their path by her brother the Squire. The comical fist fight between Thornton and Red Will Danaher is also a staple of most of Fords best work bring a measure of comedic violence to leaven the sentiment. You know he didn’t want it to be too mushy.

If Rio Grande and The Quiet Man were the work of the master, then McClintock is homage by lesser talent. Made by Wayne’s Batjack productions it was done at the time the studio system had fallen apart and stars had to finance their own projects. Wayne was able to get financing based on the fact that it was a Western and starred him and O’Hara which was considered money in the bank. Loosely based on the Taming of the Shrew the comic violence and conflict between the rough hewn frontier and the civilizing influence of a woman were also in place. Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, the son of Victor McLaglen who played Red Danaher as well as Wayne’s faithful sergeant in so many Ford Films. McLaglen had a long career directing Westerns but he is of course just a pale imitation of the Master. And he was constrained by Wayne’s sensibility as he had his pet writer pen this trifle of a home movie. Also starring Wayne’s son they basically copied the comic fight scene from the Quiet Man but made it between a Wayne and O’Hara with a lot of slapstick thrown in. So it is not quite fair to judge McClintock in comparison with the work of the master John Ford.

Still, it is miles better than the crap these assholes produce today.