{"id":162301,"date":"2026-02-01T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=162301"},"modified":"2026-01-31T10:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:00:19","slug":"john-ford-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=162301","title":{"rendered":"“The main thing about directing is: photograph the people’s eyes.” — John Ford"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nIt’s his birthday today.<\/p>\n

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\nFor Film Comment<\/i>, I wrote about his somber, emotional WWII movie, with the title that really BITES: They Were Expendable<\/i><\/a>. And they really were<\/i> expendable. It’s an amazing film and – in my opinion – one of his best. It didn’t go over all that well upon its release. Too realistic, I guess. Nobody was in the mood for it. The war was over. Men were coming home damaged, emotionally and physically, or not coming home at all.<\/p>\n

But it’s a great film, and a great tribute to the role PT boats played in winning the war in the Pacific. <\/p>\n

Here’s a piece I wrote about doorways in The Searchers<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Fabelmans gave me a deeper insight into John Ford’s horizon lines. <\/p>\n

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\nThank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link to my Venmo account<\/a>. And I’ve launched a Substack, Sheila Variations 2.0<\/a>, if you’d like to subscribe.<\/em> <\/small><\/p>\n