John Ford - Fort Apache 1

Some more random note's on John Ford's 'Fort Apache' The John Wayne character - is something of an ideal leader - pragmatic, compassionate, open, honest, intelligent, unselfish, true to his code,... One thing though is that there is something of an aristocratic, elitist portrayal where the officers are shown as honorable, dignified, and responsible whereas the lower ranks as seen as alcohol-fueled cornballs... although I'd say better this than the other way around (It's relatively rare that the upper class or ruling class aren't portrayed as decadent and corrupt in films, and this a subtext in this film as well). However, an important theme in Ford's work is that virtue and personal merit are more important than rigid social stratification (i.e advancement should be based on worthy qualifications rather than political manoeuvering, social barriers should not be so rigid as to not recognize acts of nobility, regardless of social standing or rank). Tradition and social ceremony are used to underscore these points - dancing for example, is used as a symbol of harmonious social interaction... Stuff: There's this guy: http://www.artpastel.com/ Besides being a very cool pastel artist, he also has amazing knowledge of the coolest illustrators. ..and this guy, a helluva cartoonist/illustrator: http://sanmillan.free.fr/ They did a book on this guy : http://mapage.noos.fr/beuville/ This dude is da bomb - you can see how he influenced European cartoonist René Follet, who's one my favorite euro guys...