Print the Legend

Borrowing his title from dialogue in John Ford's classic Western, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE - 'when the legend becomes fact, print the legend', Scott Eyman heeds this advice in his splendid study of Ford, finding a convincing balance between the gruff image Ford cultivated and the sensitive man he really was. The result is a definitive biography which benefits greatly from Eyman's full access to the Ford family archives. Arguably one of the greatest American filmmakers of the Twentieth Century, Ford projected a facade of belligerence yet engendered more loyalty among his crew and stock players (notably John Wayne) than any other director. Witty and contradictory, John Ford loved to tell stories about himself, and didn't much care whether they were true or not. Scott Eyman details Ford's turbulent relationship with Katherine Hepburn, his stand for freedom of speech during the McCarthy Witch-hunt, his debilitating alcoholism, and his heroism in World War II.