3 Godfathers (1948) Starring John Wayne, Pedro
Armendáriz, Harry Carey, Jr., Ward Bond Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by Laurence
Stallings, Frank S. Nugent Based on the novel The Three Godfathers by Peter B.
Kyne (New York, 1913). Produced by John Ford, Merrian C. Cooper. Run time: 107
min. Color. USA Western, Christmas.
Sometimes directors get a second chance at a story. Alfred
Hitchcock had that with The Man Who Knew Too Much, making it twice in 1934 and
in 1956. John Ford got the same chance with adapting Peter B. Kyne’s novel The
Three Godfathers. Marked Men (1919), directed by Ford starred Harry Carey, Joe
Harris and Ted Brooks, made by Universal, is now considered lost.
When Ford decided to remake the story, Harry Carey was no longer available,
having died in 1947.
While another long-time collaborator, John Wayne, would have
the lead role, Ford did bring in Harry Carey, Jr. Even though this was not his
first film, he is given an “Introducing” sort of credit. To round out the
three, Ford hired Pedro Armendáriz, a Mexican-American actor who was appearing
in only his third film, having appeared in only two other films, both directed
by John Ford, The Fugitive (1947) and Fort Apache (1948).
Ford wanted to make the film in Mexico, however, it was shot on location in Death Valley, CA, with some additional shooting in Lone Pine, CA. Ford made the film through his own production company that he co-owned with Merrian C. Cooper, Argosy Pictures. Since the story rights were owned by MGM, Argosy negotiated a one-picture releasing contract with MGM. This also marked the first time that MGM accepted a distribution deal without a financial investment or creative input in the production.
