[Wayne and Ford 01] • Wayne and Ford

**John Ford and John Wayne were two titans of classic film and made some of the most enduring movies of all time. The genre they defined--the Western--still matters today.**
For over twenty years John Ford and John Wayne were a blockbuster Hollywood team, turning out many of the finest Western films ever made. Ford, a son of Irish immigrants known for his black eye patch and for his hard-drinking, brawling masculinity, was renowned for both his craftsmanship and his brutality. John "Duke" Wayne was a mere stagehand and bit player in "B" Westerns, but he was strapping and incredibly handsome, and Ford saw his potential. In 1939 Ford made Wayne a star in *Stagecoach, * and from there the two men established a close, often turbulent relationship.