Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27803 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Amazon.com
It's hardly shameful that The Three Godfathers ranks as the slightest John Ford Western in a five-year arc that includes My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Wagon Master, and Rio Grande. The source, a Peter B. Kyne story both hard-bitten and sentimental, had already been filmed at least five times--once by Ford himself as Marked Men (1919). The star of that silent version, Harry Carey, had recently died. This remake is dedicated to him ("Bright Star of the early western sky") and proudly introduces his son, Harry Carey Jr. (who had already appeared in Howard Hawks's Red River--as did his father--but we won't quibble).

Just before Christmas, three workaday outlaws (John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey Jr.) rob a bank in Welcome, Arizona, and flee into the desert. The canny town marshal (Ward Bond) moves swiftly to cut them off from the wells along their escape route, so they make for another, deep in the wasteland. There's no water waiting for them, but there is a woman (Mildred Natwick) on the verge of death--and also of giving birth. The three badmen accept her dying commission as godfathers to the newborn. Motley variants of the Three Wise Men, they strike out for the town of New Jerusalem with her Bible as roadmap. It becomes increasingly apparent that saving the child's life will cost them their own.

Ford's is the softest retelling of the tale; in place of Kyne's bitter/triumphant final twist, he adds a very broad comic postlude. Elsewhere, the nearly sacramental treatment of the mother's death is followed by an extended gosh-almighty sequence of the banditos reading up on childcare. But it's all played with great gusto and tenderness--especially by Wayne, who's rarely been more appealing. Visually the film is one knockout shot after another. This was Ford's first Western in Technicolor, as well as his first collaboration with cinematographer Winton Hoch. What they do with sand ripples and shadows and long plumes of train smoke is rapturously beautiful. It's also often too arty by half, but who can blame them? --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Another Wayne/Ford Compilation
Many people know about John Wayne and John Ford's cavalry trilogy, three of the greatest westerns ever made, but another pairing between the two is not as well known. The Three Godfathers is a lesser-known John Wayne classic when he was at the top of his game. Starring Harry Carey Jr. and Pedro Armendariz as the other two godfathers this classic should not be missed. These three outlaws ride into the desert after a bungled robbery only to find a dying woman with a newborn infant. The Duke promises to care for the baby which she names Robert William Pedro Hightower after the three outlaws. They must then make the trek across the desert with very little supplies to get the baby to the next town. Excellent supporting cast with many recognizable faces from other Duke movies, with Ward Bond playing the sheriff who attempts to track down the outlaws. Truly funny scenes as Wayne, Armendariz, and Carey attempt to care for the baby. As usual awesome scenery as is expected in John Ford westerns. This is one classic that has to be put on DVD. A must have for John Wayne fans!

Heartwarming John Wayne / John Ford Classic! Now on DVD!
All the positive comments you read here about this film are true.

This classic western stars John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Harry Carey Jr, along with a great supporting cast lead by Ward Bond -- the usual John Ford suspects. Ford strikes a balance between action and sentimentality, directing this simple story in a straightforward fashion with a great sense of style. This is Ford's first color film and cinematography by Winton C. Hoch looks really, really rich and with enough sand to make you wish you had some lemonade.

Duke really shines in this film -- just watch those expressions.

Restored to its original pristine 1948 35mm real Technicolor glory, "3 Godfathers" is a natural for the Christmas season. This heartwarming drama is a gritty, tender, timeless classic. A film the whole family can watch.

This sleeper film in the WB/MGM catalog was way, W A Y overdue on DVD in the US. But here it is, most welcomed and highly recommended!

(I've revised my original 2003 review to reflect this title's availability on DVD. Released with zero fanfare, I was first aware of its release when I saw a newspaper ad for it one week before Christmas 2005.)

Love Duke, love this movie
I'm giving this four stars instead of five simply because five stars is reserved for true masterpieces - for films virtually without flaw. This film is flawed, but oh so wonderfully lovable. I won't bother to retell the plot, as others have already done a better job than I can, but I will just say what I love about it.

The performances: Pedro Armendariz & Harry Carey Jr. are wonderful. I think of the scene where Pedro steels his resolve and heads into the tattered covered wagon to help deliver Mildred Natwick's child; his face reveals a wonderful mixture of dread, awe, responsibility, resolve, strength, determination... And John Wayne is at his irascible, lovable best - at turns impatient and scolding, tender and understanding - truly avuncular. He is clearly the leader of the group, and being 6'4" of John Wayne, he commands (and gets!) most of our attention, but never in a way that diminishes the other two men or moves them too far into the background. The relationship between the three characters is wonderfully drawn and complementary; obviously they all had great chemistry together.

The story: The desert is a harsh and unforgiving place, but this film shows that even in the desert you can find redemption. Robert Hightower's soul is in a spiritual desert and it is for this reason that he must be the one to bring the baby to New Jerusalem. He has to find his own redemption and his own peace walking with God, which the other two men already seem to have. I know some may not share in the Christian faith that John Ford obviously had and thus may find the symbolism in this film heavy-handed, but I for one think it lent a great deal of emotional depth. Every soul is longing for something more, and for something greater than itself, and though I know little about Ford as a person, it seems to me that he knew this something more can only be found in Christ. There is so much more I could say about the symbolism in this film - the water, for example, that the men are constantly craving and aching for - think of the Samaritan woman at the well in the Bible and what Jesus tells her (John 4). This is a highly spiritual film!

It is also at times highly comic. The funniest part, and one I could watch over and over again, is when the men are puzzling over what to do with their godson. Just the sight of John Wayne holding the tiny infant in his huge hands is downright sweet and endearing. Then the Kid pulls out Doc Meecham's book of baby advice, advice that prompts JW to say he wouldn't trust a "sick polecat" to the good doctor's care. One of the things the doctor suggests is rubbing the baby down with olive oil or clean lard. Pedro finds some axle grease, and the next thing we see is Wayne's huge hand dipping into the yellow grease and "greazing" the tiny baby's body, a sight that strikes the characters as funny as it strikes us. But it's much better seen than described so I will leave off. Suffice it to say that this is a highly enjoyable film that moves easily between sad & funny moments, and one I will be turning to often.