Well, it took me long enough. It was the author’s fault as much as my own. I had read a little about John Wayne before, but otherwise my own experiences with the Three Bad Men that Scott Allen Nollen has written about had been confined to to the movies I’d seen. Nollen’s book overwhelmed me with new information to digest and even enhanced a few of the movies I’d already seen.
At times there seems to be an over-reliance on a few previously published books, most notably: Joseph McBride’s Searching for John Ford: A Life; John Wayne: American by Randy Roberts and James S. Olson; and Pappy: The Life of John Ford by Ford’s grandson, Dan Ford; along with the autobiographies of Maureen O’Hara, Harry Carey, Jr. and, later in the book, Woody Strode. In the case of the first biographies mentioned Nollen acknowledges jobs well done and cites them for further emphasis of his own points or to occasionally counterpoint. Quotes by Ford’s three former actors and his grandson are expertly woven into the narrative so that someone not familiar with the books would almost believe Nollen had interviewed them himself (all such material is credited throughout).
Those Nollen did interview at one time or another over the course of his writing career include Frankie Avalon, Anna Lee and Henry Brandon, the latter best recalled as “Scar” in The Searchers if the name doesn’t ring a bell. A lifelong interest in his subject gave Nollen the opportunity to ask the right questions when he got a hold of these personalities, over twenty years ago in the case of the deceased Lee and Brandon. Nollen also had access to original correspondence either to or from each of his three bad men, including some fascinating letters that young Ward Bond wrote to his parents. Those really helped to color Bond’s early Hollywood biography.
One of the most impressive elements of Three Bad Men is Nollen’s familiarity with every film he discusses. For any title mentioned we get at least an honest critical evaluation and often a little opinion too, all expressed eloquently yet in language that any film fan can understand.
I do want to give a quick mention to the physical product itself, especially for those of you unfamiliar McFarland’s with output and wondering what $49.95 is going to get you. It’s a 408 page paperback, yes, but this is a trade paperback with McFarland’s typically wide margins and typography slightly smaller than the norm (keep reading glasses handy!). That’s part of what took me so long—in another publisher’s hands this book could have easily been double the length! The photographs throughout, many of which are rare and from the author’s personal collection, reproduce in a very lush black & white. On top of that the construction is good: my review copy is dog-eared and banged up, but the binding still holds strong. Would I prefer an 800-page hardcover book if I was going to spend fifty bucks? Sure, but the meat inside this package is just as choice.
The highlight is the biography of Ward Bond that is interwoven throughout the book. The picture we get of Bond is of a loudmouth and braggart who often drank too much and would have been more popular had he kept his politics to himself. While it’d be overstating the case to say everyone loved him despite his flaws, it is certain that Wayne and Ford did, along with several others. Those who didn’t care for the man personally were still able to work with him and often commented on Bond’s work ethic.
While Bond is the star of Three Bad Men, John Ford is its central force. Had to be. And so the story of all three men is strung through “Pappy” and Nollen goes into his greatest detail about the films that they were all a part of together. But their other work is covered as well with, for example, the later portion of the book giving way to coverage of a good number of Wagon Train episodes, teasing this reader with an impressive array of guest appearances and solid overall episodes. I haven’t seen the show, but now I’d like to give it a try, at least the Bond episodes.
All of your John Wayne favorites are discussed inside of Three Bad Men as well, though I did get the feeling that he lagged a little behind as the third of these bad men. It felt a bit odd when the chronology ended with Ford’s death, leaving Duke alive at his bedside, though a couple of days removed from the reading experience it feels more like it was the right choice to shut this story down once Ford shut down.
Scott Allen Nollen has attempted something very difficult with Three Bad Men and it largely works. He’s taken three lives and three careers and made them into a single story. This could become confusing and every so often did throw me for a little loop, though that was usually because of a fourth or fifth person’s story poking its way into the lives of our Three Bad Men. Nollen has an encyclopedic knowledge of film history that might overwhelm less through an occasional chapter heading or perhaps even sidebar.
While fans of Ford and Wayne are going to tread familiar ground I think they’ll appreciate how that information blends into Nollen’s overall theme linking the two with Bond. There’s no denying that each of the three could be rotten human beings at times and that they brought out the worst in one another as much as they brought out the best. Really three hard men is how I left the book thinking of them, because each seemed as determined as they were difficult. Individually my general perception was of Bond as blowhard, a lovable one unless you were on the receiving end of his bluster; Wayne, self-interested, perhaps self-aware, yet best able to get along with others; Ford as Pappy, no doubt, to be revered, but Katie bar the door if you don’t! He also seemed least sure of himself away from the creative process, thus the legendary drinking binges.
As an introductory text, there’s an awful lot here. It can be a bit of an effort, but worth the payoff. I mentioned how well the sections about Wagon Train teased me towards the series, well; when I began that section I dreaded my arrival. I have never seen the show and was ready to glaze over from information I expected to be irrelevant to my own reading experience. Instead it whet my appetite. It should do the same for readers new to any of the movies. While I didn’t always agree with Nollen’s appraisals (Personally, I can’t stand The Quiet Man) they did make me want to reevaluate some that didn’t originally score well with me and I did actually watch a few again while I was reading this book (Young Mr. Lincoln and Wagon Master, for example).
So, for me, it was practically an interactive text.
At the back of Three Bad Men are three appendices, the subjects of which best illustrate the main content of the book: The Films of John Ford featuring John Wayne and/or Ward Bond, a Bond filmography plus an entire separate section containing Ward Bond’s TV appearances. It’s a Bond book more than any of the others, but Ford and Wayne figure so largely in his career that they were bound to take major supporting roles in Bond’s story.
I also applaud the author for offering copious chapter notes and a full index. The index guarantees Three Bad Men is a volume I will return to myself whenever I need a refresher in either Ford, Wayne or especially Ward Bond.
John Wayne in John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) as pictured on a vintage tobacco card.
I’d like to thank the author for securing me a review copy of Three Bad Men: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond from publisher, McFarland.
You can browse McFarland’s assortment of titles at their website www.mcfarlandpub.com or call their order line at (800) 253-2187.
I interviewed author Scott Allen Nollen earlier this year in anticipation of Three Bad Men. You can find that interview HERE.
For other entries about this same title please see the reviews posted at Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings as well as the Western centric sites, Riding the High Country and 50 Westerns from the 50s.
Well Cliff, you may be late with your review, but you did a thorough, bang up job of it. I chose 23 reviewers and sent them off to McFarland for Scott…….of course I included you since you had done the pre-release interview, AND Scott asked me to. McFarland decided they were sending out ONLY PDFs. Scott couldn’t get anywhere with them, So, I called the VP…….small world, McFarland is right up the mountain from me here. She did an override on PR and had books sent to all reviewers in the US……not the overseas ones though. Mike Siegel wrote me and told me he couldn’t do the review……didn’t have time to read a PDF during filming scenes….DANG, but don’t blame him…..he sent out his massive book on .Peckinpah to over 50 reviewers. Anyway, if Scott sent you one also…..you got two books…..good for you. Even though there have been lots of great reviews, yours included a good many things not mentioned in the others. Thanks again for doing the review, Cliff. Hopefully you can briefly post your thoughts on the book on Amazon.com reviews for the paperback.. There are only 9 reviews there and I know thousands of books have been sold. Also, it was great that you let folks know the quality of McFarland books. They are way above most of the John Ford, John Wayne books. My copy is like yours, and the binding is still perfect. Have a good one….KEITH
Keith, glad you enjoyed it! No, I only have the one copy and thank you too for all you did in getting it to me and communicating in between.
I felt I had to explain the physical quality of the book: I see so many Amazon reviews of McFarland titles where people say “Great book!” and then rate it 1-star because it cost too much. You get a lot of bang for your buck out of their catalog in general and I think Scott’s book may be the meatiest in terms of size and content that I’ve opened up.
Frankly, if this was a PDF you’d still be waiting on the review–unless a Kindle was included with it!
Thanks again,
Cliff
You’ve never seen “Wagon Train”? I will now retire to a dark room with a cold compress on my head. I haven’t been this shocked since the guy I was dating (and married) told me he’d never seen “Shane”.
When you have the time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW3N_vE-ZKY
No, to the best of my knowledge Wagon Train never played in syndication here on Long Island when I was growing up in the ’80s and banking most of my classic TV knowledge! We were pretty much limited to Bonanza re-runs from what I recall–at least that’s what I remember watching! Thanks for the link, I was going to poke around YouTube hoping for something!
Hi Patricia, That was a bit of a shock to me, also. Although one of my UK friends very film knowledgeable has never seen it either. It is the best western series I have ever seen……Ward worked extremely hard to make it so. Not long before he had his fatal heart attack, Pappy told him he was worn down and WT was doing it to him….he needed to take it easier. Ward replied that he had never felt better in his life. Ward Bond as Major Seth Adams was a very remarkable character. There will never be another like him. I suggest you watch it from the beginning, Cliff. I skip the Flint stories mostly now, (however he was my very first “Heart Throb” when the series was being made. But, it you only watch a few episodes to “check it out”…….I would say to try “The Andrew Hale Story” and The Major Adams Story Parts 1 and 2. Also, Weight of Command is excellent and shows off the talents of, not only Ward, but also Terry Wilson and Frank McGrath, (Bill Hawks and Wooster) who were both in the contract Ward signed when he began WT……….they were to be in all WTs. If you watch the first three seasons and most of the fourth………you will not be sorry. Ward learned from Ford…….and he learned well! KEITH
“Wagon Train” was a quality program and even to this day, there are times when nothing will do but time spent on the TV trail.
Thanks, Keith. Patricia was kind enough to link to the Major Adams story on YouTube, so I’ll do my best to check them out.
Hi Cliff, that was the story of Major Adams and how he came to be a Wagon Master. The Andrew Hale Story shows him more on the train and John McIntire is excellent. .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERdavfwjIxE Also, cannot find the Weight of Command, but the first episode starred Ernie Borgnine and is a really good one. The one part YouTUbe isn’t very good, but the two part one is First part http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwlZoEhN3uU Second part http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k7kPV_io9I Give it a shot. That are some that are really great….can’t find them on YouTube though. KEITH
PS: I have seen Shane … several times 🙂
I knew there was hope for you!
Hi Cliff! Just a note to say I really enjoyed your take on the book, especially as you’d mentioned to me previously that some of the subject matter wasn’t so familiar to you. Was thus very interested in your experience reading the book and mentally comparing notes with you. I think overall we had much the same take on the book despite varying levels of acquaintance with “Fordiana.” Like you, I especially appreciated the new material and perspective on Ward Bond.
Think it’s great the book led you to revisit a couple titles. Since WAGON MASTER is one of my favorite movies I am crossing my fingers you might have enjoyed that one more on your second viewing. 🙂 Love your description of the book as an “interactive text” in that regard!
Best wishes,
Laura
Laura, I appreciated Wagon Master more, but it didn’t really impact my list of Ford favorites. I really like some of his biggest ones best, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, also really enjoyed The Last Hurrah, and in terms of Westerns, Stagecoach, The Searchers and the first two of the Cavalry Trilogy. Ford gets a bit, I want to say, sentimental for me at times and reading Scott’s book I think I learned that’s because of his injecting the ‘Irishness’ into his old West. One man’s quaint is another’s hokey. Maybe that’s why I prefer a lot of the more universally acclaimed titles best; his voice and vision doesn’t penetrate as deep with me beyond that as it does with his hardcore fans.
And all that said, How Green Was My Valley is about as sentimental as you can get, but it just really worked for me.
Oh, I finally read your review just when I reached the point of adding images and links to mine–I breathed a sigh of relief after that because, you’re right, we took very different perspectives to this book and saw a lot of the same things.
Hi Cliff, Thanks for your detailed response! I find it so interesting to compare what “works” and what doesn’t for us as viewers. I have kind of shied away from trying a couple of his “big” titles like HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (’cause I know I’m going to cry, LOL). I hope to watch that one later this year. And I’ve only seen STAGECOACH once, but I plan to revisit it as well. THE GRAPES OF WRATH made a big impression but again, saw it once.
My list of Ford favorites starts with WAGON MASTER, RIO GRANDE, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, THE SEARCHERS, and THE QUIET MAN. Know you don’t like the last title, and you mentioned preferring the first two Cavalry films but not RIO GRANDE. I really love the films where the Ford Stock Company ties are very evident and where his less-known players have a chance to shine (like WAGON MASTER and RIO GRANDE). Knowing of the off-screen connections (especially in a film like THE QUIET MAN which in a way was almost a home movie, grin) enhances the onscreen for me. I’m also big into the Western music of RIO GRANDE, WAGON MASTER, and THE SEARCHERS – grew up with lots of Sons of the Pioneers played in my house.
Just kind of fun, since many of our tastes are similar, to look at how differently these particular films “speak” to us and figure out why.
Best wishes,
Laura
Laura,
I have no doubt some of my own feelings are partly cultural. When the singing and dancing, or heaven forbid, a full on hoedown breaks out, I hold onto to my couch and await the next scene. It seems like when Ford’s characters start having fun, I don’t. I prefer the gritty badmen with 100% terrified townsfolk. It’s odd, because I love the little humorous touches in, say, a B-mystery, but those are typically more urban oriented.
That’s my best guess as to the “why” of your closing paragraph! Not sure if that speaks to personal tastes or my being more close-minded than I’d care to admit.
Cliff
Hi Again Cliff, I am trying mightily with my blog on Word Press but am having a TERRIBLE time with it……me who has a HUGE 30 or so page website I built!
I see you didn’t like Wagon Master. I did a short on it with things that most people don’t know about it…….the screen catches prove what I say, though. You can see it on my poor little mixed up blog, ( I WILL get it right soon, and then….look out, LOL). Here it is if you would like to read it……you almost need a magnifying glass! Some interesting things including what Ward’s leg looked like after all the surgeries and skin grafts. KEITH http://hawkswill.wordpress.com/
Keith, I liked Wagon Master, just didn’t love it. Very informative post, thanks for sharing!
You’ll get WordPress eventually–just keep building pages and the magic moment will come.
Great review Cliff, and thanks for linking to my piece on Scott’s book too. It is indeed packed with info that may be a tad confusing for anyone not familiar with these three guys and their work. Still, I felt it was organized in such a way that the reader, even the uninitiated, could follow.
Thanks, Colin, I enjoyed yours as well! I could have used a little more organization (ie: headings, sidebars, white space), but I agree, that’s just nitpicking for fans of these three.