John Ford’s version of It’s a Wonderful Life told in the old west with John Wayne now comes to DVD from Warner Bros.
Three fellows ride into the town of Welcome. They are Robert Hightower (John Wayne), Pedro “Pete” Fuerte (Pedro Armendariz), and William “The Abilene Kid” Kearney (Harry Carey, Jr.). They ride into town and meet a friendly fellow named Perley “Buck” Sweet (Ward Bond) and his wife (Mae Marsh).
They’re having a pleasant conversation, but Perley seems to be asking too many questions. His wife comes out and asks if they might ran into her niece and her husband on the way into town. They’re coming into town for Christmas. They have not seen anyone on the trail. Things are going fine until Perley puts on his vest and they see his sheriff’s badge.
You see the three fellows are on their way into town to rob the bank. Perley realizes how cagey they’re acting and says that he’ll probably be seeing them real soon. The boys rob the bank and in the chase out of town, Perley shoots William in the arm and their water bag. They try to find water, but Perley dogs their every step and is always one step ahead.
They decide to set out across the desert, without water, and stop at Terrapin Tanks. They arrive at the tanks, but they’ve been dynamited by a tenderfoot in an attempt to get more water out of them. They do find an abandoned covered wagon with a pregnant woman (Mildred Natwick) inside. Seems that Mr. Tenderfoot’s stock ran off and he went to chase after them and died in the desert. Our three “heroes” help in the delivery of the baby but the mother dies in childbirth.
Promise me you'll take care of Robert William Pedro
They swear to her that they will take care of the baby. So our 3 Godfathers set out across the desert with little Robert William Pedro (as they christen him) to get him to safety. Will the three and Robert William Pedro make it to safety or will they die in the desert? Perley also finds the wagon and discovers that the dead are his wife’s niece and her husband and now he’s in hot pursuit with revenge on his mind since he thinks that the three are responsible for the deaths.
3 Godfathers is another wonderful John Ford picture. We tend to forget that this is all taking place at Christmastime since it’s in the desert and we don’t have snow or malls full of Christmas decorations - though that’s probably not right, since Ford lays on the Christ child imagery pretty thick. This has turned some folks off in the past (maybe not the Christ imagery, but the thickness in which Ford lays it on). I still think this is an excellent movie and fine performances abound.
All of our 3 Godfathers are well played and Ward Bond also is fine as Perley. There is some comedy from the fact that the Godfathers fight over the order of the tot’s names and their fumbling attempts at child care. The film does have somewhat of a Capra-esque ending where the town folk are very forgiving of the lone surviving bank robber/Godfather. This film, like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, is shot in glorious Technicolor and the DVD looks stunning. And yes, Jack Pennick is thrown in there somewhere (the conductor on the train).
3 Godfathers is presented in fullscreen as it was originally shown. Special features include the film’s theatrical trailer. It should be noted that Target stores had this film as an exclusive DVD (along with Mogambo which appears on the upcoming Clark Gable box set). This DVD is the same as the one that was sold at Target.
3 Bank robbers ride into town
If you missed it during the time it was available at Target, then now’s your time to get the 3 Godfathers as it goes into wide release (most predicted this day was coming when the DVD showed up at Target). I find the film a fine Western and it can be trotted out at Christmastime if you want to make it a holiday tradition (Die Hard is my favorite Christmas movie).
3 Godfather is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information. The film is also part of the John Wayne/John Ford Film Collection DVD set now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD’s database for more information.
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