THREE GODFATHERS (1936)

 

The Warner Archive Collection has released John Ford's 3 GODFATHERS (1948) on Blu-ray, and the picture and sound quality is spectacular. What also makes this release notable is that the Archive has included on the disc a 1936 version of the story, titled THREE GODFATHERS. Both films are based on a novel by Peter B. Kyne, and the plot has been filmed or borrowed for several other adaptations over the years. (John Ford had even made a silent version with Harry Carey.) All the versions deal with three desperadoes on the run from the law in the Old West coming across an abandoned dying woman and her baby. 

The 1936 THREE GODFATHERS was produced by MGM and directed by Richard Boleslawski. It's a very different film from John Ford's 1948 version. The 1936 version is in black & white, and it lacks the sentimentality of the Ford film. The 1936 version has more of an edge to it. In Ford's film, the three fugitives/godfathers (John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, and Harry Carey Jr.) are lovable rogues rather than hardened criminals. In the 1936 version, the trio of bandits (Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, and Walter Brennan) are not particularly appealing, especially at first, and gang leader Bob (Morris) is most assuredly a man who is willing to break any law to get what he wants. 

The 1948 Ford version has the three bandits rob a bank and go on the run very soon after the story starts. The 1936 version spends more time at the beginning setting up the town of New Jerusalem and its eccentric citizens. It also establishes Bob as a dastardly fellow--when the bank robbery does happen in the '36 version, he shoots an unarmed man, a man who is engaged to a former flame of Bob's. 

In the 1936 version, after the trio ride off into the desert and come upon the dying woman and her baby, there's a debate between Bob and his two partners on what to do with the infant. Doc (Lewis Stone) and Gus (Walter Brennan) are all for taking care of the child and getting him to safety, while Bob, worried about the money from the bank robbery and the fact that their horses have ran away and their water is almost gone, thinks they should just leave it. In the Ford version there's no question as to what to do--the three bandits are bound and determined to save the baby. 

The ending of the 1936 version is darker as well--Bob finally redeems himself, but only after paying the ultimate price. In the Ford sound version, community and fellowship wins out over all. 

Walter Brennan, Lewis Stone, and Chester Morris 

Chester Morris is perfect casting as this version's Bob. In every movie I've seen Morris in, he has a surly, sarcastic attitude, and he certainly has that here. When the black-garbed Bob finally breaks down at the end, Morris makes it believable. Lewis Stone is a very unusual choice for the role of Doc--it takes a while to accept Andy Hardy's dad as a bandit in the Old West--but he manages to steal the film. Doc is a well-spoken man who carries books in his saddlebags. The movie never explains why an educated man like Doc is now robbing a bank in a remote Arizona town, but the sad look in Stone's eyes tells the viewer all they need to know about how far this man must have fallen in his life. Walter Brennan as Gus plays another of the actor's many old coot roles, but as usual he makes the ruffian entertaining to watch. 

Richard Boleslawski was no John Ford--there's no shame in that--but he uses the outdoor locations quite well, and he and the production team proficiently establish the plight that the three bandits and their charge are going through. There's a starkness and a realism to the portrayal of the West in this film that I think Ford himself would have appreciated. 

Both the 1936 and 1948 films on this Warners Blu-ray have been remastered, and the sound and picture quality is fantastic for both. Original trailers for both films have also been included on the disc. 

I prefer the 1948 3 GODFATHERS over the 1936 THREE GODFATHERS. 3 GODFATHERS is directed by John Ford after all, and the color photography by Winton Hoch is breathtaking. There's also the fact that it features John Wayne and several members of the John Ford stock company. 

I do have to say that I was impressed by the 1936 THREE GODFATHERS. It was better than I thought it would be, and it provides two surprising performances by Chester Morris and Lewis Stone. I'm glad that the Warner Archive included it along with the more famous 3 GODFATHERS on this standout Blu-ray release.