After watching the 1936 version of "Three Godfathers" with Chester Morris, Lewis Stone and Walter Brennan in the titled roles, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I caught up with this 1948 remake. I didn't think it would take almost seven years but that's the way it goes sometimes. There's an earlier version yet, a 1916 silent featuring Harry Carey (Sr.) in the John Wayne role which I'll get around to eventually as well. For this film, director John Ford paid tribute to the elder actor with an opening screen dedicated to the memory of Harry Carey.
The first thing to note with this movie was the surprising Technicolor format, very vibrant for 1948 and a plus for movie goers of the era. For this viewer however, the cinematography doesn't compensate for the superior way in which the story was presented in the 1936 film. For a picture from the Thirties, that one seemed to do a much better job of developing the principal characters, casting them as more reprehensible villains than the way Wayne, Harry Carey Jr. and Pedro Armendariz are presented here. In fact, following the Welcome bank robbery, Robert (Wayne), Pedro (Armendariz) and William (Carey) almost instantly acquire good guy status by virtue of their 'adoption' of the infant who's mother died after giving birth. By contrast, Chester Morris in the Hightower role (his name was Bob Sangster in the 1936 film), actually manhandled the baby pretty roughly. If he had a can of grease available, he probably would have dipped the kid in it!
But if you haven't seen both films to make the comparison, this is more than a passable story. There's some humor thrown in to contrast the dire situation the three 'godfathers' find themselves in as they trudge their way through the Arizona desert. The 'baby greasing' scene was something of a hoot, and John Wayne's character got some good mileage out of that running gag reminding Pedro not to speak 'Mex' in front of the infant. While all this was going on, Sheriff Perley 'Buck' Sweet (Ward Bond) kept up a crafty chess-like strategy trailing the outlaws through the desert until there was only Hightower left to pursue.
One other contrast stands out between this and the earlier 1936 film, and that's in the amount of overt religious symbolism and references. Not a bad thing necessarily, as the Bible the godfathers find in the covered wagon with the baby and it's mother serves as a beacon leading them toward their ultimate salvation and redemption. Though William and Pedro don't make it to the end of the story, they die for a noble cause, one for which they entered willingly and without reservation once fate dealt it's ultimate hand.
The first thing to note with this movie was the surprising Technicolor format, very vibrant for 1948 and a plus for movie goers of the era. For this viewer however, the cinematography doesn't compensate for the superior way in which the story was presented in the 1936 film. For a picture from the Thirties, that one seemed to do a much better job of developing the principal characters, casting them as more reprehensible villains than the way Wayne, Harry Carey Jr. and Pedro Armendariz are presented here. In fact, following the Welcome bank robbery, Robert (Wayne), Pedro (Armendariz) and William (Carey) almost instantly acquire good guy status by virtue of their 'adoption' of the infant who's mother died after giving birth. By contrast, Chester Morris in the Hightower role (his name was Bob Sangster in the 1936 film), actually manhandled the baby pretty roughly. If he had a can of grease available, he probably would have dipped the kid in it!
But if you haven't seen both films to make the comparison, this is more than a passable story. There's some humor thrown in to contrast the dire situation the three 'godfathers' find themselves in as they trudge their way through the Arizona desert. The 'baby greasing' scene was something of a hoot, and John Wayne's character got some good mileage out of that running gag reminding Pedro not to speak 'Mex' in front of the infant. While all this was going on, Sheriff Perley 'Buck' Sweet (Ward Bond) kept up a crafty chess-like strategy trailing the outlaws through the desert until there was only Hightower left to pursue.
One other contrast stands out between this and the earlier 1936 film, and that's in the amount of overt religious symbolism and references. Not a bad thing necessarily, as the Bible the godfathers find in the covered wagon with the baby and it's mother serves as a beacon leading them toward their ultimate salvation and redemption. Though William and Pedro don't make it to the end of the story, they die for a noble cause, one for which they entered willingly and without reservation once fate dealt it's ultimate hand.