The Commander

Summary

The Plot Thickens: Episode "The Commander" – Detailed Summary

Introduction to John Ford's Background and Military Aspirations

Timestamp: [00:14] – [02:17]

The episode opens with host Ben Mankiewicz delving into the early life of acclaimed director John Ford. By 1942, Ford had amassed numerous Academy Award nominations and had secured three Oscars for Best Director. Contrary to the typical Hollywood lifestyle, Ford distanced himself from the glamour and prestige of fame. His father, Dan Ford, highlights this sentiment:

Dan Ford [00:35]: "I never cared that much. Just as a way of making a living like the man digging the ditch."

Despite his disinterest in Hollywood's allure, Ford was driven by a profound desire to serve in the military, reflecting a deep-seated patriotism inherited from his family.

Dan Ford [00:53]: "One of the great honors in American citizen habits wear the uniform of this country at some time in weather."

Ford's relentless attempts to join the military—from aspiring to the Naval Academy to combat photography in World War I—were repeatedly thwarted by physical limitations such as poor vision. His eventual enlistment in the Naval Reserves was motivated by his marriage to Mary McBride Smith, who hailed from a distinguished military family.

Formation of the Field Photo Service

Timestamp: [02:25] – [10:14]

Mary McBride Smith’s military lineage added pressure on Ford to prove his American identity. John Wayne encapsulates this dynamic:

John Wayne [03:03]: "Yes."

Ford's ingenuity led him to create the Field Photographic Service, an unofficial military reconnaissance unit comprising over 100 Hollywood professionals. Film historian Mark Harris elucidates Ford's foresight:

Mark Harris [08:44]: "Well, Field photo was really largely John Ford's idea."

Ford's unit emphasized military-style discipline blended with filmmaking expertise. Biographer Scott Iman emphasizes the high caliber of Ford’s recruits:

Scott Iman [12:44]: "He recruited high-end industry professionals... established or soon-to-be recognized forces in the film industry."

Notable members included Robert Parrish, Greg Toland, and Mark Armistead—each bringing significant talent and dedication to the unit. Their training was rigorous, incorporating drills and film production exercises designed to prepare them for wartime documentation.

Battle of Midway and the Filming

Timestamp: [22:37] – [27:57]

Ford’s commitment was put to the test during the Battle of Midway. As the Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on December 7, 1941, Ford was on-site with his team, capturing the chaos and devastation of the battle. Despite being wounded by shrapnel, Ford continued to film, prioritizing the human element of warfare over mere combat footage.

Dan Ford [24:25]: "But not one minute of that film was ever shown anywhere in America."

The raw footage Ford captured highlighted not only the destruction but also the bravery and fear of the soldiers. However, complications arose when Greg Toland's documentary, "December 7th," portrayed Japanese Americans as potential spies, conflicting with military objectives and fueling racial prejudices prevalent at the time.

Creation and Impact of the Midway Documentary

Timestamp: [32:38] – [38:32]

Undeterred by military opposition, Ford smuggled the genuine footage back to Los Angeles, bypassing censorship to present an unvarnished portrayal of war's toll. The resulting 18-minute documentary, "Battle of Midway," emphasized loss and sacrifice over victory, a narrative that resonated deeply with audiences.

Mark Harris [34:14]: "It's about military funerals. It's about the idea that some of those young men... did not come back."

To ensure governmental support, Ford ingeniously included footage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s son, Jimmy Roosevelt, who had fought in the battle. This personal touch persuaded FDR to endorse the film, leading to widespread screenings and an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject.

John Ford [37:27]: "Nobody spoke from the time that that shot was on the screen until the end."

Relationship with the Military and OSS

Timestamp: [10:38] – [23:43]

Ford’s collaboration with William "Wild Bill" Donovan of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was pivotal. Donovan recognized Ford’s potential to influence public perception through film and granted him significant autonomy. However, this independence sometimes led to friction, especially when Toland's portrayal of Japanese Americans contradicted military narratives.

Despite these challenges, Ford’s dedication earned him the trust and recognition of military leaders. His ability to navigate bureaucratic obstacles and prioritize authentic storytelling solidified his unit’s role in wartime documentation.

Later Missions and Relationship with John Wayne

Timestamp: [29:06] – [37:52]

Following his commendable work at Midway, Ford was slated for another critical mission: documenting the D-Day invasion. Although Ford claimed to have filmed the Normandy landings, the footage remains elusive, raising questions about its existence and Ford’s legacy.

Parallel to his military endeavors, Ford’s personal life intertwined closely with Hollywood icons like John Wayne. After being wounded at Midway, Ford's recovery at home was supported by Wayne, highlighting a deep bond:

John Wayne [30:01]: "We'd go to the Hollywood Derby and would have dinner. And Duke sat there and played this Da da da da da di di Pancharia song."

Biographer Scott Iman sheds light on their relationship:

Scott Iman [31:38]: "Privately, Ford is a loving father figure, almost invariably supportive, affectionate. But in public, he didn't feel he could afford to be like that."

This duality underscored the complexities of Ford's character—his stoic professionalism juxtaposed with genuine personal connections.

Conclusion and Legacy

Timestamp: [37:52] – [40:58]

"The Commander" encapsulates John Ford’s multifaceted role as a filmmaker and war correspondent. His unwavering commitment to capturing the true essence of war, coupled with his ability to challenge military narratives, underscores his enduring legacy. Despite facing institutional pushback and personal hardships, Ford's work at Midway remains a testament to his vision and resilience.

The episode concludes by pondering the mysterious disappearance of Ford’s D-Day footage, leaving listeners with an enduring intrigue about one of cinema’s most influential figures.

Notable Quotes

• Dan Ford [00:35]: "I never cared that much. Just as a way of making a living like the man digging the ditch."
• John Wayne [03:03]: "Yes."
• Mark Harris [08:44]: "Well, Field photo was really largely John Ford's idea."
• Greg Toland [26:03]: "This really happened."
• Dan Ford [24:25]: "But not one minute of that film was ever shown anywhere in America."
• Scott Iman [31:38]: "Privately, Ford is a loving father figure, almost invariably supportive, affectionate. But in public, he didn't feel he could afford to be like that."

Final Thoughts

"The Commander" offers an in-depth exploration of John Ford's lesser-known military contributions, highlighting his dedication to authentic storytelling and his complex relationship with both the military and his peers in Hollywood. Through meticulous research and engaging narration, Ben Mankiewicz brings to light the extraordinary efforts of Ford and his unit, underscoring their pivotal role in documenting pivotal moments of World War II.

Transcript

[Commercial Voice]

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[Ben Mankiewicz]

By 1942, John Ford's movies had racked up dozens of Academy Award nominations and he'd won three Oscars for Best Director.

[John Ford]

John Ford.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

John Ford. Of course, he didn't go to a single ceremony. He didn't even seem to think filmmaking was an honorable or glamorous job.

[Dan Ford]

I never cared that much. Just as way of making a living like the man digging the ditch.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

But Ford did feel like he had something to prove. It just wasn't in Hollywood.

[Dan Ford]

I think one of the great honors in American citizen habits wear the uniform of this country at some time in weather.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

More than anything, John Ford wanted to serve in the military. It's one of the contradictions of Ford. This man who didn't respect fame, authority or power of any kind worshiped the military, one of the most hierarchical organizations you could join. He came by that worship honestly.

[Dan Ford]

My father was an ardent American. He had an idea, a good South American idea. If every American citizen. The proudest thing he could do was to wear the uniform of his country.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Every American conflict of the last 50 years had a Feeney in uniform. Feeney being Ford's last name at birth. But every time Ford tried to follow in their footsteps, he struck out. As a boy, he dreamed of attending the Naval Academy. But he couldn't get past the entrance exam. In the First World War, he tried to become a combat photographer. They turned him down on account of his bad vision. Pressure to serve only multiplied after Ford got married. He met Mary McBride Smith at a St. Patrick's Day dance in 1920. They tied the knot that July. She was beautiful. And she shared his taste for whiskey. Along with his family ties to military service.

[Mary McBride Smith]

She came from a whole Confederate family.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

There were dar Dar, daughters of the American Revolution. This is their grandson, Dan Ford.

[Mary McBride Smith]

She had an uncle who had been the Surgeon General of the United States and he was a Navy admiral. And a lot of her family had been in the military. And her brother Wingate was an extremely highly decorated soldier in World War I.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford admitted to Katharine Hepburn that all that military heritage weighed on him heavily.

[John Wayne]

Did the fact that she was a sort of military family give you a feeling of being inadequate and true and gave you a push to about something?

[Dan Ford]

In her eyes, Mary was an officer. So it was a pretty tough courtship.

[John Wayne]

Yes.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

After all those years trying to make his way into the military, Ford snuck in kind of a side door after buying his boat, the Arener. When the Navy pulled him into those spying missions looking for suspicious Japanese boats, he joined the Naval Reserves.

[Mary McBride Smith]

In a lot of ways, it was his way of proving to her that he was more than shanty Irish, that he was a real American.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

He purchased every kind of Navy uniform there was, kept them all in pristine condition, which you'll remember was not at all how he usually dressed.

[Mary McBride Smith]

Now, you know he was the world's worst dresser. I mean, his idea of dressing up was a old pair of flannel pants or jeans and a fatigue jacket.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford and his father were close, so once he was finally in the Reserves, he rushed to tell his dad the good news.

[Dan Ford]

He was disgusted. He's, what the hell kind of service is that? I said, that's part of the United States. Ah. He says, that's no service. Why don't you get out and join the Army? Join the National Guard, join the Sheridan Rifles, which is strictly an Irish outfit.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The terrible irony is that Ford's father would have been incredibly proud of his youngest son if he had lived just a few years longer. But his dad died in 1936, before John Ford made his way to the front lines of some of World War II's biggest battles. Rising in rank along the way and putting his own life in danger, Battle.

[Greg Toland]

Of Midway blazed forth in all its mighty fury.

[Dan Ford]

So when we arrived, I mean, the ships were still ablaze.

[Scott Iman]

It was really bad. An utter, complete slaughterhouse.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Casualties may reach a dreadful toll. I'm your host, Ben Mankiewicz. You are listening to season five of the Plot Thickens, a podcast from Turner Classic Movies. Each season we bring you an in depth story about the movies and the people who make them. This season, we partnered with Novel for decoding John Ford, the most influential filmmaker of the last hundred years. This is episode three, the Commander. Before John Ford made his way to the front lines, he first had to pay his dues. He got his chance in 1941, when the government reinstated the draft. The War Department needed help convincing the public to send their sons off to fight in yet another foreign war. So Washington turned to Hollywood.

[Mark Harris]

They were essentially to make propaganda films that would explain to American soldiers why they were fighting.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Mark Harris is the author of Five Came A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War.

[Mark Harris]

The War Department thought filmmaking can be a great motivator of patriotism, and we don't know how to do it, so we should subcontract this essentially to people who do.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford got hired to make a film for the military. An important one too, though. Probably not in the way he'd hoped.

[Greg Toland]

Let us study the male anatomy. This gland is called the prostate.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

It was a sex ed film for recruits. The military needed to stir up patriotic feelings. But they also needed more practical content.

[Greg Toland]

However, in the event of contact with a contaminated woman.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Like teaching new recruits how to avoid catching a venereal disease while serving overseas. It wasn't the sexiest job, but it was for the military. So Ford took it seriously, even had a little fun with it.

[Greg Toland]

On that slide, there are many germs that you cannot see with the unaided eye.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

He staged it as a classroom lesson with soldiers seated at desks while a menacing doctor lectured them.

[Greg Toland]

Most men know less about their own bodies than they do about their automobiles.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The director, known for his beautiful panoramas, leaned more on close ups for this film. Gonorrhea, zooming in on oozing genital sores and cutting to soldiers horrified faces.

[Greg Toland]

This is the specific germ of syphilis. These germs, if allowed to enter the body, may destroy your life.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

When the first batch of training films were screened for the press in August, Variety said Ford's sex hygiene was the best by far. Apparently Ford could even make syphilis compelling.

[Greg Toland]

The advice you have just heard is sound.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

A lot of people in Hollywood got into the war effort making training films, doing USO tours. John Ford went further. He built his own military reconnaissance unit. But it should be emphasized he did this without anyone in the military asking him to.

[Mark Harris]

Well, Field photo was really largely John Ford's idea.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

That's film historian Mark Harris. Again, Ford called his rogue unit the Field Photographic Service. He started creating it years before the United States even got involved in World War II.

[Mark Harris]

I mean, it was when a lot of filmmakers and a lot of Americans weren't really necessarily thinking that the United States entry into World War II was inevitable. Ford really did feel that way.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford called everyone he knew in Hollywood to convince them to join this unofficial unit. Directors, cinematographers, sound guys. Over time Ford recruited more than 100 men. On Tuesdays he'd run them through military style exercises, a kind of weekly form.

[Mark Harris]

Of basic training where they would run drills and figure out how to shoot and edit movies on the fly. And he loved sort of marches and drills and formation.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford took it all seriously and sometimes took it a little too far.

[Mark Harris]

It was basically a cross between pre war training and this weirdly ceremonial, almost hobby ish thing that Ford was interested in. Where at one point he wanted all of the officers in his weekend training unit to be able to carry Swords.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

When the Navy called Ford up for active duty in September 1941, he told them about Field photo. Said I've got the best filmmakers in the world trained up and ready to document the war. He offered to bring the unit with him. The Navy said thanks, but no thanks. So Ford pitched Field photo to someone else.

[Dan Ford]

He was very kind, courteous, soft spoken and belied his nickname of Wild Bill Donovan.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

William Wild Bill Donovan had just created a new spy agency called the Office of Strategic Services or oss. Today we call it the CIA. It was probably inevitable that Ford would respect Donovan. He had Ivy League degrees, but also had the scrappiness of a boxer from the rough end of Buffalo, New York. Most importantly, though, Bill Donovan was Irish. He earned his nickname because of the bravery he showed as the leader of the Fighting Irish Regiment in World War I. Warner Brothers actually made a movie about his exploits.

[Greg Toland]

George Brandt as Wild Bill Donovan, leader of the Shamrock Battalion.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Donovan was a highly decorated officer. It was like he had a military egot, Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross, three Purple Hearts, you name it. While Bill Donovan wore it on his well defined chest. When John Ford pitched his film unit to Donovan, Wild Bill could see what the Navy couldn't. Having the greatest living filmmaker document this war, making propaganda for the US that would be huge. He told Ford, I want you and your unit in the oss. And he had Ford report directly to him. Suddenly, John Ford wasn't merely in the military, he was one step away from the top. Only Bill Donovan stood between him and President Roosevelt, the Commander in Chief. The men Ford brought with him to the OSS were some of Hollywood's best and brightest, some of whom went on to become Hollywood royalty.

[Scott Iman]

None of them were drunks he picked up on skid row.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford biographer Scott Iman Ford was very.

[Scott Iman]

Particular about who he brought into the Field Photo Service. He recruited high end industry professionals. I mean these guys were either already established as forces to be reckoned with within the film industry or would soon be recognized as forces to be recognized in the film industry.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

People like this guy.

[John Ford]

I was working on some picture that he was doing and he told me about a Navy unit that he was forming and that he was getting some equipment together.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

That's Robert Parrish, son of a Coca Cola salesman from Georgia. He first met ford as an 11 year old child actor. Soon the old man was showing him how to edit film. Parrish went on to become an Oscar winning editor on films like Body and Soul and all the King's Men. First though, he joined Ford's unit.

[John Ford]

We were all sworn in immediately into active service and taken to Washington.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Sworn in with Parrish was Greg Toland, Ford's cinematographer on the Grapes of Wrath. Toland was a delicate guy, kind of sickly, with a pencil mustache like Clark Gable. Toland walked with a bit of a stoop, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. As a cameraman, though, he made films look beautiful. When the war came, he had just finished shooting a little movie called Citizen Kane. And then there was Mark Armistead. A kid Ford plucked from a Hollywood camera rental company and made his right hand man.

[Greg Toland]

My first meeting with, yes, I recall very vividly. First thing he did was say, square that hat, sailor.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The more time Armistead spent with Ford, the more he realized his new boss was kind of a handful. While they were in D.C. waiting for their first mission, Armistead and some other officers lived on board an abandoned yacht. Ford would drop by sometimes to bunk with the guys. He always took the captain's quarters for himself. Not that he used to sleep. Ford was a nocturnal creature. He'd send Armistead out on errands in the middle of the night and keep him up till sunrise, drinking and talking.

[Greg Toland]

I probably know more about his drink than any man alive.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford would leave in the morning and Armistead would be stuck washing Ford's filthy sheets and sweeping up the cigar ash and candy wrappers that littered the floor. Armistead would get very good at cleaning up John Ford's messes. Before the war was over, he saw Ford at one of the lowest, most pathetic points in his life. But for now, in 1941, Ford was the boss.

[Greg Toland]

This is really John Ford's Navy. And we did things the way he wanted done.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

And that, that was really was John Ford's unit. Even though it was part of the military. Ford's boss, Wild Bill Donovan, knew how to delegate.

[Scott Iman]

Donovan gave his people, the men he regarded as his people, a great deal of autonomy, which Ford needed psychologically and practically. He didn't deal well with a lot of supervision.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

John Ford found under Wild Bill Donovan a corner of the military where his rebellious spirit could thrive. Where he could do things his way. Coming up, Ford and his unit go to war and find themselves in the thick of battle.

[Dan Ford]

After about four minutes, I got a close.

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[Greg Toland]

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[Scott Iman]

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[Ben Mankiewicz]

After months of training, the men of field photo were finally dispatched all over the world.

[Scott Iman]

One group would be shooting reconnaissance photographs. Somebody else would be doing post production on another documentary. And Ford was the only guy who knew the whole equation of what was going on. So it was kind of chaotic except Ford kept it all up in his skull.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Mark Armistead was sent to London to do reconnaissance along the front.

[Greg Toland]

Our job was to compile from photographs, eyewitness accounts, postcards, old books, the whole range of the coast from Norway down.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

It was a serious mission with a goofy nickname.

[Greg Toland]

He gave a project that we call Ippy Dippy Intelligence documentary photographic project was.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Nicknamed Ify Dippy and Greg Toland. He was sent closer to home.

[Greg Toland]

December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Remember, Ford learned about the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor while dining at an admiral's house in D.C. he immediately sprang into action, sending Toland and a crew of filmmakers to capture the aftermath of the attack. As soon as he could, Ford went to Pearl harbor himself to check on his team.

[Dan Ford]

I was received very graciously by the Navy, my men and I. And when we arrived, I mean the ships were still ablaze. And although we didn't photograph the attack, we we get a lot of back coverage and show the destruction.

[Greg Toland]

Heartbreaking. The sight of ships built to fight and die proudly, now left burning in shallow graves.

[Scott Iman]

Ford basically handed a football to Tolan and said, let's see you run with it and make the official government documentary about the greatest military catastrophe in American history.

[Dan Ford]

The picture was actually directed and photographed by Greg Tolan, who was one of our best Hollywood cameramen.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The film would be called December 7th. Ford's first real chance to show the military how his unit could help the cause beyond preventing syphilis.

[Scott Iman]

And tollen disappeared for six months, seven months, and came back with an 85 minute film that basically indicted the entire Japanese population of the west coast as a fifth column.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

A fifth column, Essentially citizens who work against their own country. In his film, Tolan cast every person in Oahu of Japanese descent as a potential spy for Japan.

[Greg Toland]

Merchants, fishermen, storekeepers.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The Roosevelt administration was already under fire for its internment of Japanese Americans during the war. The army and Navy have been aware.

[Greg Toland]

Of the Japanese spy activities for years. They even have a little black book.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

On top of the film's racism. It also wasn't really pro American propaganda, which is why the military hired Ford's team in the first place. It's why they'd been allowed such autonomy. Instead, Tolan's film pushed the message that the Navy had been asleep on the job and Americans died as a result.

[Greg Toland]

They had little to fear. They knew that our task forces were at sea. They knew that no long distance airplane reconnaissance, no inshore airplane patrol was being maintained.

[Scott Iman]

What Greg Toland had done put the entire field photo service on the defensive. Because Toland went out and freelanced a film that neither the administration nor the OSS I. E. Bill Donovan wanted anything to do with.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford's unruly outfit made the Joint Chiefs of Staff nervous. They wanted movies that would make Americans support the fight, not undermine the war effort. So after the military brass saw December 7, all that autonomy they'd been given got reeled back in. Tolan's picture was put on the shelf and Roosevelt decreed that all field photo material would now be subject to censorship. While all this was going down, Ford received news he was being sent into battle. Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz called Ford and told him about a small island in the Pacific called Midway. Said the Navy had a hunch that action on the island was imminent. Nimitz wanted Ford there. When it happened, I was told to.

[Dan Ford]

Get aboard a certain destroyer and go to Midway. I didn't know what was up, but on my dinner, the docked. The destroyer had left and we got a speedboat and we caught it up outside the harbor. The Midway.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The war in the Pacific wasn't going well. After Pearl harbor, the Japanese attacks were relentless. Guam, Wake island, the Philippines. By land or by sea, the Americans were losing everywhere. And it appeared they were about to come under attack again. Ford was briefed on all this when he arrived on Midway.

[Dan Ford]

He says they had broken the Japanese code and the Japanese were prepared to attack Midway with a full naval force and a landing force. So he said get ready.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

It sounded ominous. But even at war, Ford mistrusted the men in charge. He left the briefing not quite sure what to think. Then he went to sleep.

[Dan Ford]

I didn't quite believe him. I was rather dubious or skeptical about him. But somebody awakened me the next morning about 5:30, says the Japs are approaching.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford wasn't even dressed when the attack began. He jumped out of bed, grabbed his 16 millimeter camera and scrambled outside. Then he climbed to the roof of the island's power station.

[Dan Ford]

My job then was to get taken position on top of the tower and report the number of planes. As far as I can figure, the Approaching planes are 76. There are zero Zekes and light bombers. And they attacked it like a fury and blasted the islands.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

It felt to Ford like the Japanese were killed coming directly after him.

[Dan Ford]

It seems to me that their main objective was my tower. They simply rather than full of ball. I tried to take as many pictures as I could.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

The enemy planes were flying so close. Ford claimed he could see a pilot grinning at him from the cockpit. Then almost as soon as the battle began.

[Dan Ford]

But after about four minutes, I got a close hit and I could shrapnel wounds in my elbow and shoulder. And knocked unconscious.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Before he lost consciousness, Ford captured it all on camera. In the film, you can see a Japanese plane buzz the hangar. Then a plume of black smoke fills the frame. A big chunk of debris flies right at the camera, causing it to shake. Not even getting hit by enemy fire deterred Ford.

[Dan Ford]

I recovered after a few minutes, resumed my photographing.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Even with his own life at risk, John Ford knew exactly the shots he wanted. And it wasn't the scenic footage he was known for. Instead, he told his assistant cameraman, don't worry about the combat footage. We can recreate that later. Focus on the soldiers faces.

[Greg Toland]

This really happened.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford wanted this film to capture the human impact of battle.

[Dan Ford]

When the first raid passed, I got down, I photographed the anti aircraft guns and faces of the marine and I'm raising the flag under, you know, under heavy bombardment.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

As a historical document and as a work of movie making, the footage Ford shot on Midway was extraordinary. He didn't just film bombers and explosions. He showed the fear and bravery of the real people putting their lives on the line. Ford wasn't really in this for the propaganda. The military was so Keen on. He wanted to capture the horror of war. And with his first film from the front lines, he did. In the moment, though, there was a more immediate problem. Ford was bleeding. The shrapnel that struck him during the attack had ripped a three inch gash in his arm. But bombs had leveled the island's tiny hospital, so Ford was taken to a makeshift sick bay.

[Dan Ford]

I reported the sick bay where they doctored me up. Our hospital was hit. There was no medicine or anesthesia.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Almost as soon as John Ford finally got to war, he was heading back home. Before he left, though, he hid all that footage and smuggled it off Midway without telling the military.

[John Ford]

How he did it, I don't know. I suspect that he said it was a box of cigars. I don't know.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

John Ford would make this film in secret. We'll have that when we come back.

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[Ben Mankiewicz]

When John Ford got injured at the Battle of Midway, he was sent home to Los Angeles where his daughter Barbara helped care for him.

[John Wayne]

And he came and he was terribly wounded. I mean, he was. He was really wounded.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford turned to his usual crutch, whiskey and mariachi music.

[John Wayne]

And he always walked around in a sheet. And Daddy used to play one record over and over and over again. It was a Pancho Villa.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Drunk and erratic, he was a difficult patient, even more irritable than usual. Barbara was worn out, so an old friend stepped in to help.

[John Wayne]

Every night on his way home, Duke would come by and he said, I'll take my turn.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Duke, John Wayne. He was shooting a movie at the time and had a wife and four young kids at home. Still, every night he would swing by the Ford house and relieve Barbara from duty.

[John Wayne]

And he was in makeup and wardrobe and everything.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Barbara would Rush out the door for a brief respite with a friend.

[John Wayne]

We'd go to the Hollywood Derby and would have dinner. And Duke sat there and played this Da da da da da di di Pancharia song.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Wayne had not signed up to fight in the war, a decision John Ford clearly disapproved of. Still, when his friend needed him, John Wayne was there. Wayne and Ford had been close now for better than 15 years. They were more than friends. They were almost family at that point.

[Dan Ford]

He's always saying that I directed him in pictures and I directed his life. Well, that's a broad statement, but this is partly true. He lost his father earlier night, I think, as more of a father image tool. And I accepted him.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

That said, this was John Ford. John Wayne may have seen Ford as a father figure, but this was no doting father son relationship.

[Scott Iman]

See, the thing about the relationship between Ford and Wayne, there was a public aspect to the relationship and there was a private aspect to the relationship.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford biographer Scott Iman.

[Scott Iman]

Again, privately, if you read the correspondence between them, Ford is a loving father figure, almost invariably supportive, affectionate. But in public, he didn't feel he could afford to be like that.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Fortunately for all his weary helpers, Ford recovered quickly. Within days, he was on a plane back to Washington, anxious to return to work. After all, he had just filmed the most important footage of the war so far. And Ford wanted to make sure it got into production without military censorship. Ford had smuggled his footage out of Midway so the Navy wouldn't confiscate it and try to micromanage or censor the production. Ford met up with Robert Parrish, who he'd asked to help produce the Midway movie. Ford showed up with a bandage on his left arm, carrying several cans of 16 millimeter color film.

[John Ford]

So he said, would you look at this with me? And we sat down and I ran it with him. And he said, now, what do you think of it?

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Parrish could tell the raw footage was exciting, but Ford gave him the same instructions he'd given the cameraman on Midway. This film needed to reflect the human sacrifices of war. Ford knew the Navy might not want that. Fortunately, Ford had experience dodging authority. Not only did he smuggle the footage out of Midway with him, he then told Robert Parrish to take the film far from Washington where no one could interfere.

[John Ford]

Then he handed it to me and he said, here, take this and start organizing it the way we've talked, but don't do it here. Go to California. And I said, well, should I report to the Navy? Barracks there. And he said, no, I think you ought to report to your mother, go live at your mother's house. He knew that the bureaucracy would catch up and they would say, do you have any film here that was brought back? And he could say, no, he didn't.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Robert Parish left for California with the mandate to create a film for the mothers of America to show them the war as it really was. When Parrish handed in the documentary just a week later, the battle itself took up only a few minutes of the 18 minute film.

[Greg Toland]

The next morning, divine services were held beside a bomb crater that had once been a chapel.

[Mark Harris]

One amazing thing about the battle, Battle of Midway is that it's a pretty short movie, but the last third of it is so much about loss.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Film historian Mark Harris.

[Mark Harris]

It's about military funerals. It's about the idea that some of those young men who we see at the very beginning of the movie laughing and playing around on this island did not come back.

[Greg Toland]

Frank Fessler, that's 13 for Frank.

[Mark Harris]

And it would have been so easy for a filmmaker not to show that part, just to end the movie on a note of victory. But that's not how the Battle of Midway plays out. After you see it, you can't shake the idea that these men have been hurt, these men have been hospitalized, some of them have been lost. That it costs something tremendous to do what they did. And that was Ford luck.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

God bless you, son. It was exactly the film John Ford wanted to show. Not just the glory of victory, but its cost. However, that wasn't what the military wanted Americans thinking about. So Ford took an unusual route. To make sure his movie didn't get censored, he set up a screening for FDR at the White House. Ford was convinced that if he could get the President to see the film just as it was, he'd leave it alone. To further his cause, Ford made an important addition to the film. Robert Parrish again.

[John Ford]

Well, then he gave me a little roll of film and he said, don't look at this and don't put it in the picture until I tell you to. And of course, the first thing I did, as soon as I got out of the cutting room, I looked at it immediately and it was a, it was a shot taken on Midway of Jimmy Roosevelt, who at that time was a major in the Marine Corps and actually was there.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

FDR's son, Jimmy Roosevelt fought on Midway. Ford had filmed a few close up frames of him during the battle. At the last minute, Ford asked Robert Parrish to add that footage and just.

[John Ford]

Before the White House running, he said, now put this in.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Parrish quickly spliced the frames into the finished film. Then Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor settled in for the screening along with a small group of advisors.

[Greg Toland]

Navy enemy planes roared from the decks of our carriers.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Army bombers, Marines, all eyes were on the president.

[John Ford]

Roosevelt would say, oh, yes, that's B17. And that's. And he kept on, you know, and he had a lot to say about the film.

[Greg Toland]

At eventide, we buried our heroic dead.

[John Ford]

Then when Jimmy Roosevelt's picture came up, everything was silent, dead silent.

[Greg Toland]

Major Roosevelt.

[John Ford]

Nobody spoke from the time that that shot was on the screen until the end. And then Roosevelt turned to Admiral Leahy, who was his senior aide, and said, I want every American to see this film as soon as possible.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Many Americans did see the film that fall of 1942. The realities of war and loss projected on screens across the country. Ford's instincts were right. The following March, the Academy Awards honored the film. It won the first Oscar in a new category, Best Documentary. Ford, of course, was unavailable to attend the ceremony, but he sent a Navy commander to pick up the statue. The Battle of Midway is a further.

[Greg Toland]

Evidence of the splendid contribution being made.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

By the motion picture industry to the.

[Greg Toland]

Overall war effort and for which the.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Navy is most grateful. After the success of Midway, Ford went on to start repairing the damage of his Pearl harbor film, the one that made the Navy so angry he took out the racist parts, most of them anyway. And then the Navy approved the new version, as did the Academy.

[Dan Ford]

Well, the picture won the Cat in Ward. I don't know. Did it?

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Yeah, it did. Best Documentary, Short subject. Ford was now up to five Oscars. Did he show up to accept the award this time? Take a guess. In April 1944, Wild Bill Donovan recommended that John Ford be promoted to captain. Then Wild Bill handed Ford the most dangerous assignment of his life.

[Mark Harris]

When Ford was re approached in Washington and told, we, we want you to go to Europe, he was very, very happy about it.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

Ford was told the Allies were planning an invasion of Nazi occupied France, D Day. After what he'd done with Midway, Donovan wanted Ford's men to document it. So John Ford made his way to Normandy, where he filmed one of the most significant battles of the 20th century. At least we think he did. No one knows for sure. Ford told people for decades until the day he died that he shot a movie on the beaches of Normandy on D Day. But not one minute of that film was ever shown anywhere in America. Some wonder if it ever existed at all.

[John Wayne]

I have been looking and looking for this film and I have never found anything.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

We wondered too, what it would mean.

[Mark Harris]

To find that footage is literally incalculable.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

So we traveled halfway around the world and across Europe to find it.

[John Wayne]

And I think that there could well be footage in British archives, maybe the Imperial War Museum.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

If a package had arrived for Stalin from Mr. James Stalin would have watched it. So that's the next thing I'd go for.

[Dan Ford]

It doesn't seem very, very probable to me.

[Ben Mankiewicz]

So I think it's possible that there is a film that's next week on the plot thickens. Angela Caron is our director of podcasts. Story editor is Karen Duffin. Jaco Friedman is our senior producer. Script writing by Jaco Friedman, Maya Croth and James Sheridan, who also fact checked every episode for us. Audio editing and sound design by Brandon Arnold, James Kim and Mike Vulgaris Mixing by Glenn Matullo research by Matt Goldberg Production support from Liz Winter, Allison Fire, Matthew Ownby, Julie Batman, Emma Morris, Susan B. Sec, Dori Stegman and Phil Richards. Thanks to our legal team, John Renaud and Kristen Hassell, and the talents of TCM staffers Taryn Jacobs, Katie Daniels, David Byrne, Diana Bosch, Caroline Wigmore, Michelle Height, Stephanie Thames, and to our resident ford scholar, Scott McGee. Our executive producer is Charlie Tavish. Special thanks to Dan Ford for sharing his family archive with us and to the helpful team at Indiana University's Lilly Library. From novel thanks to producer Philippa Goodrich, story editor Veronica Simmons, researcher Valeria Rocca, assistant producer Nadia Medi, production managers Cherie Houston and Charlotte Wolf, executive producer Max o' Brien, and creative director Gillard Foxton. Thomas Avery of Toonwelders composed our theme music. I'm your host, Ben Mankiewicz. Thanks for listening. See you next time.