The Turner Classic Movies channel is honoring legendary director John Ford with a two-day festival of his movies starting on Monday, December 10, 2007.

My favorite movies of his are "The Searchers," "The Quiet Man" and "Fort Apache" -- all of which he made with John Wayne, my favorite actor. He won four Academy Awards® and is generally regarded as one of America's greatest directors. The latter part of the 20th century had Steven Spielberg, but the middle part belonged to people like John Ford.

Needless to say, if you haven't seen any of his movies, you owe it to yourself to do so!

TCM is giving you that opportunity on December 10th, so set your TiVo now for the following schedule:

Twentieth Century Fox is releasing Ford at Fox - The Collection on DVD December 4, 2007, which is a box set of 24 movies that John Ford made working for the studio. It includes a documentary about the director and a hard-cover book with includes photos from Ford's career, lobby card reproductions, production stills, and more. The box set retails for $299.98, but Amazon has it for pre-order now at $210.

Three mini-collections will also be available including The Essential John Ford, John Ford's American Comedies and John Ford's Silent Epics, all for a suggested retail price of $49.98. Single discs of selected films from the collection will be available for $19.98.

If you're not into buying movies, Turner Classic Movies has a great reputation for well-done presentations, and in their original theatrical aspect ratio, which is admirable (and a refreshing change from the commercial-laden pan-and-scanned American Movie Classics channel). Netflix also has many of his movies available for rent as well.

The full press release from Turner Classic Movies appears below.

Press Release

Turner Classic Movies Honors Legendary American Director John Ford With Two-Day Ford at Fox Prime-Time Festival

Dec. 10-11 Festival Features Nine Classic Ford Films, Eight Being Presented for the First Time on TCM

TCM Tribute to Ford Presented in Conjunction with Ford at Fox DVD Box Set, Arriving in Stores Dec. 4 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

ATLANTA, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- No list of the greatest American filmmakers of all time would be complete without the name of legendary director John Ford, who in many minds would actually top such a list. In December, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will pay tribute to Ford with a two-day festival of nine of his films from Twentieth Century Fox, eight of which are being presented on TCM for the very first time. The Dec. 10-11 festival is being presented in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's Dec. 4 release of a new Ford at Fox DVD box set, featuring movies the director made while working at that studio. As with all films on TCM, the Ford films will be presented uncut and commercial free.

Headlining TCM's tribute to Ford are such rarely seen gems as The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936) and Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), as well as the Best Picture Oscar(R)-winner How Green Was My Valley (1941). Other movies making their first appearance on TCM are Up the River (1931), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Pilgrimage (1933), Four Men and a Prayer (1938) and When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950). The festival also features the classic 1946 story about the gunfight at the OK Corral, My Darling Clementine (1946). A complete schedule of TCM's tribute to John Ford is attached.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's Ford at Fox DVD set celebrates the legacy of the collected works of John Ford and their part in the studio's heritage and pedigree. The box set features 24 films, as well as the new documentary Becoming John Ford by Academy Award(R)-nominated documentary maker and Ford historian Nick Redman. The beautifully packaged collection also features an exclusive hard-cover book which includes rare, unpublished photographs from Ford's career, lobby card reproductions, production stills and an in-depth look at this maverick's work. The premiere Ford at Fox DVD collection will be available for a suggested retail price of $299.98. Three mini-collections will also be available including The Essential John Ford, John Ford's American Comedies and John Ford's Silent Epics, all for a suggested retail price of $49.98. Single discs of selected films from the collection will be available for $19.98.

John Ford grew up with the American cinema. In the early days of filmmaking, his older brother Francis moved to Hollywood to work for Universal Pictures, and Ford joined him in 1914, forging his apprenticeship as a moviemaker during the formative period of the classical Hollywood cinema. By 1917, he had been promoted to contract director, fashioning westerns which often starred Harry Carey Sr. Ford moved to Twentieth Century Fox in 1921 and established his reputation with such films as the western spectacular The Iron Horse (1924). In his silent films, Ford composed images with a formality and a symmetry that valued order. Even at this stage, he had acquired the mantle of a Hollywood master.

Although best known for his westerns, such as the landmark Stagecoach (1939), Ford worked in many other genres through his long career. Early in the 1930s, he led Fox's top comedy star, Will Rogers, through Doctor Bull (1933), Judge Priest (1934) and Steamboat 'Round the Bend (1935). Ford also set a number of his films in his parents' native Ireland. The Informer (1935), a drama of the Irish rebellion, won him the first of four Academy Awards for his direction. He later revisited the Irish landscape with The Quiet Man (1952). Ford also dealt with American history in The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

After WWII Ford created some of the best westerns ever to come out of Hollywood, including Wagonmaster (1950), The Searchers (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). This period also brought to fruition Ford's Cavalry Trilogy, featuring the films Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950). Ford made it a point to shoot many of his westerns in Monument Valley, with its mammoth buttes and extraordinary vistas.

Ford's final two films were Cheyenne Autumn (1964) and Seven Women (1965). He died of cancer in 1973 at the age of 78. When asked in an interview which American directors appealed to him most, famed director Orson Welles replied, "The old masters ... By which I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford."

Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 75 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. TCM presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world, the combined Time Warner and Turner film libraries, from the 1920s through the 1990s, commercial-free and without interruption. The network also offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials, including the Emmy-winning Stardust: The Bette Davis Story, Emmy-nominated Brando and Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool. Please visit tcm.com for more information.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Turner Classic Movies Presents Ford at Fox Schedule

Source: Turner Classic Movies