I have always enjoyed the basic Three Godfathers story. The same basic story was told in five different movies but to me the 1936 version was the best.
1916 - Three Godfathers
1919 - Marked Men
1929 - Hell's Heroes
1936 - Three Godfathers
1948 - 3 Godfathers
The novel, The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne was published in 1913 and became a bestseller. The story was filmed five times in a 32-year span under five title variations or complete changes starting with
The Three Godfathers in 1916 directed by Edward J. Le Saint featuring Harry Carey, followed by John Ford’s first version,
Marked Men (1919) also starring Harry Carey. The third version was
Hell’s Heroes (1929), 27-year-old director William Wyler’s first full length talkie, as well as one of the earliest talking Westerns. The fourth version was
Three Godfathers (1936) directed by 48-year-old Richard Boleslawski making this his fourth-last film just a year before he died in 1937. The final version was
3 Godfathers (1948), John Ford’s second time at the bat, this film featuring his favourite actor John Wayne and paying tribute to Harry Carey by casting his son Harry Carey, Jr. as one of the three bandit godfathers.
Several years ago a friend recommended that I watch Three Godfathers (1936), thinking, even though it was a Western, that I would enjoy it. For the most part, a Western has to have something diffe…
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