Three Bad Men - by Scott Allen Nollen (Paperback)

About the Book

These were unique, complex, personal and professional relationships between master director John Ford and his two favorite actors, John Wayne and Ward Bond. The book provides a biography of each and a detailed exploration of Ford's work as it was intertwined with the lives and work of both Wayne and Bond (whose biography here is the first ever published).
The book reveals fascinating accounts of ingenuity, creativity, toil, perseverance, bravery, debauchery, futility, abuse, masochism, mayhem, violence, warfare, open- and closed-mindedness, control and chaos, brilliance and stupidity, rationality and insanity, friendship and a testing of its limits, love and hate--all committed by a "half-genius, half-Irish" cinematic visionary and his two surrogate sons: Three Bad Men.

Book Synopsis

These were unique, complex, personal and professional relationships between master director John Ford and his two favorite actors, John Wayne and Ward Bond. The book provides a biography of each and a detailed exploration of Ford's work as it was intertwined with the lives and work of both Wayne and Bond (whose biography here is the first ever published). The book reveals fascinating accounts of ingenuity, creativity, toil, perseverance, bravery, debauchery, futility, abuse, masochism, mayhem, violence, warfare, open- and closed-mindedness, control and chaos, brilliance and stupidity, rationality and insanity, friendship and a testing of its limits, love and hate--all committed by a half-genius, half-Irish cinematic visionary and his two surrogate sons: Three Bad Men.

Review Quotes

"in depth study"--Western Clippings; "Nollen's book overwhelmed me with new information to digest and even enhanced a few of the movies I'd already seen...One of the most impressive elements of Three Bad Men is Nollen's familiarity with every film he discusses. For any title mentioned we get at least an honest critical evaluation and often a little opinion too, all expressed eloquently yet in language that any film fan can understand."--Immortal Ephema; "Those films where all three collaborated are examined in detail as is the work they did independently...Nollen's research is meticulous and scholarly yet the writing style remains highly readable throughout...beautifully illustrated with a thoughtful and interesting selection of photographs...a worthwhile, informative, and entertaining addition to the canon of work on these men"--Riding the High Country; "indispensable...valuable insight into their working relationship...Nollen strikes an almost perfect balance between the meticulously researched and the engagingly told. I found this a fun, fast, enlightening read"--Fifties Westerns; "explores the friendship, feuds, binges, and creativity between irascible film director John Ford and his actors, the charismatic John Wayne and the flamboyant Ward Bond"--Reference & Research Book News.

About the Author

The late Scott Allen Nollen was educated in film and history at the University of Iowa. He had written and edited more than 40 books on the history of film, literature and music.