British filmmaker Lindsay Anderson began his career as a film critic. Among those filmmakers he most appreciated was John Ford. This volume, published in the early 1980s, brings a personal point of view to Ford's films. As a filmmaker, Anderson was nothing like Ford, except in the pursuit of what Anderson called the "poetic" in film. Some of Anderson's appraisals of Ford will surprise some readers--he dismisses The Searches as a lesser film--while others will confirm expectations--his praise for They Were Expendable. Anderson never received the support of his native film industry in the way Ford did in America. But both men shared at least one great talent: storytelling. Ford was a master; and he merged his gift with a genuine love and respect for the traditions of his country. Sometimes, it's harder to see that at work in Anderson, but it's there if you take the time--the nostalgia laden images of the emptied out school in If . . . . This book is a remarkable insight into what drove two filmmakers. ( )