In the present age of extreme political and cultural polarization, it can be hard to read John Ford. He worked in an era when it was possible to revere military culture with an almost religious fervor and hate political war-mongering at the same time, when it was possible to traffic in racial and ethnic stereotypes and subvert them at the same time, when it was possible to worship the family and family values and see the oppressive role of families at the same time, when it was possible to be at once a social conservative and a political progressive, a deeply religious artist and a man with a profound suspicion of organized religion.
In our own either/or age, Ford's complexities can be confusing, with what seem to be conflicting cultural signals. This is due partly to Ford's rhetorical strategies, in which the obvious pieties of his stories could be completely undercut by their emotional undercurrents -- and it's due partly to Ford's comprehensive sympathies, essential for a great dramatist, which wouldn't allow him to judge anyone based on an ideological position or professed beliefs.
Many people are distressed by the presence of Stepin Fetchit (above) in several of Ford's films. Fetchit specialized in impersonating what was on one level a most objectionable stereotype of the slow-moving, slow-witted African American. But he was usually, in Ford's films, far wiser and cannier than his image suggested, in itself an interesting comment on the stereotype, with its inescapable implication that it might be no more than a mask. (Fetchit was also a brilliant physical comedian and Ford showcased his art with great care -- which has to count for something.)
Even more remarkable, in a film like Judge Priest (above), starring Will Rogers in the title role, is the way the Rogers character subverts the stereotype -- by treating Fetchit as a peer, with total respect. You search in vain in Rogers' performance for the slightest hint of paternalism or condescension -- it's simply not there. Since Fetchit-like characters were used in large part to justify paternalism and condescension, Ford is subverting the phenomenon at its root.
The same phenomenon is at work in another scene from Judge Priest when Hattie McDaniel (above), a "mammy" stereotype, starts singing a silly song about the judge to a Gospel-sounding tune. The judge chimes in with heartfelt responses of "Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!", in full, joyful voice, again without a trace of irony. He likes the way he and she sound singing together -- he treats her "quaint" musical idiom as a serious medium of communication, and also as a medium they share and rejoice in equally.
For the judge, the character we most identify with, to see through the most extreme stereotype to a real person behind the facade, is radical. It's like the way Priscilla sees past the racial stereotypes and imperialist assumptions in Wee Willie Winkie, the remarkable collaboration between Ford and Shirley Temple.
In a superficial reading of that film one might see it as a celebration of the British Empire and its mission -- unless one remembered that Ford was an Irishman, with a built-in grudge against the British Empire. When Khan laughs hysterically at the idea that Queen Victoria wants to help his people, he's probably expressing Ford's truest feelings on the subject.
Ford was both a subtle artist a wily old son-of-a-bitch -- taking anything he does too much at face value is always dangerous. It risks missing the deepest meanings of his films.