The 50-year directing career of John Ford didn’t end in Monument Valley as would have been appropriate. He finished his career with 7 Women (1966) on a studio set doubling as Northern China in 1935. The film is an often-overlooked finale. Warner Bros. has released it on Blu-ray as part of their Warner Archive Collection.
Buy 7 Women Blu-rayThe film takes place in a Christian mission run by Miss Andrews (Margaret Leighton). It starts with some stock footage to set the scene, and the rest takes place on an extensive soundstage environment constructed for the film. This gives it more of a play feel than some of Ford’s early career films that were filmed on soundstages. The lack of natural sun, along with painted backgrounds, lend a pallor over the mission and a feeling of doom.
The mission is filled out with one male, Charles Pether (Eddie Albert), who is consistently emasculated by his pregnant wife, Florrie (Betty Field). There is the youthful Emma (Sue Lyon, Lolita), who symbolizes the younger generation of the ’60s, under the religious thumb of Miss Andrews, who also may be attracted to Emma. Miss Andrews’ assistant, Jane (Mildred Dunnock), is fiercely loyal and counteracts the Emma character as the older generation. The action is kicked off with the arrival of Dr. Cartwright (Anne Bancroft) who fills the role of a younger John Wayne, showing up to buck the rules of the mission by drinking scotch and smoking cigarettes almost every scene.
The mission could be located in Montana as easily as Mongolia. It’s an isolated encampment that lives in fear of diseases like cholera and the invasion of Mongolian warlord Tunga Khan (Mike Mazurki) and his fellow bandits. There are so many traditional western elements going on early in this film that it’s not hard to see why Ford was interested in this script. Dr. Cartwright is a proto-feminist character, obviously an antipathy in that aspect to the characters John Wayne has played in that regard. She quickly shows herself to be as dedicated as any Ford character when cholera enters the camp. Anne Bancroft is a great choice for the role, even thought Patricia Neal was originally cast before she suffered a stroke. Bancroft has the same abilities to show a different emotion on her face as opposed to her words that made Henry Fonda such a powerful actor in John Ford films.
The heat is turned up in the third act when Tunga Khan takes over the camp and the women are confined to a single building. The baby is born, medicine is needed for the camp, and lives are at risk. The conflicts grow between the women as they each debate how best to battle the invaders. There are the solutions ranging from prayer, fighting back, and appeasement. The final acts by both Dr. Cartwright and Miss Andrews reflect themes that Ford has illustrated in both his westerns and military films. The elder Ford isn’t the same as the post-war version. The darker vision of the future started in The Searchers (1956) continues ten years later. The group underestimates the brutality of the Mongols even though they have been warned by stories of their exploits. The interaction between Dr. Cartwright and mission staff member, Miss Ling, who has been forced to serve Tunga Khan, is illustrative of the unspoken violence. Dr. Cartwright asks if she is okay and Miss Ling says, “I am alive.” That feels like as much of a summary of reactions to the violence of war and conflict as any quote from any other Ford film.
Ford ended his partnership with John Wayne in Donovan’s Reef (1963) in a comedy that also addressed cultural changes in society and the need for tolerance. He finished a long career associated with westerns in Cheyenne Autumn (1964) where the script focuses on the Native American experience instead of those in fear of them. The criticism of sexist and racist portrayals of characters in 7 Women (1966) is fair, and one could get bogged down in the politics and lose the thread of the message. There’s an important story being told about how we answer questions of survival that have no good answer.
The film benefits from the Blu-ray transfer compared to other versions I’ve watched. The Elmer Bernstein score is more present in this mix than I previously remembered it. This isn’t a film that has the great vistas of Ford’s Monument Valley westerns, so the advantages of the format are muted in that aspect. What’s missing for me is a good documentary or commentary that would add context to the film in regards to the usual criticism of the film. The featurette is simply a longish trailer for the film from the original release and a short subject “The Dot and the Line” (directed by Chuck Jones) that feels like something we saw in elementary school instead of recess on rainy days.
7 Women was a commercial flop for Ford. It isn’t the way that a career as celebrated as Ford’s should end. That’s reflected in the way that the film ends too. There’s a self awareness that Ford has always been great at translating to the screen throughout his career. We’ve followed him through multiple rise and falls, through wins and losses, and through war and peace. This isn’t his best, but it’s worth further discussion instead of being treated as an afterthought in his filmography. The women face challenges and life-altering decisions that demand the type of sacrifice that Ford has celebrated through 50 years of filmmaking.
