Sunday, August 29, 2010

Henry Fonda



Henry Fonda, began his acting career on stage as a Broadway actor. He made his first Hollywood film in 1935. He became well known after his Academy Award-nominated performance as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath(1940), an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west. Over six decades in Hollywood, Fonda had amazing performances in the films, The Ox-Bow Incident, Mister Roberts and 12 Angry Men. Later, Fonda performed in a very different role in the film, Once Upon a Time in the West and a much lighter role in family comedies like Yours, Mine and Ours.

Fonda comes from of a family of famous actors, daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda, and grandson Troy Garity.

One of my favorite Henry Fonda movies that TCM is featuring is, Fort Apache(1948). Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director's "cavalry trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both starring Wayne. The story, which screenwriter James Warner Bellah based loosely on George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn, was one of the first to show an authentic and sympathetic view of the Native Americans involved in the battle.

Some of the film's location shooting were in, Monument Valley, Utah. The exteriors involving the fort itself and the renegade Indian agent's trading post were filmed at the Corriganville Movie Ranch.

2 comments:

Ron Scheer said...

Fond of Fonda myself. Your pic at the top shows him in the role of Wyatt Earp in Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE. FORT APACHE is based on a story that owes a lot to the Fedderman Massacre, too. It was similar to LBH but a few years before.

Dawn said...

Ron, Loved your play on words.:) Thank you for the info and the triva.