Trailer

3 Godfathers (1948)

Passed   |    |  Drama, Western

3 Godfathers (1948) Poster

Three outlaws on the run risk their freedom and their lives to return a newborn to civilization.

7.1/10
8,400
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82 Metascore

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  • "Three Godfathers," MGM 1948. John Wayne and Harry Carey, Jr.
  • John Wayne in 3 Godfathers (1948)
  • John Wayne in 3 Godfathers (1948)
  • Pedro Armendáriz in 3 Godfathers (1948)
  • Harry Carey Jr. in 3 Godfathers (1948)
  • John Wayne and Jack Curtis in 3 Godfathers (1948)

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Cast & Crew

Top Billed Cast

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Laurence Stallings (screenplay), Frank S. Nugent (screenplay), Peter B. Kyne (story)
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Reviews & Commentary

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User Reviews
15 June 2002 | sychonic
Superb
I'm surprised this one doesn't get more accolades. To me it's really one of the best westerns ever made. This is one of those films that proves that the western genre can produce true art. The filming, the performances -- this is one of Wayne's best … it's quite overlooked that this guy could act: The desperation, the confusion, the exhaustion, it's all just amazing.

It's more of a character study than anything else, with the characters facing desperate thirst, an aching empty land, relentless sun, and the movie shows how these men deal with it, all the while they are attempting to care for a child. Something they are ill equipped to do.

There are clear religious elements to the movie, and they make this all the more compelling -- these are not good men, but they have a sense of honor and faith, in their own way. They can't break their word to a dying woman, to care for her child. Their faith in each other is touching.

It's gritty, yet very tender, a strange juxtaposition, like the beauty and cruelty of the desert.

See the movie if you can.

Metacritic Reviews

Critic Reviews

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the scene where Deputy Curly (Hank Worden) has trouble pulling a mule aboard a train, director John Ford rigged the reins to pull backwards whenever Worden pulled forward.

Quotes

Posse Member #1: A lot of boys stick up stagecoaches and banks and one thing and another. But a man who would dynamite a water hole in this kind of country is downright criminal.

Goofs

When Robert Hightower (John Wayne) stumbles into the New Jerusalem saloon, the people are signing "The Holy City." Although it is unclear when this movie was supposed to take place, the women's fashions indicate it is in the 1870s. "The Holy City" wasn't written until 1892 and didn't become popular until around the turn of the century (1900).

Soundtracks

Streets of Laredo
(uncredited)
Written by Troy Hale
Performed by Harry Carey Jr.

Storyline

Plot Summary

Synopsis (WARNING: Spoilers)

Genres

Drama | Western

Details

Release Date:

13 January 1949

Language

English, Spanish

Country of Origin

USA

Filming Locations

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,243,000 (estimated)

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