John Ford at Columbia, 1935-1958
Directed by JOHN FORD
Starring SPENCER TRACY EDWARD G ROBINSON TYRONE POWER
1935-58
Released 2O APRIL
Blu-ray
We’re barely out of the starting blocks and 2020 already has a frontrunner for home ents release of the year. This Indicator box set of John Ford’s various collaborations with Columbia Studios (he was predominantly a Fox man for the most part) is, in which meek office drone Arthur “Jonesy” Jones (Edward G Robinson) discovers that, unfortunately, he is the exact physical double of violent bank robber Manion, whose mugshot has just been printed on the front page. It’s a deftly handled, manically edited urban farce with the side pleasure of Jean Arthur funning things up as Jonsey’s fast-talking romantic ideal. The concept of two actors playing separate characters and then interacting with one another has become a staple of modern cinema, but the clever camera tricks employed here by Ford blow modern green screen and digital imposition techniques out of the water.
