In terms of likability, warmth and humour, the three films Ford made with Willl Rogers are without equal in American cinema. Their collaboration ought to be treated on the same level as Griffith/Gish, Scorsese/DeNiro or Godard/Belmondo. Of the three, only Judge Priest has a page here for now. It’s a film about 19th Century small town America that captures some of the spirit of Mark Twain’s satires. It’s written by Irvin Cobb(who gives an excellent performance in the succeeding film Steamboat ’Round the Bend) and Ford was sufficiently dissatisfied with the studio-ordered removal of key scenes to do a remake/sequel in the 50s – The Sun Shines Bright.

That may be a better film overall but Judge Priest has a special kind of magic. It has to do with Will Rogers performance, his double act with Stepin Fetchit(who achieved his apotheosis in his films with Ford) and the climactic appearance of Henry B. Walthall. But mainly it has to do with some amazing scenes in the movie – Judge Priest singing “My Old Kentucky Home” with his black neighbours, the amazing scene where Billy Priest talks to his wife’s portrait(which has no equal in all of film history in the level of emotion evoked with the level of restraint), the final parade scene and the moment when just as the trial is being decided, Billy Priest makes a secret gesture directed out of the window and a marching band erupts outside the courthouse.