Glenn Ford began his acting career in 1937. After a few bit parts and some leading man roles he emerged a star in 1946 along with Rita Hayworth in the film noir classic, Gilda. As Hayworth's ex-lover in the film, their on-screen chemistry was so popular that they went on to star together in several other films including The Loves of Carmen and Affair in Trinidad. But Ford found his place in dozens of Hollywood westerns including The Desperadoes, The Man from Colorado, Jubal, The Americano, 3:10 to Yuma and Cimarron. They called him the fastest gun in Hollywood. He could draw his weapon in .04 seconds - faster than John Wayne. In 1958, he was voted Hollywood's number one box office star. Yet in between his time in the saddle, Ford gave some truly stand-out performances in films like Blackboard Jungle, playing a middle-aged high school teacher up against inner city kids opposite a young Sidney Poitier. As a tough cop willing to take on a politically powerful crime syndicate in The Big Heat, Ford worked for legendary director Fritz Lang. Ford only stumbled once or twice on screen, he was miscast as Damon Runyon's gangster in Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles. For me, I first encountered Glenn Ford in 1978 as Jonathan Kent in Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie . Ford brought a sense of humanity to the small role of Superman's Earth father, and his naturalistic style of acting made his on-screen heart attack one of the most realistic I've ever seen portrayed on film. Ford retired from the screen in 1991 and then suffered a series of strokes that left him in poor health. TCM is planning an all-day tribute to Glenn Ford on Sunday, September 10th. I'm sure the TV monitors in our store would have been playing our own tribute right along with them.
Glenn Ford Movies
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