Serenity at Sea: John Ford and the Araner (2006 Video) User Reviews

"The Araner was just eating him alive . . . "

[oscaralbert · 5/10 · 1 May 2016]

. . . concur the biographers of America's self-styled Little Caesar film director, John Ford, during this 2006 documentary short, SERENITY AT SEA: JOHN FORD AND THE ARANER (Ford's yacht). As Ford angled in Real Life to establish an American Reich with Henchpeople such as John Wayne, Hedda Hopper, and Ward Bond, he fancied himself as a future Josef Goebbels within an incipient U.S. Military Junta. Therefore, he treated himself to luxuries he could not afford--such as the Araner--on the wages he made churning out a steady string of mostly "B movies," such as WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME and DONOVAN'S REEF, the biographers state here. After all, why not go First Class when you're orchestrating the Coming Storm, Ford thought, not realizing that heroes such as Kirk Douglas were brave and clever enough to pay the victims of the Ford\Wayne\Hopper\Bond Gang on the QT to write scripts for flicks True Blue Americans actually paid to see, such as ROMAN HOLIDAY and SPARTACUS. Ford's Walter Mitty streak was fed during World War Two when the U.S. War Dept. played along with John and wife Mary's delusions of ferreting out Japanese Operatives from their yacht as they tooled along off the Mexican Coast, the Mistitled SERENITY continues. Of course, this puff piece--included as a "Bonus Feature" on Warner Bros. 2006 DVD release of THE LONG VOYAGE HOME--short-changes viewers by skimming over Ford's Crimes of High Treason against the U.S. Constitution with a few veiled allusions and some obscure innuendo.

Admiral John Ford's personal ship

[chasmilt777 · 8/10 · 29 June 2006]

This 13 minute documentary short is found on the DVD : "The Long Voyage Home" (1940), directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne.

The Araner was Admiral Ford's personal vessel and home away from home.

I recently researched a school paper on John Ford. Thus, I really enjoyed this short documentary. It was really neat to hear the voices of Ford and his wife, Mary. Especially when they spoke about doing under cover work for the United States government while sailing to Mexico on the Araner.

It is special features like this that make DVD collecting fun.

In "The Long Voyage Home" (1940), look for Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields. They are real life brothers and Ford uses them in several of his movies, including "The Quiet Man" (1952).