3 Godfathers (1948)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Robert Hightower	John Wayne
Pedro Roca Fuerte	Pedro Armendáriz
The Abilene Kid	Harry Carey, Jr.	½
Buck	Ward Bond
Mrs. Perley Sweet	Mae Marsh
The Mother	Mildred Natwick
Posse Man	Ben Johnson

Review

In this overblown, painfully slow film, John Ford awkwardly blends styles and settings into a blasé mishmash. It’s cowboys colliding with Bible stories in an early prototype of Three Men and a Baby. John Wayne tries tapping into his softer side, but it quickly turns pathetically saccharine, with very peculiar character motivations. It’s clear that men in the 1940s (let alone in the Western era) weren’t exactly ready for baby duty. While Wayne salvages his character by sticking to his “tough guy” persona, Harry Carey Jr. trudges through scene after scene of debasing lines and songs. This is miles away from John Ford's finest work.