In a career stretching from the formative years of the silent era, to just before the apex of New Hollywood, John Ford redefined cinema in his own way. It takes a very special filmmaker to win the endless admirations of the likes of Orson Welles and Ingmar Bergman, who could legitimately lay claim to being the greatest filmmakers of all time as well. The process of watching a John Ford film isn’t simply a passive exercise, but rather a rousing experience, one that manages to motivate even the most cynical viewers to suspend their disbelief and surrender to the incredible might of his films. However, if we step away from his career as a whole, and look at the many components that were used to build his almost folkloric reputation, we can see how everything he did, whether seen as a triumph or a failure, was entirely worthwhile, with his style always finding its way to the forefront, regardless of the story. His final work is the subject of today’s discussion – 7 Woman, his powerful social drama set in China in the 1930s, and one of the director’s more unheralded work, one that carries the burden of being the great director’s swan song. However, if we look beneath the fact that this was his farewell ode, and focus on this film as a fundamentally earnest piece of filmmaking, we can add further proof to two almost inexplicable arguments: that John Ford was a maestro of the cinematic craft, and that no one could evoke the same rousing energy from as simple a story as this quite like he could. Even for those who see themselves as agnostic towards Ford’s style, it is difficult to deny the immense might of this incredibly poignant story about survival and overcoming the challenges that are presented in times of great social upheaval.

Set on the outskirts of a rural Chinese village in the 1930s, we’re introduced to the American occupants of a local mission – Agatha Andrews (Margaret Leighton) is in charge of the mission, with her compassion being carefully concealed under a combative personality that refuses to see anything impinge on her strict order of decorum that she employs into her institution. She rules over her colleagues with an iron-fist and imbues both guidance and fear into the lives of the pregnant Florrie Pether (Betty Field), her well-meaning husband (Eddie Albert), the delightfully timid Mrs Argent (Mildred Dunnock) and the young, impressionable Emma (Sue Lyon). Their order is interrupted with the arrival of Dr Cartwright (Anne Bancroft), the bohemian doctor who takes command of the camp, much to the chagrin of Andrews, who views her as a foul-mouthed vulgarian who has no place in their delicate Christian mission. This chilly welcome is immediately contrasted with a sudden case of cholera, which suddenly renders Dr Cartwright entirely necessary. However, even with the brilliant doctor in charge, the looming threat of Mongolian warlords lingers over the mission, with the encroaching influence of Tunga Khan (Mike Mazurki), a fearsome bandit who is tearing through every village on his warpath, making the ladies of the mission reevaluate their life’s work, with the temptation to abscond their post and flee to safety becoming less possible as the days progress. The ladies find themselves depending on each other, but when it becomes clear that escape may not only be unlikely, but entirely futile, as evidenced by the arrival of the survivors of another mission that was annihilated by the bandits. There’s no choice but to continue fighting against impending destruction.

7 Women is a bit of an outsider in Ford’s career – while he certainly was not a stranger to more serious material, this film is one of his most haunting. The enormous epic that ends with a triumph by the protagonist is replaced with a more harrowing tale that considers mere survival the goal, rather than a rousing triumph. In this film, the bittersweet happy ending is replaced with a bleak statement on the extent of human compassion, and the importance of sacrifice as a way of preservation. However, many of the same qualities that we’ve come to adore from a John Ford film continue to pervade into this film, with the darker tone of the story contrasting with the immensely thrilling method of filmmaking that showed the director being one to avoid resting on his laurels, even when he was at the literal end of his career, continuing to do interesting work that subverts expectations and rather gives the audience the chance to see something entirely new from a filmmaker who may have been known for a distinct style, but rarely ever did anything that could be considered less than entirely compelling and absolutely worthwhile. 7 Women does tend towards the more bleak side of his career, with the subject matter, and the ambigious ending that could be construed as either a triumph for the protagonists or the acceptance of an inevitable fate, pointing towards a more haunting sense of narrative that Ford frequently employed, albeit not at quite this standard of being unimpeachably harrowing. However, below this, the same traits of heroism and overcoming insurmountable challenges persist and result in a thoroughly thrilling affair that is as exciting as it is thought-provoking.

The title of the film is well-suited, not only for its simplicity, but also in how it describes the central focus of the film – despite featuring elements of the genre, 7 Women is not a war film, but rather a character-driven drama that occurs concurrently to a war storyline, with the two dovetailing in the third act, with the intersections between the ravages of war, and the intense character work, creating an unforgettable, and frankly unsettling, social drama that doesn’t only afford insights into the human condition, but also provides some truly memorable characters along with it. Anne Bancroft, an actress who consistently proved herself to be a truly chameleonic force, takes on one of the two central roles, playing Dr Cartwright, a feisty medical professional who finds her way into an institution that is both hostile to her presence, and in dire need of it. Bancroft is given a character built on a duality – she’s a wisecracking, endlessly charming young woman who defies expectations and does what she feels is necessary, as well as a heroic protagonist, someone who isn’t content to sit aside while others are in danger, but rather does her best to surmount the impossible obstacles she’s presented with, to preserve the lives of those who have been put under her care, even if it means putting herself in harm’s way. Margaret Leighton is terrific as Miss Andrews, the stuffy head of the mission who make sure that she asserts her dominance, in fears of losing control of the delicate balance of power she’s accumulated over the years. Many of the film’s most effective moments come when Bancroft and Leighton are engaged in some form of interaction, whether a furious argument or a more tender moment of quiet bonding. Like many other films that follow similar patterns, 7 Women is built from the idea of two opposites finding a way to work together to protect something they both consider sacred – and the two leads are more than capable in evoking these challenging themes, standing at the forefront a wonderfully unique ensemble at all add their own nuance to his poignant, thrilling story.

7 Women is a tremendously effective film. It may be something of a minor work for Ford, which is not a derision of its merits, but rather an indicator of the scope of the work the director was capable of – over the course of his career, he made some extremely bold epics or sweeping dramas that peruse endless terrain. However, his swan song is interestingly restricted almost entirely to one location, yet still retains the sensation of being a larger-than-life adventure film, with clearly-defined heroes and villains, and the expected narrative of good overcoming evil, but not without many challenges. The brilliance of 7 Women comes in how Ford compounds more complex meaning onto these themes, infusing truly bleak commentary into a story that benefits greatly from a more ambigious tone to the morality of the story. Ford, even at the end of his career, was able to lend his work more meaning than their old-fashioned exteriors might suggest – these aren’t linear stories, even if their simple premises may make it appear effortless. Rather, they’re deeply compelling tales of survival against the odds, which 7 Women represents with such ease, with a story that is quite brisk, but still manages to make a profound statement, with some of the director’s most interesting directorial choices (even if the scope is considerably smaller), making up an unforgettable foray into history, from the perspective of one of the medium’s most exceptional talents, who was giving audiences their final encounter with his distinct style, while influencing legions of filmmakers one final time with his incredible directorial prowess, command of story and deft ability to pull together a truly unforgettable, and thoroughly rousing, piece of filmmaking.