While The Plot Thickens, the classic movie podcast produced by Turner Classic Movies and hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, is a great listen on its own, the best way to take your enjoyment of it a step further is to watch some of the movies that are brought up during the course of the season. In the case of The Plot Thickens season 5, that means watching (or rewatching) John Ford movies.
Ford is one of the most influential directors in Hollywood history. He has won more directing Oscars than anyone (four), has delivered multiple classics across different genres and inspired many of today’s best directors, including Steve Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. As The Plot Thickens season 5, subtitled "Decoding John Ford," goes over the life and career of the Hollywood legend, you can watch many of the movies they discuss on the podcast online right now (including some for free).
After an intro that gives some background into Ford, The Plot Thickens season 5 episode 1, "Go West, Young Man," focuses on his upbringing and his start in Hollywood, which included being a stuntman and actor with his older brother Francis Ford. But it wasn't long before he started moving up the ranks and would get the chance to direct his own movies. The rest, as they say, is history.
Here's the info on how to watch the movies mentioned in The Plot Thickens season 5 episode 1. We'll update this post as the season progresses.
How to watch Straight Shooting (1917)
John Ford's first feature-length movie was not supposed to be feature-length, as The Plot Thickens describes. Instructed to make a short by Universal, Ford concocted a scheme to get more film and extend the movie to be a feature. When Univesral studio head, Carl Laemmle, found out, he fired Ford. But when Laemmle watched what Ford did, he was so impressed by his work that he hired him back at double the salary.
You can watch Ford's debut feature, Straight Shotting, for free right now on Tubi for US viewers; the movie is not available in the UK.
How to watch The Iron Horse (1924)
After becoming a go-to director of westerns in Hollywood since Straight Shooting, Ford was picked by Fox to make their epic western about the construction of the transcontinental railroad, The Iron Horse. People described it as one of the first big location movies in Hollywood history.
The Iron Horse is available to watch for free in the US on Tubi, but is also available to rent via Prime Video in the US and UK.
How to watch 3 Bad Men (1926)
Mankiewicz brings up 3 Bad Men to highlight the reckless attitude Ford could have in making a movie. The movie, another western about a gold rush, features a shot that Mankiewicz calls one of the "craziest, most dangerous shots I've ever seen," where Ford has a baby sitting in the dirt as horses and wagons charge toward it at full speed (don't worry, the baby wasn't harmed, being snatched away at the last second).
You can rent 3 Bad Men on digital on-demand platforms in the US, including Prime Video, Google Play, Fandango at Home and Apple TV. It is not available online in the UK.
How to watch Salute (1929)
One of Ford's first pictures after the revolution of sound hit Hollywood was Salute, a movie that used the Army-Navy football rivalry as its backdrop. To help fill out his cast, Ford went down to USC to recruit some football players to appear in the movie, where he would find two young men who would become staples in so many of his movies: Ward Bond and Marian Morrison, better known as John Wayne.
Salute is available to watch in full on YouTube.
How to watch Stagecoach (1939)
Stagecoach is one of the handful of classics for Ford that Mankiewicz brings up in the intro to the season. Stagecoach is widely considered the movie that made a star out of Wayne. In the movie, a group of strangers are traveling together in a stagecoach, with their places in society conflicting. But they must band together when their lives are put at risk when the Native American Geronimo attacks.
You can watch Stagecoach for free right now on Amazon Freevee, Tubi, Pluto TV and The Roku Channel, though all of those will have ads. The movie is also available to Max subscribers, as well as being available via video-on-demand. Those in the UK can watch the movie on Plex or via digital on-demand.
How to watch The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Ford's adaptation of the classic John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath follows the Joad family as they leave behind their home in Oklahoma and the struggles of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in the hope of finding a better life in California. The movie stars Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell and John Carradine. It earned Ford the second of his four Best Director Oscars.
The Grapes of Wrath is only available to rent or buy via digital on-demand right now in the US and UK.
How to watch The Searchers (1956)
Arguably the most famous and revered of Ford's movies, the director once again teamed up with Wayne for this story of a Civil War veteran who embarks on a years-long journey to try and rescue his niece who was kidnapped by a Commanche tribe. The Searchers was not immediately successful, but it has grown to be one of the most respected movies in film history, including making the Sight and Sound and American Film Institute's list of greatest movies of all time.
The only way to watch The Searchers online right now is to rent or buy it via digital on-demand platforms in both the US and UK.
How to watch The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
While not specifically mentioned by name, one of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance's most famous lines is featured in the intro to the season: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." To understand that better you'll have to watch the movie, which stars Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Vera Miles and Lee Marvin in a story about how a man rose to become a prominent senator in the Old West.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is currently streaming on MGM Plus, Paramount Plus and Prime Video in the US; it is only available via digital on-demand in the UK.
New episodes of The Plot Thickens release each Thursday on all podcast platforms.
