Directed by John Ford Debuts Tuesday on TCM

I'm a huge John Ford fan, so one of the highlights of the recent Telluride Film Festival was Peter Bogdanovich's Directed by John Ford. The improved 1971 doc boasts amazing vintage interviews with Jimmy Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Henry Fonda and John Wayne, plus a talk with the eye-patched auteur himself, sitting in all his splendor in Monument Valley. Bogdanovich has spruced up the movie with additional footage with Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, which is fine, but the old material is the money stuff. These were major stars at the height of their fame who were thrilled to be talking about the best director they ever worked with, who tortured them and brought out the best in them, who they loved. For my money, Ford's movies get better and better as I get older. Stagecoach (early Wayne), My Darling Clementine (Fonda as Wyatt Earp), Fort Apache (Fonda vs. Wayne), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (aging Wayne), Rio Grande (Wayne and O'Hara in love), The Quiet Man (ditto, the classic Irish romance he made after Rio Grande), The Searchers (Wayne tracks kidnapped Natalie Wood)—all are must-sees. So set your Tivos for Turner Classic Movies' showing of Directed by John Ford on Tuesday, November 7 (8:30 PM PT, check local listings), accompanied by a 22 Ford film festival every Tuesday in November.