Backdrop fallback

3 Godfathers

3 Godfathers

Share

3 Godfathers

"John Ford's Legend of the Southwest!"

1948

1h 42m

6.8(214 votes)

Western

Overview

Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infant to safety across the desert, even at the risk of their own lives.

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

John Wayne

John Wayne

Robert Marmaduke Sangster Hightower

Pedro Armendáriz

Pedro Armendáriz

Pedro 'Pete' Roca Fuerte

Harry Carey Jr.

Harry Carey Jr.

William Kearney ('The Abilene Kid')

Ward Bond

Ward Bond

Perley 'Buck' Sweet

Mae Marsh

Mae Marsh

Mrs. Perley Sweet

Mildred Natwick

Mildred Natwick

The Mother

Jane Darwell

Jane Darwell

Miss Florie

Guy Kibbee

Guy Kibbee

Judge

Dorothy Ford

Dorothy Ford

Ruby Latham

Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson

Posse man #1

Creative team

Directed by: John Ford
Written by: Laurence Stallings
Frank S. Nugent
Produced by: John Ford
Merian C. Cooper

Similar Movies

Under the Tonto Rim

Under the Tonto Rim

Gold miner Edd Denmeade loves Lucy Watson, the sister of the official mining claim recorder. Denmeade suspects Watson of killing his father, who after a poker game was shot by a gambler "who shuffles with one hand." The real murderer, Sam Spralls, has convinced Watson that he killed Denmeade and threatens to expose him unless Watson assigns him all the gold claims. Spralls assembles a band of killers to jump the claims when Watson complies. Eventually, Denmeade learns the identity of the killer when he sees Spralls shuffle a deck of cards. He forms a vigilante party and rids the community of Spralls and his gang.

The Misfits

The Misfits

While filing for a divorce, beautiful ex-stripper Roslyn Taber ends up meeting aging cowboy-turned-gambler Gay Langland and former World War II aviator Guido Racanelli. The two men instantly become infatuated with Roslyn and, on a whim, the three decide to move into Guido's half-finished desert home together. When grizzled ex-rodeo rider Perce Howland arrives, the unlikely foursome strike up a business capturing wild horses.

Domino Kid

Domino Kid

A rancher vows revenge on the five men responsible for his father's death.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.

The Feud of the Trail

The Feud of the Trail

A man who's a dead ringer for the leader of an outlaw gang kills the gang leader, then takes his place to try to bring the gang to justice.

How the West Was Won

How the West Was Won

The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.

High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter

A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago. After gunning down three gunmen who tried to kill him, the townsfolk decide to hire the Stranger to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.

Young Guns

Young Guns

A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

The Good Bad-Man

The Good Bad-Man

An outlaw calling himself Passin' Through halts his "evil" ways long enough to help out some children in difficulty.

Southwest Passage

Southwest Passage

As the Cavalry tests the viability of bringing camels to US deserts, a surveyor, Arab drivers, and fugitive bank robbers confront Apaches and thirst. Originally filmed in 3-D

Jeremiah Johnson

Jeremiah Johnson

While slowly adapting to the grueling life of a mountain man in the Rocky Mountains, Jeremiah Johnson encounters the Crow and Flathead tribes as well as hunters, trappers and settlers, all of whom call these mountains home.

Powderkeg

Powderkeg

A Mexican bandit is about to be executed in the United States, so his brother takes over a train and holds the passengers as hostages unless his brother is released. Now both the Americans and Mexicans are baffled as to what to do. One of the passengers — who wrote the letter for their captor — has a suggestion: call mercenaries Hank Brackett and Johnny Reech. They do, and as expected they do come up with a plan, but the president of the railroad is not sure if it will work.

The Dude Goes West

The Dude Goes West

Daniel Bone is aiming for success. A Brooklyn gunsmith by trade, he figures the place to be is where the guns are. So off he goes into the West and becomes the foe of the notorious Pecos Kid, the captive of Paiutes, the target in a saloon showdown, and the lone source of the whereabouts of a fabulous gold strike.

Bad Day at Black Rock

Bad Day at Black Rock

One-armed war veteran John J. Macreedy steps off a train at the sleepy little town of Black Rock. Once there, he begins to unravel a web of lies, secrecy, and murder.

Last Train from Gun Hill

Last Train from Gun Hill

A marshal tries to bring the son of an old friend, an autocratic cattle baron, to justice for the rape and murder of his wife.

The Big Gundown

The Big Gundown

Unofficial lawman John Corbett hunts down Cuchillo Sanchez, a Mexican peasant accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl.

The Proposition

The Proposition

In 1880s Australia, a lawman offers renegade Charlie Burns a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hunt down and kill his older brother, who is wanted for rape and murder. Venturing into one of the Outback's most inhospitable regions, Charlie faces a terrible moral dilemma that can end only in violence.

Sweet Country

Sweet Country

In 1929, an Australian Aboriginal stockman kills a white station owner in self-defense and goes on the lam, pursued by a posse.

Evil Roy Slade

Evil Roy Slade

Orphaned and left in the desert as an infant, Evil Roy Slade grew up alone—save for his teddy bear—and mean. As an adult, he is notorious for being the "meanest villain in the West"—so he's thrown for quite a loop when he falls for sweet schoolteacher Betsy Potter. There's also Nelson L. Stool, a railroad tycoon, who, along with his dimwitted nephew Clifford (Henry Gibson), is trying to get revenge on Evil Roy Slade for robbing him.

Sunset Pass

Sunset Pass

A young outlaw gets involved with a gang of crooks. When he tells them he is breaking away, they threaten to pin a false murder charge on him. But he is rescued and reformed by his sister, and an undercover agent for the express company.

Recommended Movies

The Missing

The Missing

When rancher and single mother of two Maggie Gilkeson sees her teenage daughter, Lily, kidnapped by Apache rebels, she reluctantly accepts the help of her estranged father, Samuel, in tracking down the kidnappers. Along the way, the two must learn to reconcile the past and work together if they are going to have any hope of getting Lily back before she is taken over the border and forced to become a prostitute.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue

The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Double-crossed and left without water in the desert, Cable Hogue is saved when he finds a spring. It is in just the right spot for a much needed rest stop on the local stagecoach line, and Hogue uses this to his advantage. He builds a house and makes money off the stagecoach passengers. Hildy, a prostitute from the nearest town, moves in with him. Hogue has everything going his way until the advent of the automobile ends the era of the stagecoach.

3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma

In Arizona in the late 1800s, infamous outlaw Ben Wade and his vicious gang of thieves and murderers have plagued the Southern Railroad. When Wade is captured, Civil War veteran Dan Evans, struggling to survive on his drought-plagued ranch, volunteers to deliver him alive to the "3:10 to Yuma", a train that will take the killer to trial.

The Professionals

The Professionals

An arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit.

Pale Rider

Pale Rider

A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.

Young Guns

Young Guns

A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

Sweetwater

Sweetwater

In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory.

Never Grow Old

Never Grow Old

An Irish undertaker profits when outlaws take over a peaceful town, but his own family come under threat as the death toll increases dramatically.

Appaloosa

Appaloosa

Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.

Valdez Is Coming

Valdez Is Coming

Old Mexican-American sheriff Bob Valdez has always been a haven of sanity in a land of madmen when it came to defending law and order. But the weapon smuggler Frank Tanner is greedy and impulsive. When Tanner provokes a shooting that causes the death of an innocent man and Valdez asks him to financially compensate the widow, Tanner refuses to do so and severely humiliates Valdez, who will do justice and avenge his honor, no matter what it takes.

Big Jake

Big Jake

An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.

The Hateful Eight

The Hateful Eight

Bounty hunters seek shelter from a raging blizzard and get caught up in a plot of betrayal and deception.

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

In 1859, families discover the lure of the Old West as they settle in territories from Wyoming to Kansas. Meanwhile, a gruff cowboy finds himself on the run with a prostitute and a young boy after killing a fellow gunman.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

As the west rapidly becomes civilized, a pair of outlaws in 1890s Wyoming find themselves pursued by a posse and decide to flee to South America in hopes of evading the law.

Slow West

Slow West

In the Old West, a 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman with whom he is infatuated.

Normal

Normal

An unassuming substitute sheriff with a troubled past responds to a bank robbery in a small, sleepy town and unknowingly uncovers something far more explosive.

The Thicket

The Thicket

An innocent young man, Jack, goes on an epic quest to rescue his sister Lula after she has been kidnapped by the violent killer Cut Throat Bill and her gang. To save her, Jack enlists the help of a crafty bounty hunter named Reginald Jones, a grave-digging alcoholic son of an ex-slave, and a street-smart prostitute. The gang tracks Cut Throat Bill into the deadly no-man’s land known as The Big Thicket — a place where blood and chaos reign.

The Kid

The Kid

New Mexico Territory, 1880. Rio Cutler and his older sister Sara must abandon their home after an unfortunate event happens. In their desperate flee to Santa Fe, they cross paths with the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid and his gang, who are ruthlessly pursued by a posse led by Sheriff Pat Garret.

Thieves Highway

Thieves Highway

After discovering a plot to haul stolen cattle in the middle of nowhere, a desperate and isolated lawman becomes the only thing standing between a group of dangerous rustlers and a clear run to the border.

El Dorado

El Dorado

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.