Acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino, who is known for making some iconic movies throughout his Hollywood filmography, has taken several films and scenes as influences which shaped his movies over the years.
The director has often named several of the older directors from the 1950s as some of his favorites, and many of his choices have been different than the world. Of course, the trend continued when Quentin Tarantino declared his favorite Western director from the 1950s. And guess what? It is NOT Philip Ford.
Quentin Tarantino declares his favorite director is George Sherman
While those of you who might not know George Sherman, he was a director who was active from 1937 to 1978. The veteran director was known for some of the movies like Big Jake, Against All Flags, and Comanche.
With gritty movies and violent themes, Tarantino sat down for a chat in a recent interview at the Cannes Film Festival 2025, wherein he talked about his notable influences, his favorite director in the Western genre, and more.
Tarantino went on to present two George Sherman films at the Cannes Classic. Sitting down for a chat with the interviewers, Tarantino revealed that his favorite director from the 1950s Western movies is actually George Sherman and not Philip Ford (who was more acclaimed for his movies at that time).
Well, I’m a big fan of George Sherman, and I really started-but have known who he was for a long time. I started doing much further research into his career and watching more and more of his movies.
He continued,
He’s become my favorite director of the action directors of the 50s. Especially his work for Universal. And then I was like ‘What about presenting a couple of [his] films in Cannes?’ And I chose Red Canyon to be the film.
Red Canyon was a 1949 film by Sherman, and the premise of the film followed a wild stallion roaming around a range. Lin Sloan, who is a redeemed bad man, and a farmer’s daughter named Lucy Bostel, think they can tame him, but during the process, they actually tame each other.
Sherman was often known for his strong sense of storytelling in his movies. There were no fillers, and it was pure action. Although several of his films were made cheaply, the director created a certain sense of style in his movies to make them look much better.
Sherman would even delve into nuanced themes and complex storylines (Tarantino’s style) even in movies as early as the 1950s. The director even helped legendary actor John Wayne create his Hollywood profile by directing some of his early movies.
However, what was a tad bit controversial was that Quentin Tarantino decided to name George Sherman as his favorite director and not Philip Ford, who was arguably more famous back in those days.
Philip Ford was all the hype back then
It was the year 1916 when Philip Ford starred in a movie titled The Purple Mask. Ever since that year, Philip Ford has gone on to star in several movies and has also become a more renowned director in his career.
Philip Ford was the son of iconic actor/director Francis Ford and the nephew of acclaimed director John Ford. Philip Ford was all the hype back then and went on to direct more than 40 films from 1945 to 1964.
Naturally, it was a bit unusual for Tarantino to pick George Sherman over Philip Ford, but then, nothing is usual with this director. Notable Ford movies like The Last Crooked Mile, The Mysterious Mr. Valentine, and The Inner Circle received worldwide fame and critical acclaim.
His movies were having quite a box office run, but eventually, Quentin Tarantino preferred Sherman’s movies over Ford’s. Of course, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions, but Tarantino’s opinions are just always out of the box.
Tarantino’s last Hollywood movie was Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood back in 2019, and the director was writing a script for his 10th and final movie, but it got scrapped. Tarantino currently has three upcoming projects to his name, one of them being an “Untitled Quentin Tarantino Project”.
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is available to stream on Fubo (USA).
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