Three magi and a baby

3 Godfathers

(1948)

John Ford's thoroughly silly, irresistible Christmas fable, in which a trio of no-excuses bank robbers, led by John Wayne as Bob Hightower, happen upon a helpless widow about to have a baby. Generous measures of tragedy, comedy, and stolid heroism ensue--with a real honest-to-goodness tiny baby, one Amelia Yelda, grabbing far more screen time than a baby would ever be allowed these days.

I'm guessing that the place-name Piney Woods mentioned here is the source of the character by that name in Mark Harris's Bang the Drum Slowly. That character is fond of "The Cowboy's Lament" ("Streets of Laredo"), which here is the central theme in a typically rich Fordian score.