It's true that Ford has dated (his film content anyway) but if Ford were making films today, he'd still be great and he set the standard for minimalist, straightfoward American filmmaking.

The Searchers
The Long Voyage Home
Stagecoach
The Man who Shot Liberty Valance
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
My Darling Clementene
The Grapes of Wrath
How Green Was my Valley
Rio Grande
Fort Apache