Shortly after I had finished watching my first ever silent film (Alfred Hitchcok's last ever silent film:The Manxman)I found out that before he started his legendary partnership with John Wayne,director John Ford had earlier in his long career, made some very epic silent film westerns.
With having read up some interesting things that Leonard Maltin has said about the film,and discovering that the U.S. cut of the film had a total running time of 149 minutes (about an hour longer than the Hitchcock film)
The plot:
President Abraham Lincoln announces that with the Cival War having torn America in two,he is going to try everything he possibly can to connect both parts back together.One of his main plans to binned America back together,is to build the first ever Railway system,so people can at last have the chance to travel from one part of the country,to the other.
Two people,that take Lincoln's "wild" idea to heart are a father and son.During a camping trip,the father shows his son (Davy Brandon) the perfect spot for railway lines to be placed,with the area also being a "short cut",that would cut around 200 miles for the train journey's.Suddenly an angry group of Indians appear,that are strangely being led by a white man,(who only has two fingers on his right hand) appear.Getting hold of Davy's dad,the white Indian beats him up,until he is dead.After all of them at last disappear,Davy comes out of hiding,to bury his father.
Years later:
Congress finally give Lincoln's wild idea the opportunity to become a reality,although they also give very strict rules on the amount of time (2 years) that the railway system can have to reach completion.
With there being lots of cash on offer for the building of the system,contractors (in particular,one called Bauman,who also owns a good amount of the land,which would be left untouched,if the "short cut" that Davy and his dad discovered years ago was used.)rush round to get their hands on the cash and the contracts,whilst also making sure to never mention the infamous "short cut" to anyone in Congress.
After a money train is robbed which contained all of the workers rages,the very under-paid workers go on strike until their wages are sorted.With no one having any ideas on how to gather up the cash needed for the workers wages,everyone is left completely startled,when a man called Davy Brandon appears from out of no where,to tell people about a short cut he found with his dad in his childhood,which if used,would cut a huge amount of time and cost for the building of the railway.
As news of this "terrifying" announcement by Brandon begins to reach the ears of the main landowner and the contractors, (one of whom,strangely has only two fingers on his right hand!)they all begin to think of ways that will guarantee them,that they will never see Davy Brandon alive again..
View on the film:
When I first found out,that the plot for this two and a half hour silent epic western was going to be about the creation of the first railway system in the United States,my initial uncertainties about the film perhaps turning into a very drawn out history lesson,were thankfully proved wrong.
For his impressively well-paced screenplay,writer Charles Kenyon, (who is also credited for coming up with the story for the film,along with John Russell)smartly separates the story into several 20 minute sections,with each part of the film showing the very different reaction and effect that the building of the system has on people,from the investors who see the opportunity to drain a huge cash cow dry,to "the loner" Davy Brandon,who sees the new binding of the north and the south as something that his dad would have loved to help reconnect,with his extremely useful knowledges of the area.
During my viewing of this fantastic film,one of the main things that kept my ears wide open was the new enchanting score by Christopher Caliendo,who has written a gripping score with a great mix of instruments that give the film a fantastic "fresh" feel,whilst always complimenting the action/or the drama that is taking place in the movie.Even though a few moments that feature early in the film strangely look as if they have been taken from some cheap stock footage,director John Ford shows here that he has an amazing eye,for the wide-open west,whilst also knowing when to slow down and to focus on some beautifully reflected moments.
As I started to catch my breath from the gripping final battle,where an adult Davey Brandon finally gets revenge for his fathers murder,I began to realise that the main moment in the film that was stuck in my head,was the scene where a young Davey (stunningly played by Winston Miller) has to bury his father.Although the out line of the scene seems ripe to be turned into a melo-dramatic moment in the movie,Ford instead turns the scene into a delicate melancholy moment,which lingers long after the films thrilling final battle.
Final view on the film:
An extremely entertaining epic silent western,with an unexpectedly fast paced screenplay,a great,fragile performance from Winston Miller and brilliant directing from John Ford.
With having read up some interesting things that Leonard Maltin has said about the film,and discovering that the U.S. cut of the film had a total running time of 149 minutes (about an hour longer than the Hitchcock film)
The plot:
President Abraham Lincoln announces that with the Cival War having torn America in two,he is going to try everything he possibly can to connect both parts back together.One of his main plans to binned America back together,is to build the first ever Railway system,so people can at last have the chance to travel from one part of the country,to the other.
Two people,that take Lincoln's "wild" idea to heart are a father and son.During a camping trip,the father shows his son (Davy Brandon) the perfect spot for railway lines to be placed,with the area also being a "short cut",that would cut around 200 miles for the train journey's.Suddenly an angry group of Indians appear,that are strangely being led by a white man,(who only has two fingers on his right hand) appear.Getting hold of Davy's dad,the white Indian beats him up,until he is dead.After all of them at last disappear,Davy comes out of hiding,to bury his father.
Years later:
Congress finally give Lincoln's wild idea the opportunity to become a reality,although they also give very strict rules on the amount of time (2 years) that the railway system can have to reach completion.
With there being lots of cash on offer for the building of the system,contractors (in particular,one called Bauman,who also owns a good amount of the land,which would be left untouched,if the "short cut" that Davy and his dad discovered years ago was used.)rush round to get their hands on the cash and the contracts,whilst also making sure to never mention the infamous "short cut" to anyone in Congress.
After a money train is robbed which contained all of the workers rages,the very under-paid workers go on strike until their wages are sorted.With no one having any ideas on how to gather up the cash needed for the workers wages,everyone is left completely startled,when a man called Davy Brandon appears from out of no where,to tell people about a short cut he found with his dad in his childhood,which if used,would cut a huge amount of time and cost for the building of the railway.
As news of this "terrifying" announcement by Brandon begins to reach the ears of the main landowner and the contractors, (one of whom,strangely has only two fingers on his right hand!)they all begin to think of ways that will guarantee them,that they will never see Davy Brandon alive again..
View on the film:
When I first found out,that the plot for this two and a half hour silent epic western was going to be about the creation of the first railway system in the United States,my initial uncertainties about the film perhaps turning into a very drawn out history lesson,were thankfully proved wrong.
For his impressively well-paced screenplay,writer Charles Kenyon, (who is also credited for coming up with the story for the film,along with John Russell)smartly separates the story into several 20 minute sections,with each part of the film showing the very different reaction and effect that the building of the system has on people,from the investors who see the opportunity to drain a huge cash cow dry,to "the loner" Davy Brandon,who sees the new binding of the north and the south as something that his dad would have loved to help reconnect,with his extremely useful knowledges of the area.
During my viewing of this fantastic film,one of the main things that kept my ears wide open was the new enchanting score by Christopher Caliendo,who has written a gripping score with a great mix of instruments that give the film a fantastic "fresh" feel,whilst always complimenting the action/or the drama that is taking place in the movie.Even though a few moments that feature early in the film strangely look as if they have been taken from some cheap stock footage,director John Ford shows here that he has an amazing eye,for the wide-open west,whilst also knowing when to slow down and to focus on some beautifully reflected moments.
As I started to catch my breath from the gripping final battle,where an adult Davey Brandon finally gets revenge for his fathers murder,I began to realise that the main moment in the film that was stuck in my head,was the scene where a young Davey (stunningly played by Winston Miller) has to bury his father.Although the out line of the scene seems ripe to be turned into a melo-dramatic moment in the movie,Ford instead turns the scene into a delicate melancholy moment,which lingers long after the films thrilling final battle.
Final view on the film:
An extremely entertaining epic silent western,with an unexpectedly fast paced screenplay,a great,fragile performance from Winston Miller and brilliant directing from John Ford.