William Fox, head of Fox Films Corporation, was drooling over the box office receipts of his competitor, Paramount Pictures' recent western, 1923's 'The Covered Wagon.' He saw gold in them thar' hills and wanted to duplicate its success. His studio had in its employ a young director, John Ford. He recently changed his first name from Jack and had handled dozens of short Westerns, but he was never in charge of big-budgeted features. Fox took an intuitive gamble to assign Ford for his studio's proposed epic western, which was replacing covered wagons for trains. The mega-movie planned to use the framework of the United States' first transcontinental train construction as a base to show a greedy landowner's dishonest persuasion to route the tracks to his property instead of a shorter, less costly route.
Ford, who produced over 50 low-budgeted westerns, emerged from the August 1924 "The Iron Horse" as a new front-ranked director for larger-scale feature films. Despite the production costing much more than Fox had envisioned, Ford's reputation as a dependable deliverer of exciting motion pictures was solidified by "The Iron Horse's" strong box office returns. It became the year's seventh highest ticket sales film in 1924.
The production of "The Iron Horse" was not a walk in the park by any means. Working from a script with a number of holes in it, 29-year-old Ford had to fill in the blanks every night for the next day's shoot. Filming in the desert of Nevada near Reno in January posed problems with the cold and snow. The support structure as well as the logistics of handling hundreds of extras as rail workers, Indians, cavalry soldiers, and townspeople, along with herds of buffalo, horses and cattle in the remote location under extreme conditions tested the patience of the young director. Besides some infighting with his younger brother Eddie and some difficult actors, Ford emerged with some stunning footage. Sitting comfortably in his New York City office, Fox looked at the expense ledger Ford was submitting by the week and demanded to see some of the 'rushes' from the remote Nevada site. When the reels arrived, Fox's assistant asked if they should pull Ford for a more experienced director. After seeing the raw footage, Fox said he was pleased with the results and allowed Ford to continue.
The finished product of "The Iron Horse" justifies Fox's assessment. The picture became the blueprint for future Ford films in look and in structure. The director was known to fill the frame with activity: a simple conversation isn't isolated between conversationists. He places people and action in his backgrounds to juice up the visuals. During the number of fight scenes, Ford puts the viewer in the middle of the action. In one case he dug a hole in the ground for his cameraman and camera, covered the opening with planks so onrushing Indians on horseback appear to trample on top of the audience.
Ford is also known as a landscape director, framing his shots in a series of wide panoramas to take advantage of the specular background scenery. When a young Steven Spielberg, who was interning in the same film studio as the aging Ford was working at, popped into the director's office for some sage advice. Ford pointed to two photographs hanging in his office showing two different landscape horizons. "When you know why the horizon goes at the top of the frame or the bottom of a frame, then you're a director," Ford asserted. Scenes from "The Iron Horse," capturing varying desert and mountainous landscapes with Indians riding, are perfect examples on what the director meant in adjusting several camera angles to dramatize upcoming carnage.
"The Iron Horse" also offers a John Ford trademark of inserting levity in the middle of the most dire and serious situations. Corporal Casey (J. Farrell McDonald) leads a trio of Army soldiers whose comedy antics runs counter to the more deliberate actors such as George O'Brien, in his first major role. O'Brien's long road to Hollywood began after his discharge from the Marines when he saw action in the frontlines as a stretcher bearer. His ambition was always to be a cameraman in Hollywood. To get his foot in the door, his muscular frame was ideal for a stuntman and bit parts, especially in Westerns. Ford selected him as an ideal hero of the director's first major movie.
Ford, who produced over 50 low-budgeted westerns, emerged from the August 1924 "The Iron Horse" as a new front-ranked director for larger-scale feature films. Despite the production costing much more than Fox had envisioned, Ford's reputation as a dependable deliverer of exciting motion pictures was solidified by "The Iron Horse's" strong box office returns. It became the year's seventh highest ticket sales film in 1924.
The production of "The Iron Horse" was not a walk in the park by any means. Working from a script with a number of holes in it, 29-year-old Ford had to fill in the blanks every night for the next day's shoot. Filming in the desert of Nevada near Reno in January posed problems with the cold and snow. The support structure as well as the logistics of handling hundreds of extras as rail workers, Indians, cavalry soldiers, and townspeople, along with herds of buffalo, horses and cattle in the remote location under extreme conditions tested the patience of the young director. Besides some infighting with his younger brother Eddie and some difficult actors, Ford emerged with some stunning footage. Sitting comfortably in his New York City office, Fox looked at the expense ledger Ford was submitting by the week and demanded to see some of the 'rushes' from the remote Nevada site. When the reels arrived, Fox's assistant asked if they should pull Ford for a more experienced director. After seeing the raw footage, Fox said he was pleased with the results and allowed Ford to continue.
The finished product of "The Iron Horse" justifies Fox's assessment. The picture became the blueprint for future Ford films in look and in structure. The director was known to fill the frame with activity: a simple conversation isn't isolated between conversationists. He places people and action in his backgrounds to juice up the visuals. During the number of fight scenes, Ford puts the viewer in the middle of the action. In one case he dug a hole in the ground for his cameraman and camera, covered the opening with planks so onrushing Indians on horseback appear to trample on top of the audience.
Ford is also known as a landscape director, framing his shots in a series of wide panoramas to take advantage of the specular background scenery. When a young Steven Spielberg, who was interning in the same film studio as the aging Ford was working at, popped into the director's office for some sage advice. Ford pointed to two photographs hanging in his office showing two different landscape horizons. "When you know why the horizon goes at the top of the frame or the bottom of a frame, then you're a director," Ford asserted. Scenes from "The Iron Horse," capturing varying desert and mountainous landscapes with Indians riding, are perfect examples on what the director meant in adjusting several camera angles to dramatize upcoming carnage.
"The Iron Horse" also offers a John Ford trademark of inserting levity in the middle of the most dire and serious situations. Corporal Casey (J. Farrell McDonald) leads a trio of Army soldiers whose comedy antics runs counter to the more deliberate actors such as George O'Brien, in his first major role. O'Brien's long road to Hollywood began after his discharge from the Marines when he saw action in the frontlines as a stretcher bearer. His ambition was always to be a cameraman in Hollywood. To get his foot in the door, his muscular frame was ideal for a stuntman and bit parts, especially in Westerns. Ford selected him as an ideal hero of the director's first major movie.