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The Iron Horse (1924)

Director: John Ford

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From Time Out Film Guide

The epic silent Western, made as Fox's response to The Covered Wagon and effortlessly surpassing it. A paean to Lincoln and the notion of Manifest Destiny, it recounts the building of the first transcontinental railroad. Gangs start from both coasts, rebuffing Indian attacks, thwarting greedy landowners, initiating a sweeping trail drive and moving whole towns along the line. After battles against the rigours of blizzard and desert, the final spike is driven home as the hero avenges his father's murder and wins back his childhood sweetheart. Visual glories (and stirring piano accompaniment) sweep aside objections to the tedious passages, the psychological ineptitude, and the racist portrayal of Indians, Irish and 'coolies'. As in Stagecoach, each scene and each character looks fresh struck at the mint of myth, while every frame asserts that this is the making of America and of the American cinema.

Author: JW 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: John Ford

Cast: George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy, Charles Edward Bull, William Walling, Fred Kohler, Cyril Chadwick, Delbert Mann full cast

Genre(s): Westerns

Duration: 11 mins


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