The Iron Horse
Not yet rated
Time Out says
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
Release details
UK release:
1924
Duration:
11 mins
Cast and crew
Director:
Cast:
Cyril Chadwick, Fred Kohler, William Walling, Charles Edward Bull, Madge Bellamy, George O'Brien, Delbert Mann
Music:
Cinematography:
Burnett Guffey, Gene Schneiderman
Comments
Add +