75% (2) The Iron Horse 150 min, PASSED, [History, Romance, Western] [John Ford] [04 Oct 1925]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 73%, Rotten Tomatoes: 78%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win.
Actors: Charles Edward Bull, Cyril Chadwick, George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy
Writer: Charles Kenyon (story), John Russell (story), Charles Kenyon (scenario), Charles Darnton (titles)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Springfield, Illinois. Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the west, but Marsh, a contractor, is sceptical. Abraham Lincoln looks on as their children, Davy Brandon and Miriam Marsh, play together. Brandon sets off with Davy to survey a route. They discover a new pass which will shave 200 miles off the expected distance, but they are set upon by a party of Cheyenne. One of them, a white renegade with only two fingers on his right hand, kills Brandon and scalps him. Davy buries his father... Years pass. It is 1862 and Lincoln signs the bill authorizing construction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railways. Marsh is principal contractor and Miriam is engaged to Jesson, the chief engineer... Crews of Chinese, Italians, and Irish work to build the railway while resisting Indian attack. When the pay train is delayed by Indian ambush, the Italians go on strike. Miriam persuades them to return to work... Marsh needs to find a shortcut through the Black Hills. To finish on time, he needs to shorten the route by 200 miles. Bauman, the biggest land owner, wants the route to stay the same - through his land. Marsh has entrusted Jesson with finding the new route. Bauman has Ruby, a saloon girl, persuade Jesson to do otherwise... Davy, now a pony express rider, recalls his father's discovery. He sets off to find the pass. He goes alone, except for Jesson...
Rotten Tomatoes: Iron Horse is the seminal western epic and is the film that proved that B movie director John Ford was a major filmmaking talent. Considered a classic, this sweeping tale of the construction of the first transcontinental railroad contains many elements and characters that would later become stock parts of the western genre. The film opens as an idealistic builder shares his dream of building a railroad to link the coasts with a general contractor who pooh-poohs the idea until President Lincoln himself steps in and okays the immense project. The builder and his young son travel to Monument Valley to scout out an acceptable route for the new railroad and select an enormous pass. Unfortunately, they are set upon by Indians and the builder dies. The son, Davy, survives though and grows up to become a rider for the Pony Express. One day he finds himself pursued by more murderous Indians and is only able to escape by jumping off his exhausted horse onto a speeding train. He ends up at the construction sight of the slowly eastwardly moving tracks and there Davy meets the man who years ago, disagreed with his father. This man is now in charge of the project. Davy also meets the contractor's beautiful daughter. Romantic sparks fly, but unfortunately, the girl is engaged to the treacherous surveyor assigned to find a safe route for the pass (Davy and his father already found such a place, but the Indian attack occurred before they could tell anyone). No one realizes that the surveyor secretly works for a greedy rancher who wants the railroad to go across his enormous spread. When Davy tells the surveyor about the route he and his father found, he doesn't understand why the surveyor staunchly insists that the railroad cross the rancher's land until the surveyor attempts to have him killed. Davy investigates and learns that it was the rancher, not the Indians who really killed his father.
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61% (2) Noah's Ark 135 min, [Drama, War] [Michael Curtiz, Darryl F. Zanuck] [23 Aug 1929]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 66%, Rotten Tomatoes: 57%, External Reviews
Actors: Dolores Costello, George O'Brien, Louise Fazenda, Noah Beery
Writer: Darryl F. Zanuck (story), Anthony Coldeway (adaptation), De Leon Anthony (titles)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: After a short split prologue showing riches as the root of evil in ancient and modern times, the film settles into 1914 France, where the Orient Express is about to be wrecked when a bridge washes out. Among those on board are Al and Travis, Americans who are traveling Europe spending Travis' money, and Marie, a German girl. The boys save Marie after the wreck and Travis falls in love with her. When World War I breaks out Al wants to enlist, but Travis can't, feeling loyal to Marie, a German. By 1917 Al has enlisted, and Travis follows him shortly after marrying Marie. Accused of being a German spy by a Russian agent, she is sentenced to die but is recognized by Travis, who is part of the firing squad. The town they are in is shelled and they are all trapped underground, during which a minister makes a lengthy parallel to ancient times when the King of Akkad persecuted his subjects and defied Jehovah, who finally sends a flood to wipe out mankind, except for Noah and his family, whom he has instructed to build an ark and fill it with two of every creature on earth.
Rotten Tomatoes: Working with parallell narratives, one telling the title story and the other of a WW I-era train wreck, this epic spectacular is a film with a tragic history that illustrates that back in its early years, movie-making was truly risky business. The same cast appears in both stories. The first half of the film is totally silent and the second contains some sound. The film is unusually violent and realistic. The flood scenes are particularly disturbing especially when it is realized that many of the floundering extras were actually drowning. The film's original cameraman, Hal Mohr could see that production designer Anton Grot's sets were quite dangerous and had the potential of doing damage when the flood scenes were filmed. He pleaded with Grot to change them, but Grot refused. Mohr left the film and was replaced by Barney McGill who captured the tragedy on film. When looking for this film, avoid the 1957 reissue as it has been chopped down from 135 to 75 minutes. The 1989 restored version is preferable.
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76% (1) 3 Bad Men 122 min, UNRATED, [Romance, Western] [John Ford] [28 Aug 1926]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, External Reviews
Actors: George O'Brien, Lou Tellegen, Olive Borden, Tom Santschi
Writer: Herman Whitaker (suggested by the novel: "Over the Border"), John Stone (adaptation), Ralph Spence (titles), Malcolm Stuart Boylan (titles)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: In 1876, an old man finds gold in the Sioux lands, provoking a gold and land rush from immigrants to Dakota. On the way to Custer, the lonely cowboy Dan O'Malley helps to fix the wheel of Mr. Carlton's wagon and flirts with his daughter Lee Carlton. Later, Lee and her father are attacked by horse thieves and Mr. Carlton is murdered; however, the outlaws "Bull" Stanley, Mike Costigan and "Spade" Allen save her from the criminals and head with her to the camp where the pioneers are waiting for President Grant proclamation to explore the lands. In the site, the corrupt Sheriff Layne Hunter rules with his henchmen with horror and injustice. The trio of outlaws decides that Lee needs to get married and select Dan to be her husband. When Bull's sister Millie Stanley is murdered by Hunter's right arm Nat Lucas, "Bull" organizes the men to chase Hunter. But it is 1877 and the gold and land race of wagons is ready to start.
Rotten Tomatoes: Her father recently murdered, a young lady is blessed with paternal protection in the form of a trio of desperate outlaws who decide to act as her guardian angels. This silent oater from western auteur John Ford was originally slated as a vehicle for Tom Mix, Buck Jones and George O'Brien.
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56% (1) Windjammer 60 min, APPROVED, [Adventure, Crime, Drama] [Ewing Scott] [06 Aug 1937]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 56%, External Reviews
Actors: Brandon Evans, Constance Worth, George O'Brien, William Hall
Writer: Daniel Jarrett (screenplay), James Gruen (screenplay), Roul Haig (original story)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The fourth and last of the George A. Hirliman-produced films starring George O'Brien (preceded by "Daniel Boone", "Park Avenue Logger" and "Hollywood Cowboy") that were distributed by RKO Radio. Hirliman sold O'Brien's contract to RKO, which then produced 18 series westerns starring O'Brien that ended when O'Brien went into the Navy at the outbreak of WW II. Long-time (past and future) O'Brien director David Howard served as Hirliman's Associate Producer on this film. "Windjammer" finds O'Brien as a subpoena server ordered to serve a subpoena on Brandon Evans (The Commondore) for a senate inquiry or lose his job. Posing as a playboy, he boards the Commodore's yacht during a yacht race, and the yacht is wrecked by a gun-running windjammer commanded by Captain Morgan (William Hall.) All hands are picked up by the windjammer, including the Commodore's daughter (played by Constance Worth, at her blonde, plumpish best) and put to work as galley slaves and such, but it isn't long before O'Brien starts knocking heads, and making the gun-runners wish they had left him swimming.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this high seas adventure, an assistant state's attorney must serve a subpoena upon a wealthy yacht owner. To do this, the fellow must sign on as a crew member for a race across the Pacific to Hawaii. Trouble ensues when the yacht is rammed by a gun smuggler's windjammer.
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54% (1) Salute 84 min, PASSED, [Drama, Romance, Sport] [David Butler, John Ford] [01 Sep 1929]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 54%, External Reviews
Actors: George O'Brien, Helen Chandler, Stepin Fetchit, William Janney
Writer: Tristram Tupper (story), John Stone (screen play), James Kevin McGuinness (dialogue)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: John Randall is an Army cadet at West Point. His younger brother Paul is a midshipman at the Naval Academy. John contrives to help Paul's timid romantic interest in Nancy Wayne by pretending to be interested in her himself. Paul, however, takes offense, and determines to beat his brother in the Army-Navy football game on purely personal grounds. Meanwhile, Paul and fellow midshipman Albert Price are hazed and tormented by upperclassmen.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this film, cadet John Randall is the star player for the Army college football team. His principal gridiron opponent is Navy player Paul Randall, his own kid brother. In the days before the big Army-Navy game, John and Paul's sibling rivalry intensifies as both pay court to Nancy Wayne.
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47% (1) The Johnstown Flood 60 min, [Drama] [Irving Cummings] [28 Feb 1926]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 47%, External Reviews
Actors: Anders Randolf, Florence Gilbert, George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor
Writer: Edfrid A. Bingham (screenplay), Edfrid A. Bingham (story), Robert Lord (screenplay), Robert Lord (story)
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Johnstown Flood tells a true story of heartbreak, heroism and the courage to survive. On a stormy day in May of 1889, the South Fork Dam explodes, unleashing a 40-foot wall of water. Fiercely thrashing at frightening speeds, the flood devastates the 14-mile valley between the Conemaugh Lake and Johnstown, Pennsylvania under the force of a 20-million-ton tidal wave. Johnstown Flood depicts this tragic event which claims more than 2,200 lives and wipes out 99 entire families and is still considered to be one of the worst disasters in American history. Horrified survivors watch as the bustling industrial city of Johnstown is instantly reduced into a wasteland. The deadly torrent overcomes terror-stricken townspeople who are tragically lost in the flood. As the waters recede, people from all over the world rally around the survivors to help victims regain all that is lost. Features Include: Historian's commentary by Richard Burkert, Executive Director, Johnstown Area Heritage Association, "The Johnstown Flood," a piano illustration (1889) by Alberto Rivieri, performed on the Steinway in 2003 by Patricia Prattis Jennings, Trailers for other Inecom historical productions, Separate on-camera interview with Richard Burkert.
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