By Indian Post (1919) Online

This short Western RomCom provides a glimpse at the early times of John Ford's career as a director. It also shows us an example of where the Western was at by 1919.

So what distinguishes this as a Ford film? Very little, but there are a few noteworthy features. There is a certain neatness to the shot composition, and even some tentative hints towards his canny use of framing. His arrangements are occasionally a little haphazard though. Take for example the long shot in which Jode (screen centre), flirts with Peg (screen right) while Pa Owens' henchman (screen left) watches disapprovingly – it's not clear whereabouts our eyes are supposed to be drawn. Unsurprisingly, the shots are at their most simple and iconic when they show men riding across the countryside on horseback.

What is also very typically Fordian in this film is its refusal to get to grips with one-to-one (i.e. romantic) relationships, to concentrate instead on community relationships. However since the film was butchered and shorn of about seven minutes (by the collector who acquired it no less) it is hard to tell whereabouts the narrative is supposed to be weighted.

Contrary to what some have said about Stagecoach (or even Dodge City) inventing the modern genre, it's fairly clear that by this point the Western was already a rich mine of clichés, a surprisingly large number of which are squeezed into this short. In fact the only thing that really sets this apart as a Western of its time (apart from the obvious) is that the cowboys wear chaps. Chaps are everywhere in the silent Westerns, but for some reason they went out of fashion when the talkies arrived. Importantly, the Western was clearly also now a backdrop against which you could do a comedy, rather than it having to be a Western in its own right.

The only existing copy of this rare example of an early John Ford western is missing approximately it's first seven minutes. The film was long believed lost until a copy was discovered on the east coast of America. Incredibly, according to the commentary on the retour de flamme DVD, the guy who found it coated the film in lacquer, thus hastening it's decomposition, and took it upon himself to cut the first seven minutes to make the film more enjoyable.

The film itself shows that Ford was already comfortable with his craft, even though the story itself is no great shakes. Nevertheless, a ninety-year-old film, whether made by one of the recognised geniuses of the art or a name long forgotten, is always worth a look. One name that is forgotten, by the way, is that of this film's leading man Pete Morrison. A veteran of more than 140 films, his career had dwindled to small or uncredited parts by the time he made his last film in 1935 at the age of 45.

This is the sort of rough comedy that Ford had been making at least since the previous year's "Bucking Broadway" and would continue to make regularly through DONOVAN'S REEF. It is not a particularly distinguished member of the club -- which includes the Oscar-winning THE QUIET MAN. However, any John Ford picture is worth looking at at least once.

One thing worth noting is Ford's fine and, for the era, advanced sense of framing. True, he still uses irised shots as a substitute for a medium close in two-shot, but that is a common convention for the era. Of more interest is his strong use of framing lines to reduce the effective composition of shots in a fashion that most directors would not catch on to for another five years..... but then, he always said that was his sole strength as a director.

Did anyone believe him?