I'm an old fuddy-duddy who likes vintage entertainment and personages, but even I don't usually go all the way back to 1924...! But that's exactly where the battered road has taken me today. The silent action epic
The Iron Horse (1924) was a movie that truly allowed director John Ford to make a mark, which he would then build upon to staggering success. (BTW, Look carefully at the clouds in the artwork for the poster and you will see stampeding buffalo.) This film was also a key one for its newly minted leading man. The actor had served in WWI as a teen, then come to Hollywood to attempt a career as a cameraman. His physique, however, led to stunt work and bit roles in 1922 and in 1924, he'd been promoted to leads. His name? Our beloved George O'Brien!
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In The Iron Horse (which refers to the locomotive, which was expanding across the U.S. at the time of the story), O'Brien is attempting to realize his late father's dream of completing the line from coast to coast.
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He meets and is smitten with Madge Bellamy, who is engaged to another man. O'Brien sometimes doesn't look quite the same as he did in later films, perhaps because of some yet-to-be-done dental work or shifts in weight.
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Anyway, O'Brien's father had been murdered years before by a man called "Two Fingers" and now that he's grown, he intends to see that transcontinental railroad completed.
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Naturally, there are some (highly colorful!) antagonists who have no intention of allowing him to complete his task.
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O'Brien really stands out as a hunk, especially when he's placed beside a gaggle of craggy, unappealing types who are working alongside him. (I try this in real life myself... always trying to be the prettiest! LOL)
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He does not approve of Bellamy's fiance, nor her fiance's friend and his skepticism shows.
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Out of friendship with her, he promises not to fight with them, but...
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| ...such promises are more easily made than kept. Here he has just finished walloping one of them. He has a bloody nose (and glistening arms!) (Bellamy, for what its worth, proceeded to become quite a
handful and a headache for studio execs. She refused roles that would
have catapulted her to greater stardom and she was also a highly
emotional person, once taking pistol shots at a paramour who had broken
up with her!) |
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Though he truly was rather inexperienced at this stage, and around 25, he looks good whether coming or going.
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O'Brien isn't in the movie for about its first hour. Along about the second hour of the 2-1/2 hour film, he finds himself in a shootout. He's on a train that's surrounded by enraged Cheyenne. Beyond that, a sniper in a nearby shack is shooting at some of O'Brien's cohorts, including the women!
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He daringly darts over towards the shack and is stunned to see that the shooter is Bellamy's fiance in an Indian disguise! Thus comes the point (you hoped I might eventually have one?) of this post.
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The two men, without benefit of doubles - at least in O'Brien's case - commence with a knock-down, drag-out fight. One of the damnedest you'll see in a movie from this era.
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More than once, O'Brien's belt strap flails forward, giving the silhouettes an interesting and unexpected touch.
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But that's not all. As they relentlessly tussle with one-another, O'Brien's shirt becomes an increasingly tattered mess.
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Next thing ya know, neither one of 'em has a shirt left.
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Again, I'm sure it's unintentional, but at one point the sun peeks through the parted logs and shines its heavenly light on George's crotch!
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Precious little in the movie's promotional stills (that I've seen) allowed the slightest suggestion that The Iron Horse was going to contain this much brawny, brawly beefcake!
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At one point in their showdown, O'Brien takes note that his adversary is missing... "Two Fingers!" This is the man who murdered his father!
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With that, he picks up the man, hurls him to the ground...
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...rides him like a bull for a few moments...
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Then begins to finish him off.
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This entire time, nothing has changed outside either...! Marauding Cheyenne are still doing their best to kill everyone on the train. It's a remarkable sequence (and this movie was an immense hit.)
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After his deadly fight, he's given comfort by a close friend.
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And we can take comfort in some things as well.
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O'Brien was not an actor with any reluctance to show emotion. See Sunrise (1927), for what I felt was his acting pinnacle.
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I appreciated that O'Brien didn't just suddenly have another magic shirt to wear after all this, and could only cover himself with a coat.
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At long last, the railroad is complete.
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His father's dream is fulfilled. (And we are given something to dream about, too!) When you're done with those arms, check out his magnificent hair in this shot.
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The horizon looks promising for him also.
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O'Brien worked 10 times in all with John Ford. We're always glad to see him, but this unexpected bit of burly beef was especially fun. Even if you don't sit through the film in all it's silver nitrate, restored, epic glory, the fight scene is worth checking out. FF to the 2-hour mark in order to get your bearings. Free (with possible ads) on Tubi.
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Want still more of Gorgeous George? Click here for additional pics.
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