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The Iron Horse
The Iron Horse
	Film poster
Directed by	John Ford (uncredited)
Written by	Charles Kenyon; John Russell; Charles Darnton
Produced by	John Ford
Starring	George O'Brien; Madge Bellamy
Cinematography	George Schneiderman
Edited by	Hettie Gray Baker
Music by	Ernö Rapée (uncredited)
Distributed by	Fox Film Corporation
Release date	August 28, 1924;
Running time	150 minutes (US version); 133 minutes (International version)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)
Budget	$280,000
Box office	$942,889

The Iron Horse is a 1924 American silent epic Western film directed by John Ford and produced by Fox Film.^[2] It was a major milestone in Ford's career, and his lifelong connection to the Western film genre. It was Ford's first major film, in part because the hastily planned production went over budget, as Fox was making a hurried response to the success of another studio's western. In 2011, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.^[3]

Plot

The Iron Horse (full film)

In Springfield, Illinois, Davy Brandon's father, a surveyor, daydreams about a potential transcontinental railroad, much to the skepticism of Thomas Marsh, a railroad proprietor. He is approached by a young Abraham Lincoln about his plans to trail west. Davy's father takes his son, towards California and they brave through the cold wilderness. Three months later, in the Cheyenne Hills, Davy and his father are attacked near their campfire. Davy escapes but witnesses his father's capture and subsequent murder by a two-fingered white man dressed as a Cheyenne. Davy is then taken in by American frontiersmen.

Years passed, and in 1862, the U.S. Congress authorizes the construction of two railways: the Union Pacific to the west, and the Central Pacific to go east. Before signing the Pacific Railroad Acts into law, Lincoln asks Miriam Marsh, the daughter of Thomas Marsh, about the whereabouts of Davy. Miriam is unaware, but introduces her fiancé, Peter Jesson. To construct the first American first transcontinental railroad, Chinese immigrants are imported to build the railway. In 1865, Lincoln is assassinated, and former soldiers from the Union and Confederate armies peacefully collaborate to finish the Union Pacific railway.

To feed the railroad workers, buffalo meat is provided, courtesy of William F. Cody (better known as Buffalo Bill). By wintertime, a train passing through the Union Pacific railway is attacked by the Cheyenne natives, led by the same two-fingered renegade. Thomas Marsh is alerted by telegram of the train attack. Bauman, the richest landowner in the town of Cheyenne, learns that Marsh wants a shorter pass along the Smoky River. Cold and exhausted, the railroad workers hear about Marsh's new plan, and Miriam encourages them to finish the project. Meanwhile, Judge Haller has the local saloon called "Hell on Wheels." At the saloon, Ruby, a local woman, shoots a man who threw whiskey in her face. She is brought to trial for attempted murder, but Haller dismisses her case.

The same night, while Jesson is charting the railway map, Marsh brings Ruby to his cabin lodge, and the two kiss. The next day, while Marsh does an inspection scout, the train is again ambushed by the renegade and his band. Inside one of the carts, Miriam reunites with her childhood friend Davy Brandon, now a young man. He learns that Miriam is engaged to Jesson. As the train reaches near the end of the track, Marsh asks Davy if there is a shorter pass than the one he has proposed. Davy soon remembers his father's proposal before he was murdered. He soon accompanies Jesson to help construct the shorter pass.

Soon after, the town of Cheyenne is abandoned as the dwellers begin to relocate into a nearby city. Continuing his father's dream, Davy has charted a shorter railroad pass through the Black Hills, and brings Jesson along. Davy then journeys into a canyon held by rope, but Jesson betrays Davy by cutting the rope. Davy survives by landing on a tree. Jesson then alerts Marsh that Davy had been killed. Miriam mourns his supposed death. Jesson then appoints former soldiers—Sergeant Slattery, Corporal Casey, and Private Mackay—to help supervise his railroad.

Davy returns to the railroad and inquires why they are continuing to build along the Smoky River. He then confronts Jesson, claiming he is lying about there being no available shorter pass, and punches him. Later that day, Davy and Jesson agree to a fight. Before the fight, Miriam confesses her love towards Davy, to which he promises not to fight Jesson. He arrives at the saloon and apologizes to Jesson. Regardless, Jesson attempts to shoot Davy but misses and a fight ensues. Davy explains the situation to Miriam, but she refuses to forgive him.

Construction on the railroad proceeds. Desperate to stop the new railroad, Bauman gathers the Cheyenne tribe to attack the railroad workers. As the railroad reaches its end, the Cheyenne strike Mackay with an arrow but he lives. Davy escapes, and alerts the nearby townspeople of the attack. He boards several men and women, including Miriam, onto a train to fight the Cheyenne, while he has the Pawnee serve as the cavalry. During the struggle, Davy locates an assailant shooting at the train and fights him. Remembering his father's killer had two fingers, Davy kills the renegade. Davy's forces ultimately win when the Pawnee drive off the Cheyenne.

Unable to reconcile with Miriam, Davy leaves to survey the Central Pacific railroad. By 1869, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad have drawn closer to each other. The day before May 10, 1869, with the transcontinental railroad nearly completed, Davy reflects on his father's dream. The next day, Davy and Miriam marry each other, while the final drive of the golden spike is made at Promontory Summit.

Cast

George O'Brien as Davy Brandon
Madge Bellamy as Miriam Marsh
Charles Edward Bull as Abraham Lincoln
Cyril Chadwick as Peter Jesson
Will Walling as Thomas Marsh
Francis Powers as Sergeant Slattery
J. Farrell MacDonald as Corporal Casey
Jim Welch as Private Schultz / Mackay (credited as James Welch)
George Waggner as Col. William F. 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
Fred Kohler as Deroux / Bauman
James A. Marcus as Judge Haller (credited as James Marcus)
Gladys Hulette as Ruby
Jean Arthur as Reporter (uncredited)
Chief John Big Tree as Cheyenne Chief (uncredited)
Jack Padjan as Wild Bill Hickok (uncredited)

Production

Among the extras used in the Central Pacific sequences were several Chinese men playing coolies who worked on the railroad. They were in fact retired Central Pacific Railroad employees who had helped build the first transcontinental railroad through the Sierras, who came out to participate in the filming as a lark.^[4]

There is a note in the title before this scene that the two original locomotives from the 1869 event are used in the film, although this is false - both engines (Union Pacific No. 119 and Jupiter) were scrapped before 1910.

Legacy

In December 2011, The Iron Horse was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.^[5] In choosing the film, the Registry said that The Iron Horse "introduced to American and world audiences a reverential, elegiac mythology that has influenced many subsequent Westerns."^[5]

The film's importance was recognized by the American Film Institute in the 2008 AFI's 10 Top 10, where it was nominated in the Western category.^[6]

Critical reception

The film has a 78% rating in Rotten Tomatoes.^[7]

Home media

The film was released on DVD in America in its full-length US version (accompanied by the truncated UK version). A 2011 release of The Iron Horse on DVD in the UK included both the US and International/UK versions of the picture, and a half-hour video-essay about the film by author and critic Tag Gallagher. The international version includes some variant shots and uses different names for some supporting characters; it also carries a dedication to the British railway engineer George Stephenson.^[8]

Near the end of the film, it is stated that the actual "Jupiter" and "UP 116" were used in the scene. Besides incorrectly identifying the "UP 119" as the "UP 116", both engines had been scrapped 21 and 15 years earlier. Of interest, however, what appears to be the Central Pacific's "C.P. Huntington", now on display in Sacramento, California, is being manhandled up a steep grade on a sledge made of logs.

Novelization

Starting in the early 1920s the publishing house Grosset and Dunlap crafted a deal with the prominent Hollywood studios to issue novelizations of their major, original releases and among those was The Iron Horse (1924, 329pp). The author was Edwin C. Hill, then a journalist, who would become a prominent radio broadcaster, best remembered for a show called The Human Side of the News.