Horsey programmer from John Ford, modest stuff after last year’s heavy-lift with THE IRON HORSE*, but delivering plenty of charm & sentiment as Kentucky thoroughbred ‘Virginia’s Future’ narrates her own story a la BLACK BEAUTY. (Heck, what better use of silent film inter-titles?) Starting as a pampered filly, she’ll lose trainer, owner, mom, even her stall when wealthy Southerner Henry B. Walthall goes bust and leaves what’s left to his second wife & her shameless lover after Virginia’s Future breaks her leg trying to win a race for her master. (A horrific moment that keeps this from getting a Family Friendly label.) Even Walthall’s little girl winds up living with trainer J. Farrell MacDonald who lands as an L.A. Irish cop. And Future? Barely missing the glue factory, she’s sold for breeding before sinking to junk cart work. Now it’ll be up to Future’s daughter, Confederacy, to win the race and save the day years later. And who’ll be riding her? Why it’s MacDonald’s own jockey son. Corny stuff but briskly played, with Ford giving something of a subversive edge by having Civil War Southern vets loudly cheering CONFEDERACY! at the racetrack while generally pointing up how much these horses get treated as if they were slaves: separated without so much as a farewell from home & family, whipped, bred, worked to death. No wonder Ford makes sure to include so many Black stable workers in his shots.
DOUBLE-BILL: Ford played a similar tune next year in THE SHAMROCK HOTEL: horses, bankruptcy, injuries, a racing finale. With added Ireland vs America elements and youthful romance for Janet Gaynor in an early role against unconventional lead Leslie Fenton. It’s also better preserved and has no talking horses. OR: *The epic Ford had to climb down from, THE IRON HORSE/’24. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-iron-horse-1924.html
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Nice print found online (gratis), but without any music. A CD of Scott Joplin piano rags making a fine serendipitous soundtrack.
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