Watches
May 31, 2023
John Ford's 150-minute silent western epos about the construction of the transcontinental railway running through the USA, including some extra schmaltzy drama. Whether this event was best served by a rather bloated, 2.5-hour silent film is debatable, but that's what we're faced with.
When Brandon witnesses the death of his father, he is deeply hurt. It was his father's dream to build a railway that would run all the way through the US. When Brandon is old enough to be his own man, he puts all his efforts into realizing his father's dream, but there are many that would love to see him fail.
People back then were slow readers, so you'll be watching a lot of bland intertitles. The story isn't really that interesting, the drama is highly exaggerated and the runtime is excessive. It's not quite the worst of its kind and I'm sure a film like this was more of an event back in 1924, but watching it now, it's just an endlessly dull experience.