John Ford and Harry Carey: Universal Westerns, 1917
Short & Feature Films at Universal Studios
Introduction
Ford described the idea for these films as character studies of western life, featuring basic emotions mixed with rugged terrain and primitive settings. Carey's character is often named Cheyenne Harry, a simple name for a basic westerner, generally the hard riding, straight shooting type whose wardrobe was plain and unadorned as fits his salt-of-the-earth character. Although Carey often used the same name, the attributes of his character differed from film to film. Ford and Carey emphasized eye-catching photography of the western scenery. The mostly undeveloped (at the time) mountains and valleys around Los Angeles provided many strikingly scenic locations.
Most of the features are five reels (about an hour), the standard length for a feature at the time. Some of the later films are six reels, and Universal advertised these longer features as specials, although in general the plots and settings do not differ significantly from the five reel features.
Of the 22 feature films made by Ford and Carey, only three are known to be mostly extant and available for viewing.
Since most Ford/Carey films are lost, our plot synopses are based on synopses published in contemporary trade magazines. The plot synopsis for any one film often varies between magazines, sometimes significantly. Since it seemed likely that Universal would have the greatest amount of information about their own films, most of our synopses are based on the story synopses published in Moving Picture Weekly, the magazine published by Universal Pictures to inform exhibitors about its weekly product.
Short Films Directed by John "Jack" Ford
- Title
- The Tornado
- Release Date
- March 3, 1917
- Status
- Believed lost
- Screenwriters
- Grace Cunard, Francis Ford, Jack Ford
- Cast
- Jack Ford, Peter Gerald, Duke Worne, Elsie Thornton
- Story
- Lesparre and his gang rob the bank and kidnap Bess, the mayor's daughter. Jack rides to her rescue. He fights the gang in their cabin and jumps from the cabin roof to his horse. As a climax he leaps from his horse onto a moving train. Bess is rescued, and the bank's money returned. With the reward money offered by the mayor, Jack brings his mother over from Ireland.
- Comments
- Ford told Peter Bogdanovich that he remembered the film as "just a bunch of stunts".
- Title
- Trail of Hate
- Release Date
- April 28, 1917
- Status
- Believed lost
- Screenwriters
- Jack Ford
- Cast
- Jack Ford, Louise Granville, Duke Worne
- Story
- Lt Jack Brown of the 67th Cavalry Regiment, risen from the ranks, is adored by his men but less popular with some of the other officers, especially Captain Dana Holden, a West Pointer. When a stage is held up, the 67th goes after the road agents. During the skirmish, the father of a young woman, Madge, is killed. Left without money or a home, Madge becomes a servant at the fort. Jack tries to help her by buying her new clothes, but a scandal results. To save her reputation, Jack marries her. After her marriage, Madge, who does not love Jack, begins to think that he married her from pity. She starts a flirtation with Holden, meeting him when Jack is away. Jack finds her with Holden, and they get into a fight. She leaves with Holden and marries him. A few years later, Jack and his troops are stationed in the Philippines. Trouble breaks out with a local group, the Moros, and Jack's troops are sent to a post in the interior. Jack and Holden are stationed near each other. Holden leaves Madge at the post while he is scouting. Attacked by the Moros and cut off, Holden abandons his duties, and his wife, and attempts to escape to Manilla. The Moros attack and wound him. Holden's troopers take him back to the post. Jack and his troops save the post, including Holden and Madge, from the Moros. Jack takes her to his post. Madge is sorry that she left Jack and wants him to stay with her, but he turns away in disgust and throws her off forever.
- Title
- The Scrapper
- Release Date
- June 9, 1917
- Status
- Believed lost
- Screenwriters
- Jack Ford
- Cast
- Jack Ford, Louise Granville, Duke Worne, Jean Hathaway
- Story
- Buck Logan loves Helen Dawson, a school teacher, but she is lonely in the country and returns to the city. Buck and his fellow cowboys ride over to say goodbye. Buck proposes again, but Helen is not ready to marry him. In the city, Helen finds it difficult to find employment. Martha Mayes and her assistant, Jerry Marten, run an establishment where men can meet pretty young women. They plan to lure Helen into their dancing hall where she will attract wealthy clients. To carry out the plan, their employee, Archie, pretends to attack Helen, and Jerry protects her. Jerry walks her home. He tell Helen that his sister is giving a party and invites her. The "sister" is Martha who introduces Helen to Colonel Stanton, a wealthy client. Buck has also come to the affair with a girl he befriended. He recognizes a reluctant Helen paired up with the colonel. Outraged, Buck, who is always ready for a fight, demands a fight with everyone in the place His challenge is accepted by all the men and a fight commences. Buck is outnumbered, but Helen telephones for the boys, who arrive to help Buck. A gigantic fight ensues. Jerry and Archie carry Helen off, but Buck intervenes. They end up on the roof where Buck throws Archie off and downs Jerry. The hall is wrecked, but Helen is saved. After a few days of recovery, the boys escort Buck and Helen to the train. They are leaving the city and heading west.
- Comments
- Ford included plenty of action in his three starring shorts. The studio publicity proclaimed that the big fight in The Scrapper was a "scene of carnage never equaled, a fine free-for-all." Ford reproduced the big fight scene in Bucking Broadway, a Carey feature. Carey and his cowboy friends engage with Vestor Pegg, who is planning to marry a reluctant Molly Malone, and Pegg's pals. The fight wrecks the terraced dining area of a swanky New York Hotel where the pre-wedding breakfast is being held.
- Title
- Soul Herder
- Release Date
- August 4, 1917
- Status
- Believed lost
- Screenwriters
- George Hively
- Cast
- Harry Carey, Jean Hersholt, Fritzi Ridgeway, Hoot Gibson, Vester Pegg, Duke R. Lee
- Story
- Cheyenne Harry spends a wild Saturday night in a small town and ends up in jail. The next morning the sheriff releases Harry but keeps his gun. Harry is ordered out of town. Riding in the desert, Harry meets a man and child in a wagon. The man is the new parson of Buckhorn. Indians ride up. The parson's attempts to parlay with them are unsuccessful, and they shoot him. Harry, who does not have his gun, survives. He buries the parson and takes the child to the town. In town he meets the child's aunt, Jane, who takes him for her brother-in-law. The child has become attached to him, so he stays. Days later he meets Topeka Jack and his henchman. They take him for the unwanted parson and get him into a fight. He beats up the henchmen. Jane arrives on the scene, denounces Harry as a ruffian and imposter and orders him to leave. However, the child becomes ill and calls for her new daddy. Harry comforts the child who recovers. Jane says he can stay. Chuck Rafferty, an old friend, comes to town and offers to help Harry hold a church service. For three weeks they open the church to small attendance. In the fourth week, Harry goes to the saloon and with drawn guns forces everyone to church. Harry gives a long sermon, and Chuck collects offerings at gunpoint. Topeka Jack and his henchman attempt to run Harry out of town, but he overcomes them and closes the saloon. Buckhorn is now peaceful. Harry and Jane plan a wedding.
- Comments
- This film introduces a characteristic starting point for a Ford/Carey film: Carey as a hard-drinking, rough mannered, and foot-loose range rider who is unwelcome in a quiet town. By the conclusion this rude character has been civilized by the virtuous and strong-willed heroine.
- Title
- Cheyenne's Pal
- Release Date
- August 16, 1917
- Status
- Believed lost
- Screenwriters
- Jack Ford, Charles J. Wilson
- Cast
- Harry Carey, Gertrude Astor, Jim Corey, Vester Pegg, Hoot Gibson
- Story
- Cheyenne Harry is very fond of his horse, Cactus Pete. He refuses all offers for the valuable animal. Unfortunately, Harry is also fond of liquor and dance hall girls. After getting drunk and spending all his money, Harry sells his horse to a buyer from the British Army who plans to ship the horse to the war zone in Europe. The next night, Harry awakens sad and lonely and afraid for the horse. Under cover of darkness, he enters the barn where the horse is stabled. He saddles and rides away into the safety of the desert.
- Comments
- The reviewer for "Exhibitors Herald" describes this short as a "colorful and swiftly moving little drama of the cow country".
Feature Films of 1917: Jack Ford, Director & Harry Carey, Actor
- Title
- Straight Shooting
- Release Date
- August 27, 1917
- Status
- Extant, available for viewing.
- Screenwriters
- John Ford, George Hively
- Cast
- Harry Carey, Molly Malone, George Berrell, Vester Pegg, Hoot Gibson, Duke R. Lee, William Gettinger
- Story
- Sweet Water Sims, Ted, his son, and Joan, his daughter, have settled on a section of open land claimed by powerful rancher, Thunder Flint. Flint fences off Sim's water hole. Thunder plans to attack all the settlers on his grazing lands. He hires gunman Cheyenne Harry to drive the Sims family off the land. Another gunman, Placer Fremont, waiting at the water hole, kills Ted when Ted comes for water. When Harry arrives he finds Sweet Water and Joan mourning over the body of Ted. Harry is so touched by their grief that he changes sides and decides to protect them. In the streets of the local town, Harry and Placer duel with rifles. Harry kills Placer and rides to the Sims' house. He sends Joan to warn all the settlers and bring them to the house. Harry rides for his friends in outlaw valley. The settlers in the house are hard pressed by Thunder's gunmen until Harry and his outlaw friends arrive to drive the gunmen away. With peace restored, Harry is conflicted about whether an outlaw can marry a good woman. Joan convinces him that he must stay.
- Comments
This first Ford/Carey feature has one of the commonest plot lines in western films: the evil cattle baron attempts to throw the settlers off their land, and the outlaw hero switches sides to help the settlers. This western plot also includes the age old romantic trope of the good girl reforming the outlaw hero.
Although Ford claimed that he and Carey wrote most of their films, a professional writer assisted with completion of the scenarios and screenplays. George Hively, a professional writer, worked on many Ford/Carey films, starting with Soul Herder, a short. In the ten years he was a screenwriter, Hively accumulated 92 credits, including a total of 10 Ford/Carey stories. In 1927 as the talkies replaced silents, Hively switched from screenwriting to film editing.
He continued as an editor until 1945, working principally at MGM. His highly successful editing career included such prestigious films as Bringing Up Baby (1938), Love Affair (1939), and Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940). Hively was nominated for a Best Editing Academy Award for The Informer (1935), a film for which John Ford won Best Director.
The artistry associated with Ford's westerns, strong characterizations and sweeping panoramas of the western settings, is evident in his first feature film.
The title of the picture was initially announced as "Joan of the Cattle Country". This title indicates the importance of the heroine's ability to transform the hero and also her Paul Revere-like ride to gather the settlers. A title highlighting the heroine of a western would have been highly unusual, but Joan is a very active character.
- Title
- Secret Man
- Release Date
- October 1, 1917
- Status
- Two reels survive.
- Screenwriters
- John Ford, George Hively
- Cast
- Harry Carey, Edythe Sterling, J. Morris Foster, Vester Pegg, Hoot Gibsen, William Getting
- Story
- Cheyenne Harry escapes jail and boards a train. On the train, Harry successfully hides from the law with the help of passenger Henry Beaufort. Harry goes to work on Beaufort's ranch. Beaufort is secretly married to Molly who lives with her brother, Bill, on the neighboring ranch. The marriage is secret because Beaufort's wealthy uncle opposes it and would disinherit his nephew if he knew. Molly and Henry's daughter, Elizabeth, is in the charge of the foreman of Bill and Molly's ranch. When the sheriff arrives looking for him, Harry runs off. During his escape he finds Elizabeth who has been injured in the crash of a runaway wagon. Harry takes the girl back to the ranch, thus giving himself up. Molly reveals that the child is hers, and the secret marriage is confessed. For his selfless act, Harry is pardoned. When the uncle dies the couple's troubles are cleared up.
- Comments
Carey's Name and Character: Cheyenne Harry, escaped convict.
Contemporary reviewer Peter Milne, of "Motion Picture News", wrote that the story was too slim for the running time and the characters were "generally unskillfully drawn". He complemented the striking views of cattle grazing on rolling plains, a western panorama that was included in many of the Ford/Carey films.
- Title
- Marked Man
- Release Date
- October 19, 1917
- Status
- Believed lost.
- Screenwriters
- John Ford, George Hively
- Cast
- Harry Carey, Molly Malone, Anna Townsend, Vester Pegg, William Gettinger
- Story
- Cheyenne Harry, a wanted man who has tried to reform, is induced by a pal to participate in a stage robbery. During the robbery, Harry's confederate kills a passenger. Harry is caught, convicted of the murder, and sentenced to be hanged. As the hanging nears, a letter from Harry's mother announces that she is coming to visit him. The sheriff gives Harry two weeks of grace while his mother visits. As part of the charade, a friendly local rancher lends his ranch house. The rancher's daughter, Molly, pretends that she is Harry's wife. After the two weeks, Harry's innocence of the murder is proven when an exonerating witness appears. Vowing to go straight, Harry asks Molly to marry him.
- Comments
- Robert McElravy, the reviewer of the "Motion Picture World" found the plot improbable, but wrote that the film was made entertaining by consistent action and superior photography. He particularly noted the wild, rugged scenic effects and furious horseback riding. He also noted that the hanging scene was very realistic with the noose around Harry's neck and "with closeups that might well be cut as many sensitive observers do not like so much realism".
- Title
- Bucking Broadway
- Release Date
- December 24,1917
- Status
- Extant, available for viewing.
- Screenwriters
- George Hively
- Cast
- Molly Malone, Vester Pegg, William Gettinger
- Story
- Harry, foreman of Ben Clayton's ranch, loves Helen, Ben's daughter. Harry and Helen plan their marriage. Harry carves a heart and gives it to Helen as a love token. Eugene Thornton, an Easterner, visits the ranch and secretly courts Helen. She elopes with him. Harry is heartbroken but resigned. In New York, Helen discovers that Thornton is not the man he pretended to be. Thornton and his friends are dissipated and immoral. Frightened of them, Helen breaks the heart and sends a half to Harry as a sign that she needs him. Harry goes to New York and finds that the reluctant Helen is being forced to marry Thornton. Harry needs help to release her and sends for his cowboy pals who are appearing in a rodeo at Madison Square Garden. The cowboys gallop down Broadway to the hotel where the wedding ceremony is about to begin. The two groups battle throughout the restaurant area of the hotel. Harry knocks out Thornton and embraces Helen. They take the westbound train back to the ranch.
- Comments
Carey's Name and Character: Cheyenne Harry, cowboy
The film is a feature length version of The Scrapper (released June 1917), the third short of which Ford was director and star. In both films, the hero's rescue of the innocent heroine involves a mammoth fight. The multi-tiered hotel interior in Bucking Broadway is a classy site for the big fight, groups of fighters are battling all over the dining room.
The cowboys riding to the rescue of Harry and Helen supposedly are galloping down Broadway in New York. A wide street in Los Angeles is standing in for the New York location. Despite the dangers of obstructions on the street, the eight or ten men and horses completed filming without any accidents.