John Ford and Harry Carey: Universal Westerns, 1918

Feature Films of 1918: Jack Ford, Director & Harry Carey, Actor

• Title

  Phantom Riders

  Release Date

  January 28, 1918

  Status

  Believed lost.

  Screenwriters

  George Hively, Henry MacRae

  Cast

  Harry Carey, Molly Malone, Bill Gettinger, Vester Pegg, Buck Connor

  Story

  Dave Bland runs his cattle on a large tract of open government land. His control is enforced by a gang of white-clothed, masked riders. Bland wants to possess Molly, the daughter of his subservient foreman, Pebble Grant. Cheyenne Harry drives his little herd of cattle onto the grass claimed by Bland and refuses to leave. In town, Harry disarms and slaps Bland for insulting Molly. Molly's father is going to meet Harry to tell him about Bland, but the masked riders intercept the foreman and hang him in vengeance for changing sides. The Unknown, the masked leader of the riders, intends to kill Harry. In a bar fight, Harry routes half the drunken riders. Later, Harry is trapped at his ranch house, besieged by Bland and his masked riders. Molly rides for help and brings the rangers to save Harry.

  Comments

  Carey's Name and Character: Cheyenne Harry, cattleman

  Another version of the battle between a small cattleman and the "big" rancher over use of grasslands legally open to everybody. The "Variety" reviewer, Fred, highlighted the convincing battle scene and noted (facetiously) the large amount of gun powder expended.

  Buck Connor (aka Buck Connors), who plays Pebble Grant, had a 30 year career as a western bit player. Connors was also a writer of western short stories and screen stories. He had homes in Hollywood and Quartzsite, Arizona. In Quartzsite, Connors, well known as a venerable western character, was the namesake of the yearly "Buck Connors Western Days" The advertising for this event features photos of a white haired and bearded Connors from his later days in westerns.

• Title

  Wild Women

  Release Date

  February 25, 1918

  Status

  Believed lost.

  Screenwriters

  Harry Carey, John Ford, George Hively

  Cast

  Molly Malone, Vester Pegg

  Story

  Cheyenne Harry and the other ranch hands go to the rodeo where Harry cleans up in prizes. In the evening, the men go to a bar where they enjoy potent cocktails and Hawaiian dancers. That night the combination of cocktails and island dancing brings on exotic dreams. In their dreams, they are shanghaied and sail to a South Seas Island. The island is ruled by a Queen whose subjects are pretty native women. Harry puts down a revolution and wins the Princess. Just when Harry is about to marry the Princess, he wakes up with a hangover.

  Comments

  Carey's Name and Character: Cheyenne Harry, cowboy

  Ford and Carey frequently included comical incidents in their films, but Wild Women was their only film that was pure farce. The advertising promised exhibitors that the film would entertain hardened movie fans, who would forget the war while watching its 5 reels of comedy drunks and dreams of Hawaii. The "Variety" reviewer thought the plot was too slender to be maintained for 5 reels.

• Title

  Thieve's Gold

  Release Date

  March 18, 1918

  Status

  Believed lost.

  Screenwriters

  George Hively

  Cast

  Harry Carey, Molly Malone, Vester Pegg

  Story

  Cheyenne Harry becomes restive with his work on the Savage ranch. He meets Curt Simmons in a bar. Simmons, an outlaw, robs shipments along the Mexican Border. Harry decides to join Simmons in the robbery of an auto that is bearing gold for Mexican revolutionaries. Harry thinks they are in Mexico, but actually they carry out the robbery in Arizona. A posse is quickly formed to pursue Simmons and Harry. As he is escaping, Harry sees a young woman, Alice Norris, in a runaway carriage. Harry stops the carriage and rescues Alice but is caught by the sheriff and jailed. Savage obtains his release and takes him back to the ranch. Alice is staying at the ranch, and they fall in love. However, when Alice learns about his participation in the robbery, she leaves him. Harry rides off into the desert where he meets and confronts Simmons about returning the money. Harry and Simmons shoot it out, and Simmons is killed Harry has been wounded and is lying unconscious when Alice drives by and finds him. As he recuperates, they are reconciled.

  Comments

  Carey's Name and Character: Cheyenne Harry, cowboy, robber

  At this time, Ford and Carey were producing a five reel film every month. They had a new story for every film; inevitably, some stories were weak. With a trivial plot line, they had to depend on lots of action and Carey's pleasing screen personality to carry the film and satisfy its audience.

  When the West Was Young (1922) and Tales of the Old-Timers (1924), two volumes of factual stories recounting dramatic incidents in the lives of famous Westerners, are the best known publications of Frederick Ritchie Bechdolt (1874-1950), prolific novelist and story writer. Bechdolt published this film's source story, Back to the Right Trail, in Popular Magazine (1915).

• Title

  The Scarlet Drop

  Release Date

  April 22, 1918

  Status

  Complete copy discovered in 2024.

  Screenwriters

  John Ford, George Hively

  Cast

  Harry Carey, Molly Malone, Vester Pegg

  Story

  After the attack on Fort Sumter, "Kaintuck" Harry Ridge, a poverty stricken, illiterate Kentucky mountain man, volunteers for the local militia but is refused admittance, as it is a "gentleman's organization". Marley Calvert, scorning "Kaintuck", calls him "White Trash". Only Molly, Calvert's sister, has a kind word for him. Angered and vowing vengeance, "Kaintuck" joins Quantrell's raiders, a gang of marauders. By the end of the war, "Kaintuck" is a fugitive with a price on his head. He moves westward where, a wanted man, he continues his banditry. Also moving west, Calvert and his associate, Graham Lyons, invest in a mine. Molly travels west to join her brother. "Kaintuck", still vengeful, holds up the stage and kidnaps Molly. Having considered but decided not to harm her, "Kaintuck" treats her decently, and they become very friendly while Molly is with him. He takes Molly to the mining camp. At the camp, Graham Lyons is waiting for the arrival of Molly. As Marley's partner, Lyons demands that Marley give him Molly. Marley refuses and is knocked out by Lyons who attacks Molly. "Kaintuck" fights him. Lyons is overcome, but "Kaintuck" is shot. When officers come searching for the outlaw, Marley and Molly hide him in the attic. As the officers search, a drop of blood from the attic reveals his presence. They attempt to arrest him, but "Kaintuck" escapes. Molly's friendship has affected "Kaintuck", and he determines to give up banditry and improve himself. Eventually, a changed man, "Kaintuck" returns to Molly.

  Comments

  Carey's Name and Character: 'Kaintuck' Harry Ridge, outlaw rides with Quartile

  After the rather conventional Thieves' Gold, Ford and Carey wrote an atypical and more complex plot for Scarlet Drop. Initially, Carey is a mountain man rather than his usual westerner, although he seems to assume the westerner character part way through the film. That he can even consider dishonoring the heroine to gain vengeance on her brother indicates the crudity and roughness of the mountain man persona. Although Carey spends much of the film seeking vengeance, he and Marley are reconciled when Carey defends Molly. In a typical ending, the good woman transforms the hero from an outlaw into a steady and honest husband.

• Title

  Hell Bent

  Release Date

  July 6, 1918

  Status

  Extant, available for viewing.

  Screenwriters

  John Ford, Harry Carey, Eugene B. Lewis

  Cast

  Harry Carey, Neva Gerber, Duke R. Lee, Vester Pegg, Joe Harris

  Story

  During a card game, several men are shot. The sheriff chases the gunman to the county line where he escapes. The gunman, a very drunk Cheyenne Harry, rides onto the town of Rawhide. The only hotel in Rawhide, part of the saloon, is full, but Harry forces Cimmaron Bill to share his bed. The drunken Cheyenne and Bill discover that they have something in common, a fondness for singing. Cheyenne and Bill unite in the singing of "Sweet Genevieve" and, by morning, they are fast friends. Cheyenne meets and visits Bess Thurston, whose brother, Jack, has been fired from his job at Wells Fargo. Bess goes to work in the dance hall where Cheyenne is the bouncer. He is disturbed by her presence in the dance hall, but protects her as much as possible. Beau Ross, leader of a hold-up gang, persuades Jack to participate in a bank robbery. Cheyenne gets to the bank first, but learning that Jack is one of he bandits. he lets Jack and Ross get away, although without the money. Ross, realizing that Cheyenne will be in his way, kidnaps Bess to force Cheyenne to come to the hideout. Cheyenne tells Bill to come after him if he is not back in six hours. Cheyenne finds the gang but is captured and tied to an untamed horse that is run off. The horse plunges off a hill slope, and Cheyenne escapes. Ross takes Bess with him into the desert. Meantime, the sheriff and his possee find the gang as the outlaws are attempting to escape in a wagon. The outlaws are killed when their racing wagon tumbles off the road and down a mountain side. Bill continues in search of Cheyenne. In the desert, Cheyenne catches up with Ross and Bess. The men shoot it out and both are wounded. Only one horse is fit to ride, and Bess takes it. She will ride back to town; Cheyenne and Ross will walk. A windstorm overtakes Cheyenne and Ross. Cheyenne covers himself, but Ross lies in the open. When Bill finds them, Cheyenne is alive, but Ross is dead. Some time later, Cheyenne dressed neatly in a suit proposes to Bess. She accepts him. In the distance, Bill is happily singing "Sweet Genevieve'.

  Comments

  Carey's Name and Character: Cheyenne Harry, hard drinking, gambling cowboy

  This film begins with the character of Cheyenne Harry as an unrefined, hard drinking rangerider. This character is domesticated by the love of a good woman. By the conclusion Cheyenne, in order to marry Bess, has cleaned himself up, improved his wardrobe, and quit drinking. Carey's character in several films follows a similar story arc, most notably the crude and illiterate "Kaintuck" in The Scarlet Drop that had been released several months previously.

  Hell Bent was the first Ford/Carey films written by Eugene B. Lewis. Lewis began his career in the early silent period as a writer and editor for American Biograph and Universal Studios. He worked on seven Ford/Carey features. His final writing credit is for the Fox Studio production Cupid's Fireman (1923) directed by William Wellman. Lewis died at the early age of 46 in 1924.

• Title

  A Woman's Fool

  Release Date

  August 12, 1918

  Status

  Believed lost.

  Screenwriters

  George Hively

  Cast

  Harry Carey, Betty Schrader, Molly Malone, Vester Pegg

  Story

  Lin McLean, the best hearted man in the west, was a perfect fool where women were concerned. In Denver, Lin meets Katie Lusk, a waitress, and falls for her. Not knowing that Katie has a husband and a child, Lin offers her a home and marries her. A year later, during a drought, Tom Lusk, Katie's husband, who advertises himself as a rainmaker, appears and offers to make it rain for $1000.00. The rains come, and Lin has to work hard to pay him. After Lin pays, Lusk has money, and Lin is broke. Katie leaves Lin and returns to the rainmaker. Lin is shocked to learn that Katie was already married when he married her. Lin's heart hardens toward women. Several years pass, and tender-hearted Lin is already softening when he meets pretty Jessamine Buckner, the new station agent. Lin falls for Jessamine, and she likes him. However, when Jessamine learns that he is married, she gives him up. In an act of generosity, Katie sets things right by telling Jessamine the truth about her marriage to Lin.

  Comments

  Carey's Name and Character: Lin McLean, rancher

  The story outline as written above is based on the synopsis in the "Moving Picture Weekly", the magazine published by Universal Pictures to advertise its films to exhibitors. Reading the synopses of a film in several film magazines usually offers a variation of the story in every magazine. The synopses Lin McLean in Motion Picture Weekly and Exhibitors Herald provide an extreme example of dramatically different endings of a plot. In MPW, Katie tells Jessamine the truth about her marriage to Lin, thus freeing him to marry Jessamine. In EH, Lin rejects Katie when she attempts to reenter his life and subsequently commits suicide. Since the film is believed lost, the correct storyline cannot be determined. A woman's suicide seems an extreme and melodramatic method of freeing Carey. Unlike any other ending of a Ford/Carey film, a suicide is a somber way to end a film that apparently was intended to be primarily a comedy.

  The film, set in the west, is loosely based on incidents in the Owen Wister novel. In the novel, the youthful Lin tires of the hard life of a cowboy and heads east to seek his fortune. As time passes and Lin matures, he loses many of the qualities of a Westerner without settling comfortably into the life style of an Easterner.

  In the film, the "Lin" character maintains his cowboy qualities. The film portrays aspects of a rancher's life in the West. Ford and Carey claimed credit for the first motion picture to show a chuck wagon/portable kitchen. They claimed that the make-up of the wagon was correct to the smallest detail.

  Owen Wister, born in Philadelphia and Harvard educated, became fascinated with the lore and landscape of the western country. His most famous work, 'The Virginian' (1902), is credited with being the first western novel and originating the archetypal cowboy. "Lin Mclean" (1898), his first novel, moves the action from west to east and is not specifically a western.

• Title

  Three Mounted Man

  Release Date

  October 7, 1918

  Status

  Believed lost.

  Screenwriters

  Eugene B. Lewis

  Cast

  Harry Carey, Neva Gerber, Joe Harris

  Story

  In a western penitentiary, the crooked son of the warden is appropriating government money with the aid of a former forger, Buck Masters, who works in the prison office. Cheyenne Harry, another convict, and Masters have been friends, but when Harry objects to Masters stealing government money, they fight. As a punishment for fighting, Harry is sentenced to solitary confinement. The warden's son obtains a pardon for Masters, who turns around and blackmails him. The warden's son then obtains a pardon for Harry on the condition that he get Masters rearrested. Upon leaving prison, Harry meets up with his brothers and they travel to the western town where Masters is living. In the town, Harry meets and falls in love with Lola, a dance hall girl and coincidentally Masters' sister, although Harry does not know that fact. Harry learns that Masters plans to rob a stage. Masters wants the money for his mother and sister, but Harry does not know about Masters' motivation. Harry informs the law about the stage holdup, and Masters is arrested. Only after the arrest does Harry learn that Masters is the brother of Lola. Harry and his brothers ride after the coach carrying Masters to jail and rescue him. They bring him back to his mother and sister. With her brother saved, Lola plans to marry Harry.

  Comments

  Carey's Name and Character: Cheyenne Harry, outlaw, robber

  This film has one of the most unlikely plots of all the Ford/Carey westerns. The story seems designed to feature scenes of Harry and his brothers on horseback against a backdrop of the beautiful western scenery of the Los Angeles region. The "Variety" reviewer noted that the "photography is particularly happy".

  Ford and Carey often included scenes that were unusual and innovative. In this film, the response of Harry's eyes to light after weeks in the darkness of solitary was emphasized. Harry wears specially darkened glasses as his eyes readjust to the light. Carey in the glasses is seen in a picture in the January 1919 edition of Motion Picture News