Monday, June 28, 2010

The Last Outlaw, A Gun Fightin' Gentleman, North of Hudson Bay



11.30 Cinema Lumière - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni, Bologna, 28 June 2010

THE LAST OUTLAW (L'ultimo fuorilegge, USA/1919) PC: Universal. D: John Ford (come Jack Ford). With: Ed "King Fisher" Jones. 270 m /18 fps 13 min (frammento). From: BFINA. - John Ford at his best in the silent era - an end of the West story that can be compared with The Gunfighter, Ride the High Country and The Shootist.

A GUN FIGHTIN' GENTLEMAN (Pistola contro gentiluomo, USA/1919) PC: Universal. D: John Ford (come Jack Ford). With Harry Carey. 706 m /22 fps/ 28 min (frammento). Did. olandesi, earphone translation in Italian and English. From: Cinémathèque de Luxembourg. - Cheyenne Harry meets meatpacking tycoon in Chicago, foils his scheme and robs his daughter.

NORTH OF HUDSON BAY [not released in Finland] (La legge del nord, USA/1923) PC: Fox Film Corporation. D: John Ford. SC: Jules Furthman. With Tom Mix, Eugene Pallette. D.: 46'. Did. ceche, earphone translation in Italian and English. From Narodny Filmovy Archiv (Prague). - I believe I have seen this material in 1981 in Munich, but now I saw it for the first time with a translation in English. - This is the only surviving material with Ford directing Tom Mix. - Flaherty had just shot Nanook of the North in the real milieu north of Hudson Bay. - There is a lot of action, superficial excitement and a devilish trap where sun rays discharge a rifle. There is a long snowbound chase in the wilderness, a wolf pack and a dangerous rapid-shooting sequence on a canoe; John Ford, himself, did stunts for the rapid-shooting.

Presenta Joseph McBride
Accompagnamento al piano di Antonio Coppola

Joseph McBride gave an extended and informative introduction - on John Ford and Harry Carey - on John Ford and Francis Ford - on John Ford's theatre connections - on his little, unpretetious films - on his Irish roots - on sex: The Brat, and 7 Women - how the encounter with Murnau made him a more conscious artist.

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