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3 Bad Men (John Ford, 1926)
Before he was making talkies with John Wayne, director John Ford was cutting his film teeth making grand epic silent films. I'd call his silent film, 3 Bad Men a masterpiece of story telling and a cinematographic tour de force. I mean, wholly oxen, there were sure a lot of horses in the race for gold country scene! Talk about staging and use of extras, I mean those wide angle shots are something special to behold.
And there were even some big strong oxen with equally big heavy yokes pulling those wagons. Which is historical correct...I believe that the pioneers favored oxen over horses to pull those prairie schooners across the plains, as horses tired to easy.
As much as I was impressed with the on location shots and the massive staging of men and beast, the story itself lost me at times. Oh, it's a richly detailed story with many a character. But for me in the 21st century I find silent films hard enough to follow but when they have complex stories I get a tad bit distracted...not the movies fault though. Though it's a film that requires full attention.
I guess I didn't really ever care much or feel I knew the characters. The 3 bad men seemed to be the most fleshed out, with the most personalities. I can't say the dark haired girl or her boyfriend had much character development, and I'm still confused about the bad guy sheriff. I mean I know he was a baddie, buy why was he so bad? And why was he and like a 100 men trying to stop or kill the lead wagon? Was it just to get first choice in the land grab?
3 Bad Men (John Ford, 1926)
Before he was making talkies with John Wayne, director John Ford was cutting his film teeth making grand epic silent films. I'd call his silent film, 3 Bad Men a masterpiece of story telling and a cinematographic tour de force. I mean, wholly oxen, there were sure a lot of horses in the race for gold country scene! Talk about staging and use of extras, I mean those wide angle shots are something special to behold.
And there were even some big strong oxen with equally big heavy yokes pulling those wagons. Which is historical correct...I believe that the pioneers favored oxen over horses to pull those prairie schooners across the plains, as horses tired to easy.
As much as I was impressed with the on location shots and the massive staging of men and beast, the story itself lost me at times. Oh, it's a richly detailed story with many a character. But for me in the 21st century I find silent films hard enough to follow but when they have complex stories I get a tad bit distracted...not the movies fault though. Though it's a film that requires full attention.
I guess I didn't really ever care much or feel I knew the characters. The 3 bad men seemed to be the most fleshed out, with the most personalities. I can't say the dark haired girl or her boyfriend had much character development, and I'm still confused about the bad guy sheriff. I mean I know he was a baddie, buy why was he so bad? And why was he and like a 100 men trying to stop or kill the lead wagon? Was it just to get first choice in the land grab?