John Ford's 1928 silent film Hangman's House was a big surprise. Clocking in at 76 minutes it was not a major ordeal to sit through unlike a lot of silent movies are. It was a sophisticated piece of film making showing off many of Ford's strong points. Thematically somewhat reminiscent of The Searchers and The Quiet Man it didn't have any of the pretentiousness and ponderous story telling that affect those films.
A love story and a revenge story set in Ireland, Ford seemed to be inspired by the material and setting. Visual composition had always been Ford's strong point. Here he had a lot of impressive scenes photographed and staged for maximum visual impact. Using studio sets, Ford was able to create a very special look and mood with light and shadows throughout the film.
Ford and his production team staged an exciting and very impressive fire sequence at the end of the film, I would bet that Alfred Hitchcock and David Selznick remembered it when they were filming Rebecca. The film is known today for having the first appearance of John Wayne in a John Ford film. Wayne's an extra in the crowd cheering on the racers in the steeple chase scene. He's on the far left in this blurry picture below. Hangman's House really deserves to be known as a very good picture rather than for that piece of film trivia.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment