JOHN FORD’S SILENT EPICS which is part of the much larger FORD AT FOX collection is a most welcome addition to the catalogue of available DVDs and fortuntaely for silent film fans you don’t have to buy the entire set. Of the 5 films in this set THE IRON HORSE is the most famous and has already been reviewed by me so I’ll focus on the remaining four films. The title SILENT EPICS is a little misleading as two of the films JUST PALS from 1920 and HANGMAN’S HOUSE from 1928 are much smaller in scope dealing as they do with smalltown America and rural Ireland. FOUR SONS (1928) with its World War I setting and 3 BAD MEN (1926), another large scale Western, are certainly more deserving of the title.
All 5 films have newly commissioned musical scores by five different composers (Christopher Caliendo, Tim Curran, Dana Kaproff, and John & Alexander Kaplan) which their respective films perfectly. 4 of the 5 films begin with a gentle warning about bringing the film to DVD using the best available source materials which is another way of saying that they haven’t been fully restored. Despite some scratches early on these movies look great considering their age and the fact that no original Fox silent negatives exist anymore. While the technology does exist to completely restore these films one can’t expect Fox to spend a fortune on what is clearly a niche market and we are lucky to still have these titles at all.
3 BAD MEN presages Ford’s 3 GODFATHERS (1948), HANGMAN’S HOUSE is the start of his love affair with Ireland (and John Wayne’s first visible film appearance), and JUST PALS is an early vehicle for ill-fated Fox star Buck Jones who would die in Boston’s notorious Coconut Grove fire in 1942. It was also Ford’s first film for William Fox. The real treasure here in my opinion is FOUR SONS which combines Ford’s epic and intimate qualities outside of the Western. It’s in the roughest shape of all the titles but still looks awfully good. The overall quality of the films, the fine new music scores, and the additional special features make this set a must have.
The Capsule Critic 