By Indian Post (1919)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

William Wallace Cook (story)
H. Tipton Steck (scenario)

Release Date:

24 May 1919 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Western

Cast

Pete Morrison	...	Jode MacWilliams
Duke R. Lee	...	Pa Owens
Magda Lane	...	Peg Owens
Edward Burns		(as Ed Burns)
Jack Woods	...	Dutch
Harley Chambers	...	Fritz
Hoot Gibson	...	Chub
Jim Moore	...	Two Horns
Jack Walters	...	Andy
Otto Meyer	...	Swede (as Otto Myers)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ed Jones	...	Stumpy

Also Known As:

The Love Letter

Runtime:

USA:20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Universal Film Manufacturing Company

"Somebody's roped my love letter"

This short Western RomCom provides a glimpse at the early times of John Ford's career as a director. It also shows us an example of where the Western was at by 1919.

So what distinguishes this as a Ford film? Very little, but there are a few noteworthy features. There is a certain neatness to the shot composition, and even some tentative hints towards his canny use of framing. His arrangements are occasionally a little haphazard though. Take for example the long shot in which Jode (screen centre), flirts with Peg (screen right) while Pa Owens' henchman (screen left) watches disapprovingly – it's not clear whereabouts our eyes are supposed to be drawn. Unsurprisingly, the shots are at their most simple and iconic when they show men riding across the countryside on horseback.

What is also very typically Fordian in this film is its refusal to get to grips with one-to-one (i.e. romantic) relationships, to concentrate instead on community relationships. However since the film was butchered and shorn of about seven minutes (by the collector who acquired it no less) it is hard to tell whereabouts the narrative is supposed to be weighted.

Contrary to what some have said about Stagecoach (or even Dodge City) inventing the modern genre, it's fairly clear that by this point the Western was already a rich mine of clichés, a surprisingly large number of which are squeezed into this short. In fact the only thing that really sets this apart as a Western of its time (apart from the obvious) is that the cowboys wear chaps. Chaps are everywhere in the silent Westerns, but for some reason they went out of fashion when the talkies arrived. Importantly, the Western was clearly also now a backdrop against which you could do a comedy, rather than it having to be a Western in its own right.