KENTUCKY PRIDE (1925)
Starring: "Us Horses" -- Virginia's Future, Negofol, Morvich, Confederacy, Man O'War, Fair Play, The Finn. Also starring: "Those Creatures Called Humans" -- Henry B Walthall, Gertrude Astor, Peaches Jackson, J Farrell MacDonald, Belle Stoddard, Winston Miller, Malcolm Waite, George Reed
Writer: Dorothy Yost
Cinematography: George Schneiderman, Edmund Reek
Music: SILENT
B&W, 1h 10m. 1.33:1 presentation.
Released on: September 6, 1925 by Fox Film Corporation
My experience: YouTube
Following The Iron Horse, this is a decidedly minor entry into the John Ford oeuvre. Still, I found it quite entertaining in its own way, and while perhaps not quite as artful as other films in the Ford constellation, it's not phoned in by any means, and indeed Ford's big idea was to tell this story from the point of view of a horse! Sounds silly, I know ... but darned if the film didn't win me over by the end.
The story, such as it is, remains fairly simple -- but not as straightforward as you might expect. We are introduced to Virginia's Future, a young foal born into the racing stable of Mr. Beaumont (Henry B Walthall), a raffish gambler whose second wife (Gertrude Astor) seems to have taken up with their neighbour Greve Carter (Malcolm Waite). Beaumont's horse trainer, Mike Donovan (J Farrell MacDonald) develops a special connection with Virginia's Future, which comes in handy after she breaks her leg in a race. Mrs. Beaumont, all but twirling a moustache, orders Donovan to kill the horse, and officially takes off with Carter. Donovan of course doesn't have the heart to do this, and manages to keep her from the glue factory. Virginia's Future gives birth to Confederacy, who has been gifted the speed of his mother. By this time, however, Beaumont (thanks to his gambling problem) has lost his money, his wife, and his reputation. Obliged to sell his property, including the horses, at auction, he disappears, leaving his daughter Virginia (Peaches Jackson) in the care of Donovan and his wife (Belle Stoddard).
Cut to a few years later. Virginia's Future has been mistreated by her new owner, a junk dealer, and becomes a pack horse. Donovan, in the meantime, has moved to the city and become a police officer. Beaumont is still down on his luck and making sad attempts to gamble his way back into fortune. The former owner and trainer reconnect in a meet-cute that could have easily gone the other way, and find out that Confederacy will be racing in the Futurity, a stakes race for trotters, with Donovan's son Danny (Winston Miller) as jockey. They pool their money and place it all on Confederacy. At the same time, a chance encounter alerts them to the whereabouts of Virginia's Future. Will things end happily ever after for all involved? Have you ever seen a movie?
There aren't very many reviews of this film online, but those that exist make much of the fact that the film, supposedly told from the point of view of Virginia's Future, contains scenes that the horse couldn't possibly be privy to. To which I say, so what? One can't expect a children's film from the 1920s to live up to the realistic standards we seem to want to impose on all our movies nowadays. And that's just what this is: a children's story. The narration by the horse is a clever gimmick to a) make the film stand out a little bit more from the rest, and b) keep the children watching engaged during some of the more grown-up centred parts of the film. To their arguments, I say this: Balderdash!!!
That's not to say that Kentucky's Pride is perfect. Far from it. There is some cringeworthy stuff in here, not the least of which is a stereotypical black butler (George Reed) who shuffles and bows and smiles as big as he can, all whilst the title cards outline his dialogue in the most racist way possible. I realize that this may sound a little hypocritical coming after the previous paragraph, but I've seen hundreds if not thousands of films from the classic Hollywood era, and this is right up there with the cringiest stuff. This stuff would have been considered over the top even in 1925 -- at least in more, shall we say, cultured circles.
While Ford the artiste takes a back seat to Ford the hired hand in this one, there are still a few things that caught my eye. There is an interesting effect used for the moment Virginia's Future is born and begins to see, as the image starts out blurry and then becomes less so as the seconds tick by. It's also noteworthy for its POV shot, as the camera -- in a rarity for a John Ford film -- is not locked in place but is supposed to be representing the horse moving her head around trying to look at things. There is also some great cutting during the Futurity race; and even though in the print I watched there was no sound, I found myself caught up in the action, and even mesmerized at times.
J Farrell MacDonald once again steals the show here with some really great acting: less over the top as compared to The Iron Horse, but some really heartfelt scenes. I'm recalling specifically the scene in which Mrs. Beaumont orders him to kill Virginia's Future. The emotions that he displays on his face are truly heartbreaking.
Kentucky Pride is definitely a lesser work by a renowned master of his art, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't go unseen. While the complete absence of a soundtrack may put many people off, the print is very good, and the film moves quickly enough that if you've trained yourself to watch silent movies, it's less of a task than might first be thought.
Five galloping geldings out of ten.
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