The Iron Horse – Silent (1924)

Description

The film is about the construction of the American first transcontinental railroad. It depicts Irish, Italian, and Chinese immigrants, as well as African Americans, as the men who did the backbreaking work that made this feat possible. The primary villain is an unscrupulous businessman who masquerades as a renegade Cheyenne. It culminates with the scene of driving the golden spike at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869. There is a note in the title before this scene that the two original locomotives from the 1869 event are used in the film, although this is false – both engines (Union Pacific No. 119 and Jupiter) were scrapped before 1910. The main stars were George O’Brien and Madge Bellamy.

Cast

• George O’Brien as Davy Brandon
• Madge Bellamy as Miriam Marsh
• Charles Edward Bull as Abraham Lincoln
• Cyril Chadwick as Peter Jesson
• Will Walling as Thomas Marsh
• Francis Powers as Sergeant Slattery
• J. Farrell MacDonald as Corporal Casey
• Jim Welch as Private Schultz / Mackay (credited as James Welch)
• George Waggner as Col. William F. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody
• Fred Kohler as Deroux / Bauman
• James A. Marcus as Judge Haller (credited as James Marcus)
• Gladys Hulette as Ruby
• Jean Arthur as Reporter (uncredited)
• Chief John Big Tree as Cheyenne Chief (uncredited)
• Jack Padjan as Wild Bill Hickok (uncredited)