8mm Forum: The Block Signal (1926) Feature

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Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on January 28, 2010, 12:30 AM:

BLOCK SIGNAL (1926) 5 x 200 ft (834ft) Standard 8mm - silent B/W (Perry’s Movies) - Original price £10

Dir – Frank O’Connor

Cast –
Jean Arthur - Grace Ryan
Ralph Lewis - 'Jovial Joe' Ryan
Hugh Allan - Jack Milford
George Chesebro - Bert Steele (as George Cheeseboro)
Sidney Franklin -'Roadhouse' Rosen
Leon Holmes - 'Unhandy' Andy
Missouri Royer - Jim Brennan

PLOT/STORY – Grace Ryan (Arthur) works at the train depot where her father Jovial ‘ Joe’ (Lewis) has been running a train called Old Betsy for many years, maybe too many years because he has to take an eye test that he is worried he might not pass. At the same time Bert Steele is the upstart that is trying to win the heart of Grace at the same time he wins the train conductor job away from her dad. He pulls a fast one causing Joe to wreck Old Betsy and lose his job, which opens the door for him. Problem is that just as he thinks he is about to get the job, the girl and the glory, newcomer Jack Milford (Allan) arrives in town and steals away Grace. While the youngsters are worrying about love, Joe is developing a special brake that will make sure the wreck that cost him his job will never happen to anyone else. Hard work wins out in the end, and the good guy gets the girl….Oops I ruined it for everybody..

ANECDOTES – A good little train film, and a must for fans of the genre, even though is focuses more on the story than the actual train action. There are few memorable scenes including the big crash. The biggest star in the film has become Jean Arthur, but at the time it was the old gent, Ralph Lewis who plays her dad. Lewis had been in some of Griffiths’ important films such as The Avenging Conscience (1914) and Birth of a Nation (1915) and a handful of train films as well. Arthur, however still had a few more years of being lower billed to actresses such as Louise Brooks in Canary Murder Case (1929) and Clara Bow in Saturday Night Kid (1929) before she would break out in the 1930’s and 40’s. The other actor in the film of note is Hugh Allen who plays good guy Milford. Allen played the antagonist in the last film I reviewed Annapolis and unlike the others was out of films before he was 30 years old.
The 9.5mm company Pathescope also released a truncated version of the film entitled The Tragic Railway in 1932. One of these days I want to pick up a copy of the Pathescope version and check out the differences in quality if nothing else.

PRINT SPECIFICS- Released in 1973 by Perry’s Movies. The ads first showed up in issue 12 of their Home Movies magazine. The quality looks quite dupey with most of the white washing out. The main and end titles’ have been replaced (perhaps to eliminate any copyright notices). The intertitles are original and some of them are quite nice, but the lab work was a tad lacking as there was one spot where it jumps out of frame within the 8mm frame. There are a few other spots with jumps on the source material but nothing too disturbing, especially for a print of this age.

Posted by David Pannell (Member # 300) on January 28, 2010, 07:33 AM:

Excellent review, Dino.

I concur with every word. A truly engrossing film, I thought, with both a storyline and some "railroadiana".

A pity they don't make 'em like they used ta!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on January 28, 2010, 09:12 AM:

I like how your reviewing largely unknown silents instead of going with the well known ones, (like Metropolis).

Another good one for train lovers is the classic "Barney Olfields Race for Life", which has a good deal of action aboard the train.

Posted by David Pannell (Member # 300) on January 28, 2010, 10:03 AM:

Whilst we're on the subject of train movies, I might suggest "Danger Lights". Full of action and intrigue, and again starring Jean Arthur in the main role.

1930, sound. I have it on 16mm, but I don't know if an 8mm or super 8 version exists. Perhaps someone knows. A 16mm review might be an idea at some point, but in the meantime here is a quote from IMDb:-

""Danger Lights" is one of the best railroad movies ever made, and this was made in 1930! If you are a railfan (railroad enthusiast), you can appreciate the detail and authenticity that went into the making of this movie, as most of the operations depicted were authentic. Perhaps the high-speed run was a little over the top (a little artistic license, perhaps?) but it was not unusual for an engineer in the days before two-way radio to run his train over 100 miles per hour to make up a few minutes in his schedule. There's hardly a dull scene in the movie, and in general it is a quality project.

Whether you are a railfan or not, you'll certainly enjoy this movie. "Danger Lights" set a precedent for all the railroad-themed action movies that would follow. Those who are fans of movies such as "The General," "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three", "Von Ryan's Express," "The Great Train Robbery" and "Runaway Train" will appreciate this movie as well as those who admire action flicks in general".

End of quote!

Enjoy.

Posted by Claus Harding (Member # 702) on January 28, 2010, 11:04 AM:

Dino,

Good stuff! I have seen the title of this, but I have never watched it. Interesting cast info too. Trains have always been one of those 'go to' subjects for both drama and comedy; but lately there hasn't been much in that regard.
Then again, the Acela isn't exactly the same visually as a 4-6-2 (or similar) under full steam... [Big Grin]

Claus.
(BTW, Dino, if you haven't solved it, I haven't forgotten about your plug; I may get down into the storage tomorrow.)

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on January 28, 2010, 06:18 PM:

Dino... Thanks for posting the review. I also have this film and reading your review has peaked my interest in screening it again. I have only watched it once and I really enjoyed it. My copy is from Blackhawk Films.

I'll post about it after I screen it.

Bill

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on January 28, 2010, 06:36 PM:

I'm assuming your Blackhawk might have better source material than the Perry's so I will be curious to hear once you've screened it.

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on January 28, 2010, 06:39 PM:

Dino...I'll take some notes so I can give an accurate report. [Smile]

Bill

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on June 11, 2012, 03:57 PM:

Well, that took a while! Sorry about that! I did screen it just after my previous post but did not add to this thread. Last night I screened this film on my new Bolex M8. What a machine!

Anyway, the first of 4 200' reels was some what washed out but the remaining three were much better. It started with the Blackhawk Railroad Series title and did not have the usual running text about the film and went straight into what looked like an original opening title. The extreme left edge of the image was bright but overall the print looked pretty good. It is a entertaining film and I like it alot. There was one time on an inner title that the film went out of frame (within the film) and you had mentioned this Dino, so I wonder if they both (Perry's and Blackhawk) used the same source.

Also my print is about 700' total so it must be an edited version. [Frown]

I was thinking it was complete.

Bill [Smile]

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