Link to the Film
This film may be viewed for free on YouTube, thanks to the generosity of the Library of Congress and Dr. Carli. For a link to the livestream recording with Dr. Carli’s commentary, please subscribe ($5 ticket/$10 subscription with added content).
Silent Thriller with Live Piano
Dr. Carli is a train nut, so for his birthday this month he has chosen a 1926 railway adventure film with plenty of good close shots of trains. My favorite bit is the scene near the beginning where the heroine is riding in the cab of an engine when a fight breaks on a flatcar of a train right in front. Leaning out the cab window she watches helplessly – for a couple of seconds. Then she picks up a big wrench, climbs out the cab window and around the engine boiler, jumps onto the flatcar, walks over and biffs the bad guy just as he is about to throw the hero off the train. Yes boys, we’re in 1926 now!