
The Shamrock Handicap. 1926. USA. Directed by John Ford. With Janet Gaynor, Leslie Fenton. Silent, with piano accompaniment. 67 min.
The idyllic Ireland of John Ford’s imagination (which culminated in The Quiet Man) makes an early appearance in this silent feature, about a down-on-his-luck breeder (Lewis Payne) forced to sell most of his stable to an American millionaire. In one of her first films for Fox, Janet Gaynor plays the breeder’s daughter, a sprightly colleen in love with the jockey (Leslie Fenton) who is sent to the states along with the stable. One of the countless films based on the work of popular magazine writer Peter B. Kyne (Three Godfathers), the film, not surprisingly, ends with a race that settles all issues in high style. New 4K restoration from nitrate elements held by MoMA, funded by Twentieth Century Fox