User Reviews

Like Orson Welles with Citizen Kane, James Cruze spent the rest of his directorial career trying to top the success of the epic western The Covered Wagon. The sea serves as the prairie landscape for this film, Old Ironsides the story of the first days of that valiant ship of the line in our new US Navy for Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes penned his immortal poem.

In this film the Constitution is a new ship and it's off to fight in the war against the Barbary pirates of Tripoli. In what I think is a rather unnecessary prologue we're shown scenes of the debates in the 5th Congress as to whether we should have a navy at all.

When the meat of the story gets served it's a slice of action and romance. Young Charles Farrell goes off to sea in search of adventure and gets recruited in a grog shop by boatswain Wallace Beery. Also recruited that way is George Bancroft who is a gunner on the new Constitution. Bancroft ain't happy on the way he was drafted and he and Beery have a running feud going.

As for Farrell, he's got eyes for passenger Esther Ralston, but she's out of his league. But they all get into the same fix when the Barbary pirates capture them and the ship. After that it's the US Navy and the as yet to be named Old Ironsides to the rescue. Most important for Ralston as the pirates have a choice place in the sultan's harem for her.

The Constitution was as yet to be named Old Ironsides. That would occur later on in the era before the War of 1812 when she battled the British ship of the line Guerriere. The battle scenes are well staged, the recently departed from Paramount Cecil B. DeMille couldn't have done better than Cruze.

The film holds up very well and if it isn't history it's good entertainment.

"Old Ironsides" (1926) is a lavished production from the glory days of American silent cinema, helmed by director James Cruze. This is a two-hour historical epic, that takes place in the late 18th century, when Unites States was still a very young country. Pirates are terrorizing the Mediterranean, and U.S. politicians decide that they can no longer sit idly as this also affects their citizens. The opening is a tad questionable from today's perspective. The film demonizes the inhabitants of northern Africa, because they take white Americans as slaves. There is a bit of truth, historically. Muslim people were not allowed to take other Muslims as slaves, so in distant centuries slaves were found elsewhere. Yet this film's condemnation of African slave-merchants is a bit problematic, as the film glosses over America's own, similar history. If the film-makers would have wanted to be progressive, this film could have easily denounced all forms of slavery.

Yet, if one can get over these historical difficulties, this is a well-made adventure narrative with a big budget. There is a proper amount of action and also a romance between Charles Farrell and Esther Ralston. The real stars of the film, however, are the charismatic Wallace Beery and George Bancroft, who do a fine job here. However it is worth pointing out, that Bancroft's introductory scene shows him having a tattoo, which says "G. Bancroft", as it was the habit of silent films to also introduce the actors while the film was going on. Interesting curiosity. The film also included Gary Cooper and Boris Karloff as extras, though I didn't really spot either of them.

This film is well worth a watch for fans of naval adventures, as well as the fans of Wallace Beery.

Old Ironsides a good film but you have to wait for the real action to start,which does not come in to play until you near the end of the film.But do watch and wait for there is a fantastic ship explosion which is well worth waiting for.Wallace Beery plays a right devious hard nut character and he looks the part.Esther Ralston looks great and once again toward the end of the film she lets her hair down and looks even better.The start of the film is a bit slow then when it moves on to life on the ship there are some funny parts and you get a glimpse of what life on board may have been like.Just one downside to the film for me,the Wurlitzer organ,after ten minutes it drove me mad,what did I do?, I simply turned off the volume sat back and enjoyed the rest of the film.I must say take the time to watch Treasure Island (1934)which also stars Wallace Beery, he plays a fantastic Long John Silver.

With plenty of action, an interesting story, and a cast headed by Wallace Beery and George Bancroft, this works well as an adventure movie. It adds good shipboard atmosphere, and it also includes the re-enactment of some of the history that is used as background to the story. Although the historical setting is stylized to some degree, it seems to give a pretty good feel for what it was like in the days when ships from the young USA did battle with the coastal pirates of the Mediterranean.

Beery and Bancroft work quite well together, and they are entertaining, too. Beery's boisterous style can work particularly well in silent movies, since the personality of a character is more prominent than the dialogue. Charles Farrell, as the young man who sails with Beery and Bancroft, is usually rather bland, but then again his innocent, reserved character serves as a contrast to the other two. Esther Ralston is an appealing heroine, and a few of the other characters also get some good moments.

The story is interesting, with most of it following characters on "Old Ironsides" and other ships as they sail, maneuver, and battle. The shipboard atmosphere is convincing, showing the crews both in tense times and in lighter moments. It's enjoyable to see the recreation of the old sailing ships and the ways they worked. Between the details of the ships, and the interesting crew members, there are times when you almost feel as if you're aboard with them.

"Old Ironsides" is one of the many silent movies that deserve to be better known and remembered. It's worthwhile both for the story and for its recreation of the age of the great sailing ships.

There is some grand cinematography in this telling of the early US Navy's attempts to combat the Corsair pirates from North Africa who demanded tribute from all who would sail the seas upon pain of terrible retribution from their well equipped and terrifying fleet should any default. The cast - Wallace Beery, lively as ever, and George Bancroft as his gunner mate, work well together, as do the appearances from the hunky, lovestruck Charles Farrell (rather inappropriately named "The Commodore") and the rather butter-wouldn't melt Esther Ralston ("Esther" - perhaps she had trouble remembering her own name?). To be honest, this isn't a great film, from a narrative perspective, for much of the first half - it really does take a while to get underway. When it does, however, we get some cracking maritime battle scenarios with loads of action, gun battles and technically impressive cinematography that captures some of the genuine jeopardy faced by those sailors from all nations who had to deal with this Tripolitan scourge. From an historical perspective, the fairly embryonic US Navy wasn't quite so successful as this would suggest, but success they had - and the old USS Constitution certainly played her part in arresting these terrors of the Mediterranean and beyond. It's a good watch, this - especially if you like your stories encrusted with salt and a cat 'o nine tails, but maybe the first half hour could have been condensed just a bit better by James Cruze (no puns intended).

This picture is absolutely fantastic. I just saw it two nights ago when I was clearing out my room and felt in the mood for a sea epic. It's funny how someone like me, who doesn't even know how to swim (and doesn't plan to), indulges himself with every sea picture he sees. Chuck Farrell proves a worthy choice for the lead; a dreamer, seeking adventure on the high seas. Esther Ralston, even though I'm anti-blonde, is gorgeous as his supporting heroine. The portion of the cast that MADE the picture however was Wallace Beery and George Bancroft. They were awesome characters and the fight scenes between them were hilarious. I will NOT reveal anymore important plot elements, see the picture for yourself and enjoy. Just make sure to bring a towel, you're bound to get drenched with excitement.

Hollywood studios have always tried to introduce new technologies to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Paramount Pictures found an easy solution to make their adventure films more exciting by innovating the "Magnascope." As the name describes, Magnascope was a projection process where, during exciting adventure scenes the projectionist would switch to a larger widescreen lens. The first use of the Magnascope was during the battle scenes in December 1926's "Old Ironsides." Even though the picture quality suffered somewhat since the movie was filmed by the film standard 4:3 aspect ratio, when the projectionist turned his lenses to the widescreen, the on-screen image became close to the modern-day 1:85:1 rectangular sizing. The process was used in several Paramount films, but was retired once newer innovations emerged in the projection booth.

During its December 6, 1926, premier at New York City's Rialto Theatre, when the projector operator turned to the Magnascope lens to increase the picture size during a maritime battle sequence, the audience collectively stood up and cheered. The movie's subject, focused in on the USS Constitution during its early Barbary Coast pirate confrontations, profited greatly from the sold-out premier since Paramount donated all its proceeds from that evening to the restoration fund for the ship's refitting. The frigate was one of the first ships the young United States Navy's had constructed, designed specifically to fight the pirate menace off the North African coast. The USS Constitution was built with durable live southern oak growing on St. Simons Island, Georgia, and milled nearby before shipped to Boston. Despite what the "Old Ironside" movie depicts, the USS Constitution earned its nickname 'Ironside' from the War of 1812's battle against the HMS Guerriere, where the British cannonballs could be seen bouncing off the ship's planking.

"Old Ironsides," directed by James Cruze, who introduced the epic Western genre in his 1923 "The Covered Wagon," filmed a combination of real and miniature ships for his action scenes. During one battle sequence, a real ship, the S. N. Castle, built in 1886, was retrofitted to appear as an early-1800s ship. The S. N. Castle was actually fired upon and sank specifically for the movie. The film had an all-star Paramount Studio cast, including Charles Farrell, Esther Ralston, Wallace Beery and George Bancroft. Even Boris Karloff is seen in a bit part as a pirate guard.

Silent movies somehow found a way to incorporate a romantic angle, no matter how remote the possibilities might be. Actress Esther Ralston finds herself on a mercantile ship journeying the transatlantic when the pirates overtake the boat. Ralston was popular in Hollywood during the making of "Old Ironside," earning $8,000 per week. Once talkies took over the movies, she appeared to be making a successful transition. But she was suddenly relegated to minor roles in low-budget films by small-time studios in the mid-1930s. Ralston claims in her autobiography, 'Some Day We'll Laugh,' that she refused to sleep with MGM's head Louis B. Mayer. She soon discovered her studio contract was canceled and found herself gray listed in Hollywood.

Charles Farrell, playing the love-lorn sailor whose physicality and heroism gains the attention of Esther while she's on the boat, gained one of his first major parts in "Old Ironside" after arriving on the Hollywood scene in 1923. He would receive further prominence by his lead role in 1927's "7th Heaven." Having a relatively successful film career until the early 1940s, he eventually entered city politics at his hometown Palm Springs, California, and was mayor there from 1947 until 1955.

"Old Ironsides" itself was the fifth highest box office movie in 1926. But as par for costly epics, the expensive production didn't quite make its money back for Paramount even though the public flocked the theaters in droves to view the spectacle.

Charles Farrell, an enterprising young lad, becomes a member of the crew of the Esther, a merchant ship bound to Naples. On the way, he makes friends with bos'n Wallace Beery, George Bancroft, a gunner who deserted from the Constitution, cook George Godfrey, and pretty passenger Esther Ralston. However, the ship is captured by Barbary Pirates, Miss Ralston is scheduled to be taken, along wih the ship, as a gift to an emir, and the men thrown into a slave quarry. Our Hero and his three pals escape and make their way to the Consiution, which finally shows up nearly an hour into the movie, where Johnny Walker as Stephen Decatur is already engaging in heroics. This goes on and it is in the final twenty minutes that we actually get the Battle of Tripoli and everyone is rescued.

It's a bit leisurely in getting down to what everyone is waiting for, but when it finally happens, it's a well conducted reenactment, with director James Cruze doing a lot of beautiful model work, thanks to Farciot Edouart and his special effects team. Bancroft is a lot of fun in a terrible wig, and Beery gets a big shove from the villains he had been playing towards the big-hearted lout he would portray at MGM. It's a rousing Yankee Doodle of a movie, and the script offers a lot of nice touches, thanks to a writing team that included Laurence Stallings, Rupert Hughes, and Dorothy Arzner. Some sequences were shot and presented in Magnascope, but the copy I looked at lacked the effect.