''The Tornado'' is a 1917 American

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed and co-written by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

, who at that time was credited as "Jack Ford". Filmed in California, the

two-reel A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

starred Ford as well, with a supporting cast that included Jean Hathaway, John Duffy, Peter Gerald, Elsie Thornton, and

Duke Worne Howard "Duke" Worne (December 14, 1888 – October 13, 1933) was an American director and actor of the silent era. He directed more than 70 films between 1919 and 1931. He also appeared in 27 films between 1914 and 1928. He was born in Phi ...

. This short is generally cited by film historians to be Ford's debut film as a director, although he had served as an assistant director in some earlier productions directed by his elder brother Francis Ford."'THE TRAIL OF HATE'"
''The Moving Picture Weekly'', April 21, 1917, p. 29.

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, San Francisco, California. Retrieved April 28, 2020. Produced by

Bison Motion Pictures Bison Film Company, also known as 101 Bison Film Company, is an American film studio established in 1909 and disestablished in 1917. It partnered with Miller Brothers 101 Ranch to lease 20,000 acres to build a Western town set and an Indian villa ...

and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, this short is currently classified as a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

Cast

as Jack Dayton (as Jack Ford) * Jean Hathaway as Jack's mother * Peter Gerald as Pendleton, banker from Rock River (as Pete Gerald) * Elsie Thornton as Bess, Jack's daughter *

as Lesparre, the lead of Cayote gang * John Duffy as Slick, Jack's partner

Production and reception

John Ford, who was only 23 years old at the time of this short's production, reportedly got drunk while filming and told producers that he simply ordered the actors what to do and then recorded the action.

Reviews

The film was defined like: "In his hand-to-hand struggle in the cabin and the jump from the cabin roof to the back of his horse, Jack Ford qualifies as a rough-riding expert". Jack Ford declared ''

The Soul Herder ''The Soul Herder'' is a 1917 American silent Western film directed by John Ford, and featuring Harry Carey. The film is presumed to be lost. The film was premiered in Dayton, Ohio, on August 3, 1917. Cast * Harry Carey * Molly Malone * Hoot G ...

'' as the first film he directed because he dismissed ''The Tornado'' and called it a "brunch of stunts". Davis, Ronald. B13, p. 38

References and notes

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tornado, The 1917 films 1917 Western (genre) films 1917 short films 1917 lost films 1917 directorial debut films American silent short films American black-and-white films Films directed by John Ford English-language Western (genre) films Lost American Western (genre) films Silent American Western (genre) films Universal Pictures short films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films