Old Ironsides (1926)

Old Ironsides: Directed by James Cruze. With Charles Farrell, Esther Ralston, Wallace Beery, George Bancroft. An American fighting ship battles Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean in the 18th century.

“u0026quot;Old Ironsidesu0026quot; (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 todayu0026#39;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 filmu0026#39;s condemnation of African slave-merchants is a bit problematic, as the film glosses over Americau0026#39;s own, similar history. If the film-makers would have wanted to be progressive, this film could have easily denounced all forms of slavery.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYet, 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 Bancroftu0026#39;s introductory scene shows him having a tattoo, which says u0026quot;G. Bancroftu0026quot;, 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 didnu0026#39;t really spot either of them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film is well worth a watch for fans of naval adventures, as well as the fans of Wallace Beery.”