Ford's 3 Bad Men in relation to Potemkin

[Lokke Heiss]

Last night for the first time I saw John Ford's 3 Bad Men. Obviously, a lot could be said about the film itself, but I have a particular question ... and it's about The Shot.

And the shot I'm talking about when I refer to The Shot is the scene where the baby is left behind and the horses and wagons thunder toward it.

Anyone watching this is struck by the similarity between this shot and Potemkin's Odessa Steps sequence. Potemkin was shot in 1925 and per my research, Douglas Fairbanks brought back a copy to Hollywood around June of 1926. That's enough time for Ford to see it and be thinking about it before he finished shooting at the end of the summer of that year.

Ford says the story of the baby on the ground he'd heard about years before (probably related to the OK land rush) but the way the scene is shot looks remarkably like Odessa Steps.

Anyone have info on this?

[Brooksie]

I don't, but it would be fitting if Ford did prove to be inspired by Potemkin, as Eisenstein later professed himself a fan of Ford's work, especially Young Mr Lincoln (1939).

[Murnau]

I may be totally wrong but Ford's "child shot" reminds me more of shot in Statshka (1924), where the baby sits under the horse just before the violence begins.

[missdupont]

Joseph MacBride might talk about it in his massive biography of Ford.

[Lokke Heiss]

McBride doesn't know anything for sure either, if I wanted to pursue this, I'd check the dates for the desert location shooting and see how they match up with Fairbanks bringing the print back to Hollywood. And even then it would be an open question. I'm amused no one thought to ask Ford this question. Or maybe back then, nobody made any connection to it when it happened.

My best guess it that it's coincidence, who knows - maybe 1915 had a lot of 'baby in danger' shots that both directors drew from