The Scarlet Drop

{{Infobox film

| name = The Scarlet Drop

| image = The Scarlet Drop 1918.jpg

| caption = Film poster

| director = John Ford

| producer =

| writer = John Ford
George Hively

| starring = Harry Carey

| cinematography = Ben F. Reynolds

| distributor = Universal Film Manufacturing

| released = {{film date|1918|4|22}}

| runtime = 50 minutes

| country = United States

| language = Silent
English intertitles

}}

The Scarlet Drop is a 1918 American silent Western film directed by John Ford and featuring Harry Carey. For several decades, just over 30 minutes of footage of the film was thought to have survived in the Getty Images Archive.{{cite web |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/S/ScarletDrop1918.html |title=Progressive Silent Film List: The Scarlet Drop |access-date=March 1, 2008 |website=Silent Era}} In January 2024, academic film historian {{ill|Jaime Córdova|es|lt=Jaime Córdova Ortega}} discovered a complete version in an abandoned warehouse in Providencia, Chile. It was later digitized, and screened at the Valparaiso Recovered Film Festival, organized by Córdova Ortega.{{cite news |last=Mullally |first=William |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film-tv/2024/11/25/lost-john-ford-film-the-scarlet-drop-chile/ |title=Lost John Ford film found in Chile after 100 years |date=November 25, 2024 |access-date=November 25, 2024 |work=The National |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241125203950/https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film-tv/2024/11/25/lost-john-ford-film-the-scarlet-drop-chile/ |archive-date=November 25, 2024 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Cooperativa.cl |title="Como el santo grial": Encuentran en Chile película perdida de John Ford rodada hace un siglo |url=https://cooperativa.cl/noticias/magazine/cine/como-el-santo-grial-encuentran-en-chile-pelicula-perdida-de-john-ford/2024-11-28/174931.html |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Cooperativa.cl |language=Spanish}}

Plot

As described in a film magazine,{{cite journal |title=Reviews: The Scarlet Drop |journal=Exhibitors Herald |volume=6 |issue=17 |page=28 |publisher=Exhibitors Herald Company |location=New York City |date=April 20, 1918 |url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald06exhi}} "Kaintuck" Ridge (Carey), refused admission to the local militia to fight on the side of Union in the American Civil War, joins a gang of marauders and at the end of the conflict finds himself a fugitive with a price on his head. He goes west and becomes a bandit. Marley Calvert (Pegg), who kept Kaintuck out of the army, also goes west and takes up mining. Betty Calvert (Schade) is taken captive when Kaintuck holds up a stage coach. His hatred for the Calverts is overcome by his admiration for Molly (Malone) and later, when her honor is attacked by a former suitor, he defends her and wins her love.

Cast

Harry Carey as Harry "Kaintuck Harry" Ridge
Molly Malone as Molly Calvert
Vester Pegg as Marley Calvert
Betty Schade as Betty Calvert
Millard K. Wilson as Graham Lyons (credited as M.K. Wilson)
Martha Mattox as Mammy
Steve Clemente as Buck (credited as Steve Clemento)

Reception

Like many American films of the time, The Scarlet Drop was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors issued an Adults Only permit for the film and cut, in Reel 2, the shooting of man standing in church yard, Reel 3, placing tree in road, all scenes of coach holdup except where young woman and bandit are conversing, two scenes of outlaws taking spoils from passengers, Reel 5, three fight scenes were man presses knife towards opponent, two scenes of men throwing knives, and man shooting Ridge.{{cite journal |title=Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors |journal=Exhibitors Herald |volume=6 |issue=19 |page=31 |publisher=Exhibitors Herald Company |location=New York City |date=May 4, 1918 |url=https://archive.org/stream/exhibitorsherald06exhi#page/n862/mode/1up}}