JOHN FORD - LOST FORD WESTERN FOUND IN FRENCH ARCHIVE

A silent cowboy film made by legendary director JOHN FORD has been discovered in France - 70 years after it went missing.

The western, BUCKING BROADWAY, stars Ford's favourite silent film cowboy, HARRY CAREY, who had the lead role in 26 of the director's films.

PATRICK BRION, programme director at the FRANCE 3 channel, who will screen the film, said the find was an exceptional event, comparable to the discovery of a lost painting by CEZANNE.

Bucking Broadway is dated 1917, making it one of Ford's earliest films. He made 140 films in total, including shorts, from 1917 until he retired in 1966. He died in 1973 aged 81.

Only eight of his 70 silent films are known to still exist, although the discovery of Bucking Broadway has raised hopes that more are stored on the miles of shelves in film warehouses in the Parisian suburbs.