Fox poached Gaynor from Universal with the offer of a supporting role in this proto-disaster movie, a period melodrama inspired by the actual catastrophe that struck the titular Pennsylvania town in 1889. George O’Brien stars as a prescient engineer who spots flaws in the local dam and Florence Gilbert is O’Brien’s love interest, but Gaynor steals the show in the minor but crucial role of Anna Burger, a workman’s daughter who rides through the valley on horseback to warn the people of the impending deluge. Gaynor’s memorably tragic performance earned her a five-year contract from, as well as a coveted spot on the 1926 Wampas (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) Baby Star roster of up-and-coming starlets most likely to succeed.

Gaynor got top billing in only her second feature-length assignment at Fox. Directed by John Ford during his studio journeyman period, The Shamrock Handicap is a lighthearted racehorse drama centered in Ireland. Gaynor plays the daughter of a kindly but destitute Irish aristocrat (Louis Payne) forced to sell the bulk of his equestrian stable to a wealthy American. Romance blooms with the young jockey (Fenton) who rides her father’s prize filly in a steeplechase to restore the family fortune. Ford displays earnest affection for the land of his forefathers, not to mention an ethnographic attention to Irish folk customs which anticipates the masterful treatment of similar material in his immigration epic How Green Was My Valley (1941).