Stagecoach's Recent Activity - Spout

Film:Stagecoach

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 03:56:23 GMT

Title: Stagecoach
Year: 1939
Director: John Ford
Plot: Although there were Westerns before it, Stagecoach quickly became a template for all movie Westerns to come. Director John Ford combined action, drama, humor, and a set of well-drawn characters in the story of a stagecoach set to leave Tonto, New Mexico for a distant settlement in Lordsburg, with a diverse set of passengers on board. Dallas (Claire Trevor) is a woman with a scandalous past who has been driven out of town by the high-minded ladies of the community. Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt) is the wife of a cavalry officer stationed in Lordsburg, and she's determined to be with him. Hatfield (John Carradine) is a smooth-talking cardsharp who claims to be along to "protect" Lucy, although he seems to have romantic intentions. Dr. Boone (Thomas Mitchell) is a self-styled philosopher, a drunkard, and a physician who's been stripped of his license. Mr. Peacock (Donald Meek) is a slightly nervous whiskey salesman (and, not surprisingly, Dr. Boone's new best friend). Gatewood (Berton Churchill) is a crooked banker who needs to get out of town. Buck (Andy Devine) is the hayseed stage driver, and Sheriff Wilcox (George Bancroft) is along to offer protection and keep an eye peeled for the Ringo Kid (John Wayne), a well-known outlaw who has just broken out of jail. While Wilcox does find Ringo, a principled man who gives himself up without a fight, the real danger lies farther down the trail, where a band of Apaches, led by Geronimo, could attack at any time. Stagecoach offers plenty of cowboys, Indians, shootouts, and chases, aided by Yakima Canutt's remarkable stunt work and Bert Glennon's majestic photography of Ford's beloved Monument Valley. It also offers a strong screenplay by Dudley Nichols with plenty of room for the cast to show its stuff. John Wayne's performance made him a star after years as a B-Western leading man, and Thomas Mitchell won an Oscar for what could have been just another comic relief role. Thousands of films have followed Stagecoach's path, but no has ever improved on its formula. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 9
Number of Lists: 23
Number of blog posts: 1
Number of discussion threads: 7
SpoutRating: 3

Spout Post: Re:Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:28:35 GMT

Post By: Dr_Gor
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 9/13/2009 9:28:35 PM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. I just posted a blog about The Hunchback of Notre Dame. One of the things commented on the special features was how this movie was almost outshadowed by the so many other well known movies that also came out of Hollywood in this same year. I could hardly even list half of films that are still well known today, but I tried my best to pick what would probably be people's most favorites. Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:Destry Rides AgainGone with the WindThe Hunchback of Notre DameMr. Smith Goes to WashingtonNinotchkaThe Roaring TwentiesStagecoachThe Wizard of OzThe WomenWuthering Heights [/quote] I think I would have to vote for The Wizard of OZ in this one only because I thought Dorothy was pretty hot and Judy Garland gave me a "tingly* feeling at a very young age... The Hunchback would be second followed by Stagecoach ... (John Wayne RULES!) ... < GOR >

Spout Post: Revisiting Stagecoach for the AFI Project

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:55:28 GMT

Post By: pippin06
Post To: Reel Thoughts
Post Date: 9/6/2009 11:55:28 PM
Body: What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here:http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx Stagecoach is on the following AFI lists: The Original Top 100 (#63)10 Top 10's (#9 Western) Netflix allowed me to review this film, which I’m positive I saw on an old movie cable channel at some point a long time ago. The trouble is that I could not remember any of it, and I am not exactly sure why that is, though it seems to be a common problem for many who have seen it. I think this is because Stagecoach could be a fairly run-of-the-mill western, except for the fact that it has some notable and extraordinary aspects that are either going to stick in one’s memory or are not. One such notable aspect would be the introduction of John Wayne in what would be his breakthrough, if not first, role, and since the man made a living of primarily starring in westerns, they are bound to run together in one’s subconscious. Still, Stagecoach becomes something of a surprise, released in that Golden Year of cinema, 1939, and no doubt buried by other films of that year with more fanfare, such as Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Wuthering Heights. Stagecoach is an ensemble film set against the Old West, and the title refers to a method of public transportation, a horse-drawn coach, that people used to get from one town to another across the far expanses of desert and mountains occupying the southwest. In this particular story, the passengers are a motley crew of people with various issues and problems who are all determined to reach a town called Lordsburg. Riding in the coach all the way from Virginia is Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt), a society woman who is determined to see her husband, in the national cavalry, due to the fact that she is in a delicate condition. A nervous whiskey drummer named Mr. Peacock (Donald Meek) is traveling to sell his wares and to return to his family, though he encounters, in the stage’s opening stop, Dr. Josiah Boone (Thomas Mitchell), a drunken doctor who has been ousted out of town by a women’s society determined to uphold the propriety (or “law”) of their town, and Mr. Peacock’s apparent new best friend. Dr. Boone is accompanied by a woman named Dallas (Claire Trevor), also ousted by the women’s society, who has a mysterious and apparently scandalous past. Gatewood (Benton Churchill) is a crooked banker who has stolen from his own bank and appears to be escaping life with his austere wife. Hatfield (John Carradine) is a gambler seemingly taken with Lucy, who accompanies her on the journey as her self-proclaimed protector. Buck (Andy Devine) drives the coach, and Sheriff Wilcox (George Bancroft) promises to be along for the ride, hoping to catch up to the Ringo Kid (Wayne), who has recently escaped from prison. He is something of an honorable outlaw and former rancher, who has sworn a vendetta against the Plummer brothers, who murdered his father and brother. When the stage finally does catch up to Ringo, he warns the sheriff that Apache Indians are afoot and attacking settlers who rove into their territory, which the road to Lordsburg happens to pass through. In the meantime, though the cavalry temporarily accompanies the stage, the passengers are eventually abandoned in the advent of war with the Indians and must decide to brave the trek unprotected, all while managing the tenuous interpersonal dynamics between the passengers themselves. Stagecoach is an interesting blend of traditional western, action-adventure film, and character drama. It literally has something for everyone, and for that reason, it’s entertaining, even for a western, which, if you are an avid follower of this blog, you know is my least favorite film genre. John Ford, the director of this and other great westerns such as The Searchers, expertly directed this film, making it a thrilling adventure as well as a compelling story of characters vying and struggling between social acceptance or civilization and ostracism or social exclusion. The money shot in this film is the introduction of Ringo Kid. A gunshot heralds his presence, and then a fast-moving dolly camera zooms in on a stoic, chiseled John Wayne, introducing him to film history, this film included, with pluck and artistic bravado. Other impressive elements of this film include the performances, particularly by Wayne, who made Kid a sympathetic hero, striving to protect the society that would otherwise shun him from Apache attacks and menacing outlaws. Also, Thomas Mitchell, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this film (though he ironically appeared in Mr. Smith and Gone with the Wind the same year), was delightful as the drunkard Boone, who injected some witty and acerbic humor into the proceedings even as his feigned intoxication required him to offer a little slapstick, and his rare sobriety offered glimpses into a thinking and feeling man who was once great at his profession. Dr. Boone is certainly of the most layered characters ever to grace early cinema, and Mitchell gave an outstanding performance. The stunt work in this film is also both impressive and marvelous; the scene where the stagecoach is actually attacked by Indians on horseback, with Ringo jumping from horse to horse in the stage’s train, is gaspingly exciting for the year in which the film was made. The cinematography is also sort of breathtaking for a black and white film: the wide camera views of desert vistas and two-track trails as well as romantically lit moon-soaked nights in which Ringo, uncaring of Dallas’ past, attempts to consummate the unspoken love between them, are truly amazing. Also, the story is satisfying – formulaic according to what the genre demands, to be sure, but filled with clearly defined lines of good and evil, right and wrong, judgment and misjudgment, and happy endings. The score was also delightful, tinny and orchestral though it was, because it was so illustrative of the events on screen. I have but one complaint about this film, which is the fact that Dallas’ scandalous past is easily assumed but deliberately ambiguous and confusing, no doubt as a result of the Hayes Production Code of film decency in place at the time (after all, prostitution was probably not something to celebrate or call by name in movies in 1939 – see also Gone with the Wind). I also have one comment: the digital transfer of this film was not so good. The contrasts in the black and white DVD I had made some parts of the film hard to see, particularly when it was supposed to be daylight and sunny. That’s not a critique of the film, naturally, as it is more of an expression of sadness at the difficulty film preservationists and others must have when attempting to transfer these aged films to new digital media. All in all, though, Stagecoach is fun to watch, entertaining and artistic, and another great product from a great year in Hollywood history. Even though the film seems to provide the template for many a western to follow, the AFI did not see fit to rank this film on its Revised list, opting instead for Cabaret as a new addition to its updated ranking. I do enjoy Cabaret more, because I enjoy musicals more, but I find that Stagecoach is likely often also overlooked in consideration of the year and other films that were released at the same time. As for my personal patented ranking, I think the film merits an 8.5 between minor flaws/very good and perfectly entertaining. This ranking reflects the ambiguity of Dallas’ story, the fact that I don’t enjoy westerns as much, and the fact that Indians are, yet again, the bad guys, thanks to the ignorance of people of that present day, though I will say that the film’s treatment of Mexican and Hispanic characters was decidedly less uncomfortably caricature-like than in other, even later, films of the genre. As for the test, I’m not sure that Stagecoach passes. While I tentatively love the film, it’s not one I could find myself watching repeatedly, though I did enjoy the smoldering romance between Ringo and Dallas. Still, Stagecoach has its place in film history and is a great watch for anyone interested in exploring early westerns, the films of John Ford, or the films of John Wayne and even for anyone just interested in watching a bona fide good movie.

Spout Post: Re:Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:59:35 GMT

Post By: pippin06
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 9/1/2009 7:59:35 AM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] I had to say Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I just love it. Can't help it. I saw Stagecoach so long ago, I can't remember many specifics, but I know it was amazing! Sounds like it's time for a revisit. Is there anyone here who actually found Gone with the Wind a bit long and grating? I find Vivien Leigh to be pretty annoying a lot of the time. But people say she was perfect for the part. I've never read the book though, so maybe Scarlett O'Hara the characters is just annoying to me. [/quote] I've read the book, and Leigh was perfect for the part. And: she's supposed to be annoying, in her own way, but she's sympathetically annoying because she's really just a big child in a world that's bigger than she realizes and certainly bigger than her. So, yes, Scarlett is, by definition, annoying. Which is why her tempestuous romance with Rhett, who is deliberately annoying and knows it full well, is ironic. She wants the stoic and sensitive Ashley, but Rhett is more her equal in every way. And, at four hours, it is a very long movie. But, like another poster, Gone with the Wind is a staple from my childhood because it is my mother's favorite movie aside from Casablanca. So, some people will probably agree with you while others will say it's four hours of epic romantic goodness. I fall somewhere in the middle leaning toward the epic romantic goodness. I like Oz and Mr. Smith better :-D.

Spout Post: Re:Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 03:56:23 GMT

Post By: QFLW
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 8/6/2009 11:56:23 PM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] I had to say Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I just love it. Can't help it. I saw Stagecoach so long ago, I can't remember many specifics, but I know it was amazing! Sounds like it's time for a revisit. Is there anyone here who actually found Gone with the Wind a bit long and grating? I find Vivien Leigh to be pretty annoying a lot of the time. But people say she was perfect for the part. I've never read the book though, so maybe Scarlett O'Hara the characters is just annoying to me. [/quote] Same here with Stagecoach - I just can't remember much about it. (sigh) There are too many like that, alas... There are a few of these films I haven't seen, and it was hard to choose, but in the end I went with Wizard of Oz. It's such a staple from my childhood -- a very good old friend. Ditto Gone With the Wind, actually. I remember being about 5 years old, watching it with my parents at a drive-in. Hanging over the front seat between my parents, crying during the burning of Atlanta, wondering what all those people with burned homes were going to do - I didn't understand a lot of the rest of it at the time...but I digress. The film is better than the book, which is written in a rather soap-opera-y style, and everyone's right -- Leigh was the perfect Scarlet. She's meant to be annoying. ;-) I've never liked any version of Wuthering Heights much, though I've seen a few - the story is bizarre rather than romantic, if you ask me; none of the characters are likeable. So why do I keep watching different versions of it? Mostly because of who gets cast in them.

Spout Post: Re:Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:40:04 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 8/5/2009 11:40:04 AM
Body: I had to say Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I just love it. Can't help it. I saw Stagecoach so long ago, I can't remember many specifics, but I know it was amazing! Sounds like it's time for a revisit. Is there anyone here who actually found Gone with the Wind a bit long and grating? I find Vivien Leigh to be pretty annoying a lot of the time. But people say she was perfect for the part. I've never read the book though, so maybe Scarlett O'Hara the characters is just annoying to me.

Spout Post: Re:Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:16:21 GMT

Post By: tadiv
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 8/4/2009 9:16:21 PM
Body: What a good year - my vote is for The Wizard of Oz. ...And who can figure out why Stagecoach is also showing up...??? (I can't!) Tom

Spout Post: Which of these Hollywood films released in 1939 is your favorite?

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:09:36 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 8/4/2009 6:09:36 PM
Body: Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. I just posted a blog about The Hunchback of Notre Dame. One of the things commented on the special features was how this movie was almost outshadowed by the so many other well known movies that also came out of Hollywood in this same year. I could hardly even list half of films that are still well known today, but I tried my best to pick what would probably be people's most favorites. Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:Destry Rides AgainGone with the WindThe Hunchback of Notre DameMr. Smith Goes to WashingtonNinotchkaThe Roaring TwentiesStagecoachThe Wizard of OzThe WomenWuthering Heights

Spout Post: Re:APPALOOSA DVD Giveaway

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:39:03 GMT

Post By: spout
Post To: Filmgaming
Post Date: 1/28/2009 9:39:03 AM
Body: Lands sakes! We just got word that our winners haven't heard from us! Our pony express rider must not have made it through Death Gulch Gorge... Heck, we warned 'im! Well, here are the random winners: alx picked Stagecoach, which I haven't seen. Are you guys all fans of it? ElCid2002 picked The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, which I have seen and loved.

Spout Post: AFI's 10 Top 10: Western

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:01:56 GMT

Post By: ShaunHuston
Post To: ShaunHuston filmblog
Post Date: 6/18/2008 9:01:56 PM
Body: The Western Top 10 is the toughest for me. As some of you may know, while I'm hardly Richard Slotkin or Jane Tompkins, I write, teach, and think about this genre on a regular basis, and, as a result, my views are not only fairly strong, but well-informed. And, where certain well regarded classics are concerned, they are also iconoclastic. This is probably nowhere more obvious than with The Searchers (1956), the film that tops the AFI list. This film does not resonate with me on any level. I have never found the ending credible. John Wayne does not portray Ethan Edwards with any of the complexity needed for his embrace of Debbie (Natalie Wood) to ring true after his 118 (or so) minutes of hard, racist ranting about Native Americans and his intent to kill her. I also find the photography and production design to be garish without purpose, and for all of its superficial sophistication about Native peoples, the talk of ritual, the use of indigenous language, it only serves to perpetuate the myth of white mastery. After all, it is white men who “know” and understand Native peoples, not the other way around. Native Americans are no less the brutish savages in this film than they are in Stagecoach (1939), but at least that film doesn't pretend to be anything but pulpy fantasy (indeed, it remains my favorite John Ford/John Wayne Western). And the landscape changes in The Searchers drive me crazy. Even though no one seems to actually leave Texas, the weather and land change in absurd ways during the course of the quest. Where are these people supposed to be? I fully recognize that I am a freak when it comes to this film, and as a result, I'm not going to make a pitch for taking it off of the list, although I do think that it needs to be demoted. The other film worth arguing about is one that I would knock of the AFI list, and that is Shane (1953). My biggest block with this film is Joey (Brandon de Wilde). The whining, oh the whining. Gah. I can't get past it. At the same time, I don't think that Alan Ladd makes for a convincing hero; he has too much of a “contemporary” presence. Van Heflin's Joe Starrett is virtually the same guy as Dan Evans, Heflin's character in 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and much less interesting. As menacing as Jack Palance's black hatted gunfighter is, he's also more hollow than the norm. And, yes, I understand the subtext about the Frontiersman and his lack of place in civilization, but that theme is punctuated in many a film without Shane's weaknesses. The selection of Cat Ballou (1965) still seems like some kind of a joke, but it is perhaps typical of an industry that has wanted to bury this genre for the past five decades or so. Red River (1948) made no impression on me when I saw it. Is that a reason to take it off the list? I don't know, but I would have no shortage of replacements if it is. Part of the difficulty with these lists is how the boundary is drawn around “American” film. I can see where Sergio Leone's movies with Clint Eastwood might be precluded as “American”, but, given some of the other selections on other lists, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) seems perfectly fair game to me (it was, after all, co-produced by Paramount, not to mention featuring a group of notable American actors in all of the lead male roles). Were it up to me, this film would certainly be on the list, and possibly even on top (I might just elevate High Noon, 1952, to the top spot depending on how much of a classisist I want to be). Undoubtedly, The Wild Bunch (1969) is Sam Peckinpah's magnum opus, but that's hardly a reason to make it his only film on the list. Ride the High Country (1962), for example, is an early elegiac Western that explores Western archetypes in more interesting ways than most of the films on the list from its same general period. The AFI's definition of the Western - “a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier” - also seems to leave room for a movie like Lone Star (1996), or, and I know I'm pushing it here, Serenity (2005) (and you can scoff at this if you want, but Joss Whedon's movie re-imagines the Frontier and the supposed line between savagery and civilization in interesting and vital ways; I think that it certainly makes a more original contribution to the genre than does Shane). Two other recent Westerns for which I have a great deal of affection are The Claim (2000) and Open Range (2003). I'm not sure I'd end up placing all of the films listed above on a reconstructed list, but I do think that there is a tendency to treat the Western as a “dead” genre, killed at some point in the 1960s, with an occasional raising from the dead, and it's not so. It's also a genre with a fairly well-rehearsed canon. Placing The Searchers at the top of a list like this is much like putting Citizen Kane (1941) at the top of the AFI's ur-list: it's almost reflexive. Link to introduction. Originally posted on:Short-Circuit Signs

Spout Post: Re: Top Westerns

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:32:58 GMT

Post By: ShaunHuston
Post To: Top 5
Post Date: 8/25/2007 2:32:58 PM
Body: While I'm thinking of titles to toss out for discussion - I'd have a hard time coming up with a Top 5, although Once Upon a Time in the West is also my favorite, and I would make the case for McCabe and Mrs. Miller (as implied by one of my previous comments) - I'd like to suggest High Noon (1952; another candidate for my 5 were I to come up with a real one). It's an artfully made film, thoughtfully photographed, and with one of the best uses of a single, simple musical theme in all of Hollywood moviemaking (and if you doubt me about that, just watch a few minutes and you'll have "Do not forsake me, oh my darling" stuck in your head for days). It also lays bare the key tensions of the genre, particularly the one between civilization and the violent men that that same civilization uses to "tame the frontier." The moment where Will and Amy Kane are rushed out of town after dispatching the Millers is, to me, as poignant as any statement from The Searchers about the frontiersman's alienation from the society he works in service of. The conventional Cold War interpretation is also the classic illustration of claims regarding the genre's unique relevance to American history and culture.I also think that John Ford's Stagecoach (1939) merits mention because it's the template for the modern Western, as well as being highly entertaining despite its retrograde politics. The Western is a genre that has been reworked in a variety ways, most notably translocated to space ("the final frontier"). If Star Wars (1977) is the space Western's Stagecoach, then Serenity/Firefly is its Unforgiven.

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