When someone mentions “classic Western”, the first names that come to mind are John Ford and John Wayne. The legendary director and iconic actor took part in the production of so many great westerns, including when they worked together, which often led to some of the most important titles in the history of the genre. Those included Stagecoach, the 1939 film which is sometimes described as the first modern western and the template many great westerns would use in subsequent decades.
The film is based on ‘The Stage to Lordsburg’, a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox, itself inspired by ‘Boule de suif’, a classic short story by French author Guy de Maupassant. The plot is set in the summer of 1880 and begins in Tonto, a small town in Arizona, where a stagecoach driven by Buck (played by Andy Devine) has stopped to pick up mail and passengers on the route to Lordsburg, New Mexico. The passengers include Dallas (played by Claire Trevor), a prostitute driven out of town by the ‘Law and Order League’; Josiah Boone (played by Thomas Mitchell), a doctor who lost his licence because of uncontrollable alcoholism; travelling whiskey salesman Samuel Peacock (played by Donald Meek) who tries to reunite with his family; Henry Gatewood (played by Berton Churchill), a corrupt banker who tries to leave town with embezzled money; Lucy Mallory (played by Louise Platt), a wife who wants to reunite with her husband, a US Cavalry officer; and Hatfield (played by John Carradine), a notorious gambler who boards the stagecoach simply because he is attracted to her.
Curley Wilcox (played by George Bancroft), the town’s marshal, volunteers to ride shotgun in order to locate Ringo Kid (played by John Wayne), a young man who has escaped from prison after hearing that his father and brother were killed by Luke Plummer (played by Tom Tyler), an outlaw residing in Lordsburg. Curley thinks that he will catch Ringo along the way, and his reasoning proves correct; he detains Ringo, but soon he and the other passengers find themselves with a much more important problem. Apaches led by their chief Geronimo have escaped from the reservation and begun attacking white settlers, with the US Cavalry spread too thin and unable to provide protection. The stagecoach passengers must decide whether to continue on the perilous journey; in that case, Ringo will be temporarily released by Curley in order to help defend the stagecoach from an Apache raiding party.
While making Stagecoach, Ford and Wayne were already lifelong friends. Both men were closely associated with the genre. Wayne had an extremely prolific filmography, most of it consisting of forgettable low-budget westerns made on Hollywood backlots. Ford had made some epic westerns during the silent era. For most of the 1930s, however, Hollywood was mostly sceptical towards the genre, considering it too ‘pulpy’ for larger budgets. Because of this, Ford had serious problems pitching Stagecoach to major studios, and in the end only independent producer Walter Wanger agreed to finance it. This was followed by long and difficult negotiations about the main star, with Ford insisting that the role of Ringo Kid should be played by his friend Wayne and Wanger thinking that an unknown B-production actor simply could not carry an A-production film. Wanger relented only after slicing Wayne’s salary in half and having his name listed in the credits under the better-known Claire Trevor.
Needless to say, Ford’s insistence on casting Wayne was the correct decision. Wayne, who had by that time matured into a fine actor, could still pass for a young man, but his fans would easily recognise the iconic ‘Duke’ in the role of Ringo Kid. He plays him as an ‘everyman’, an ordinary person who might not be the brightest, most eloquent or even someone who has made some dubious decisions in the past, but whose stoicism and pragmatism ultimately save the day. Wayne’s character is iconic, but it is actually introduced nearly halfway through the film. Before and afterwards, Stagecoach functions as a brilliant ensemble piece. Ford gathered a truly remarkable cast of character actors, and this allowed him to make the action in the finale look more exciting and emotionally engaging because the audience would care about what happens to each of the characters.
Ford turns the stagecoach to serve as a sort of allegory of American society, with the director’s sympathies clearly on the side of those on the margins, like the prostitute Dallas (whose real profession had to be only hinted at because of the strict censorship guidelines of the Hays Office), the outlaw Ringo Kid (who finds a kindred spirit in her), and, last but not least, the larger-than-life figure of the disgraced physician who, like Ringo Kid, rises to the occasion. Thomas Mitchell delivers the best performance and, unsurprisingly, he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Ford allows an opportunity even for some commentary on contemporary America, with the despicable character of the greedy and hypocritical Gatewood standing in for the bankers whom impoverished Americans blamed for the still-ongoing Great Depression.
The great work of the cast was accompanied by great talent behind the camera. For Ford, Stagecoach represented his first sound western. He decided to shoot much of it on location in Arizona. Although it created a lot of difficulties for the crew, it also allowed Ford to run the set without interference from producers. Most notably, one of those locations was scenic Monument Valley, with which Ford fell in love and which he used not only in a number of scenes in the film, but would also use in a number of subsequent films, also setting an example for many other directors of westerns.
Ford also benefited greatly from the excellent work by editors Otto Lovering and Dorothy Spencer, as well as the good black-and-white cinematography by Bert Glennon. But few things can match the excellent stunt work in the famous scene when the Apaches attack the stagecoach, including an impressive feat by legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt. The music in Stagecoach, based on traditional Western songs, is also good, although not particularly memorable. The song performed by Elvira Rios, a popular Mexican singer who plays Yakima, the Apache wife of a Mexican innkeeper, while likeable seems a little too Hollywood for an otherwise realistic film.
This, however, caused less criticism towards Stagecoach than the allegedly racist attitude towards Native Americans and the depiction of Apaches as a faceless, dangerous, and almost non-human enemy. Stagecoach, however, deeply impressed contemporary critics and, more importantly, the general public, showing that westerns could be, if given proper talent and resources, box office gold. Ford’s film is often credited with starting the golden age of the genre that would last for more than three decades.
The film itself had two official remakes – a 1965 feature film directed by Gordon Douglas and a 1986 television film directed by Ted Post. In 1991, Monte Markham directed the Canadian film Neon City, which is sometimes considered a remake of Stagecoach in a post-apocalyptic setting.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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