Stagecoach: An American Classic

The film, "Stagecoach," directed by John Ford and released through United Artists in 1939, is the film that was responsible for shooting John Wayne to stardom and putting him on his way to become America's definition of a man's man. \n"Stagecoach" follows nine interesting characters on a stage trip in the old west bound for Kansas City. They traveled through a land threatened by the Indian warrior chieftan Geronimo. John Wayne's character "The Ringo Kid," comes into play when Sheriff Curly Wilcox sets out to nab the Kid and lock him up so the Kid doesn't get killed when he shoots it out with three hombres who killed his father in Kansas City.\nThe nine characters come from a variety of backgrounds adding wonderful flavors to this film. Appearing in this film are some of Hollywood's most beloved character actors including Donald Meeks who plays the whiskey salesman Mr. Peacock. Thomas Mitchell as Dr. Josiah Boone, a quack and lush who needs to leave town, along with his harlot companion Dallas (Claire Trevor), after the temperance movement makes rigid their moral flexibility. Boone evidently does not have too many stakes to pull up since all he takes with him is his Gladstone bag and door sign.\nBoone and Peacock spend a lot of time next to each other during the trip, especially since Boone found Peacock with his whiskey sample case with them. You'd think they were long lost brothers. There are a few charming scenes when Boone, by this time feeling no pain from anything, helps to keep Peacock warm by bundling him up with an overly large woolen scarf, and deerstalker cap.\nThomas Mitchell was a character actor who played many memorable bit parts including roles in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Bataan," and "Gone With the Wind." Mitchell was one of the first actors to win all three major entertainment awards - an Emmy, an Oscar for his "Stagecoach," and a Tony. He also played the first Lt. Columbo on the stage before Peter Falk made the character famous on television. His filmography is so numerous, doing at least four major pictures a year, people can't believe they see him as much as they do and often don't believe its really Mitchell on screen. Mitchell, who died in 1962, was paid $12,000 for his work on Stagecoach indicating the value studios placed on his talent as a character actor.\nAndy Devine, and that distinctive voice trapped in between octaves, plays the stagecoach driver who spends most of the movie humorously explaining to Sheriff Curly why they should turn the stage around and so they don't run into Geronimo and his merry braves on their way to slaughter the white populace. \nJohn Carradine is along as the tall, slender, southern aristocrat gambler named Hatfield, who would bet on a changing traffic light. He reminded me of the character Gaylord Ravenal in "Show Boat." Carradine's Hatfield is the type of man who calls the recent civil war "The War of the Southern Confederacy," deciding to go along on the trip so as to "look after the women folk." His melodramatic flair is a memorable touch to the film. Hatfield may come across as a slimy riverboat card shark, but he'd die before any harm would befall the women. His class and cold cunning bring a great touch to the screen. \nCarradine is father to Keith, David and Robert. In his career beginning in 1930 and lasting until his death in 1988, Carradine's work was seen in over 200 films, and at least 50 television guest appearances. You can tell from "Stagecoach," Carradine is a classically trained actor, and his large repetoire makes one think he truly believed the line: "There are no small parts, only small actors." Carradine made $3600 for his work on "StageCoach."\nEventually a running gunfight occurs between our nine friends on the stage and Geronimo's uprising tribe.\nThere were some really neat shots in the film. First a medium close-up of another passenger named Gatewood, the bank manager. In one of his first scenes of the film, we can see Hollywood's stance behind Roosevelt and his economic policies. He says something to the effect of "what is good for the banks is good for America." Then there is a close-up where we can tell from his expression he's up to no good.\nDuring the final scenes of the gunfight, we see a close up of Hatfield's gloved hand as he extends his pistol to the temple of Mrs. Mallory's head, captured in the arms of fright. By focusing Hatfield's dramatic and effeminate hand gestures, suspense builds to produce a memorable cinematic effect.\nAs for the quality of the Indian extras, it is interesting to watch them. During the gunfight the audience sees one of the stage passengers fire a shot. Then there is a cut to the charging Indians and a few fall. Then there is a cut back to a different passenger as he fires a shot, and it is cut back to another falling Indian. If you look closely, you can see director Ford's economizing as he recycles a few of the Indian getting shot off their horse scenes. (Also, the editor missed a spot where one of the supposedly dead Indian extras gets up and brushes the dust off.)\nEventually the haggard and dust covered passengers wind up in Kansas City where the shoot-out between the Kid and his quest for vengeance takes place. All ends well when Sheriff Curly helps make Dallas' dream come true. \n"Variety" reported in 1939 about the new westerns coming off the production lots and said called them "the rootin', tootin', shootin'est, bowie knife wielding bunch of ride-em-cowboy, major budget westerns the picture biz has witnessed in a decade."\n"Stagecoach," certainly ranks as 'Class A' western.