Stagecoach 1939

views updated

Stagecoach ★★★★ 1939

Varied group of characters with nothing in common are stuck together inside a coach besieged by bandits and Indians. Considered structurally perfect, with excellent direction by Ford, it's the film that made Wayne a star as the Ringo Kid, an outlaw looking to avenge the murder of his brother and father. The first pairing of Ford and Wayne changed the course of the modern western. Stunning photography by Bert Glennon and Ray Binger captured the mythical air of Monument Valley, a site that Ford was often to revisit. Based on the story “Stage to Lordsburg” by Ernest Haycox. Remade miserably with in 1966 and again—why?—as a TV movie in 1986. 100m/B VHS, DVD . John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, George Bancroft, John Carradine, Andy Devine, Donald Meek, Louise Platt, Berton Churchill, Tim Holt, Tom Tyler, Chris-Pin (Ethier Crispin Martini) Martin, Francis Ford, Jack Pennick; D: John Ford; W: Dudley Nichols; C: Bert Glennon, Ray Binger. Oscars '39: Support. Actor (Mitchell), Score; AFI '98: Top 100, Natl. Film Reg. '95;; N.Y. Film Critics '39: Director (Ford).