Stagecoach (1939)
Starring
John Wayne and Claire Trevor
Director
John Ford
Awards
Academy Awards
Best Score
Best Supporting Actor - Thomas
Mitchell
Academy Award Nominations
Best Director - John Ford
Best Picture
Plot Synopsis
One of the most classic Hollywood westerns ever made. A
stagecoach begins its journey to a frontier colony; among the travellers are a
good-hearted prostitute whom the righteous townsfolk have exiled, a liquor salesman, a
gambler, an alcoholic doctor, a sheriff, a hightailing businessman and a soldier's
pregnant wife. Almost immediately, the Ringo Kid, an escaped convict who's both highly
moral and completely innocent, intercepts them: he wants to kill the person who set him up
before willingly returning to prison. The journey proves perilous as the quarreling octet
encounters angry Indians and violent desperadoes, and celebrate one magnificent moment
that brings them together, and teaches mercy to even the most rigid among them.
Film Notes
"This landmark 1939 Western began the legendary relationship
between John Ford and John Wayne, and became the standard for all subsequent Westerns. It
solidified Ford as a major director and established Wayne as a charismatic screen
presence. Seen today, Stagecoach still impresses as the first mature instance of a
Western that is both mythic and poetic. The story about a cross-section of troubled
passengers unraveling under the strain of Indian attack contains all of Ford's
incomparable storytelling trademarks--particularly swift action and social
introspection--underscored by the painterly landscape of Monument Valley. And what an
ensemble of actors: Thomas Mitchell (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the drunken
doctor), Claire Trevor, Donald Meek, Andy Devine, and the magical John Carradine. Due to
the film's striking use of chiaroscuro lighting and low ceilings, Orson Welles watched Stagecoach
over and over while preparing for Citizen Kane."
(Bill Desowitz, Amazon.com)
Rated: NR
Rated: NR