STAGECOACH: 1939, Directed by John Ford, featuring John Wayne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LkzpaJMXYc
This 1939 film is really quite something, despite a boring performance by John Wayne in his “breakout” role, and one of the sappiest scores ever, even for a film of this period in Hollywood.
Most of the action takes place on a stagecoach travelling between Arizona and New Mexico; the passengers include Dallas (Claire Trevor), a prostitute being run out of town by the hilariously repugnant old women of the “Law and Order League”; Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell, aka “The Wizard of Oz”), a boozy doctor who is also being run out of town; Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt), a pregnant, snobby woman determined to be with her Army Officer husband when her baby comes: Whiskey salesman Sam Peacock (Donald Meek); a pretentious former Confederate Office named Hatfield (John Carradine) who comes along to “protect” Lucy Mallory, and a snooty and arrogant banker named Henry Gatewood who is actually absconding with $50K in embezzled funds. Marshal Curley Wilcox (George Bancroft) also comes along to help guard the stagecoach, because he has heard that the Ringo Kid (Wayne) has broken out of jail and is on the loose, and that there is also danger from the Apaches. Comic relief is provided by Buck, the stagecoach driver (Andy Devine), who I at first mistook for a young Slim Pickens.
They pick up the Ringo Kid and take him into custody shortly after they leave, because the Kid’s horse has gone lame. Wayne’s “acting” is as lame as his horse. Ringo does fall in love with Dallas, which provides the romantic element of the plot for this film.
It’s impossible for me not to view this film from the level of sensitivity we have developed over my lifetime for class, racial and ethnic differences. When they pull into Dry Fork and are served dinner around one large common table, Hatfield suggests to Lucy that they move to the opposite end of the table to get as far away as possible from Dallas, because of her “tainted” profession. Buck (the Driver) has a Mexican wife, but then complains because he says all she ever feeds him are “frijoles” (refried beans).
A stunning scene happens when the stagecoach pulls into one of the settlements and finds that all of the soldiers have left to go defend another settlement under attack; they are greeted and fed by the remaining Hispanic workers, one of whom has an Apache woman as his wife. When Peacock sees her, he leaps to his feet, animatedly points at her and screams “Savage! Savage!” Her husband handles this insult with grace and calm by pointing out that there are advantages to having her for his wife, one being that the Apaches leave all of them alone!
All of the “lesser” people on the stagecoach have more character than the ones who think they are high and mighty. Doc gets his act together, sobers up, and successfully presides over the delivery of Lucy’s healthy baby. Dallas helps with everything, and then helps nurse and take care of the baby. Ringo holds his own in the gunfights with the Apaches, helps float the stagecoach over a river under duress, and is willing to love Dallas no matter what she has done in her past.
There are some great lines of dialogue in this film, starting with this diatribe from the snobby banker, the one in the middle of stealing the 50K.
Henry Gatewood: [clutching valise with embezzled funds] I can’t get over the impertinence of that young lieutenant. I’ll make it warm for that shake-tail! I’ll report him to Washington – we pay taxes to the government and what do we get? Not even protection from the army! I don’t know what the government is coming to. Instead of protecting businessmen, it pokes its nose into business! Why, they’re even talking now about having *bank* examiners. As if we bankers don’t know how to run our own banks! Why, at home I have a letter from a popinjay official saying they were going to inspect my books. I have a slogan that should be blazoned on every newspaper in this country: America for the Americans! The government must not interfere with business! Reduce taxes! Our national debt is something shocking. Over one billion dollars a year! What this country needs is a businessman for president!
Despite some flaws, this is a far better film than later ones that Ford and Wayne collaborated on like “The Searchers”, at least mostly because Wayne has less screen time than he does in the later films!
Film: History, Culture, and Change 