- Wagons East!
Infobox Film
name = Wagons East!
caption = Theatrical release poster
director =Peter Markle
producer =Gary M. Goodman Robert F. Newmyer Barry Rosen Jeffrey Silver
writer =Matthew Carlson
starring =John Candy
Richard LewisJohn C. McGinley Ellen Greene Robert Picardo Ed Lauter Rodney A. Grant Charles Rocket
music =Michael Small
cinematography =Frank Tidy
editing =Scott Conrad
distributor =TriStar Pictures
released =August 26 ,1994
runtime = 107 min
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:133886
imdb_id = 0111653"Wagons East!" is a 1994 Western
comedy film directed byPeter Markle and starringJohn Candy and Richard Lewis.ynopsis
In the 1860s Wild West, a group of misfit
settlers including an ex-doctor Phil Taylor (Richard Lewis), a prostitute Belle (Ellen Greene ), andhomosexual bookseller Julian (John C. McGinley ) decide they cannot live in their current situation in the west so they hire a grizzled alcoholic wagon master by the name of James Harlow (John Candy ) to take them on a journey back to their hometowns in theEast . This leads to a comedy of errors when the drunken wagonmaster leads them intoSioux Indian territory and they are pursued by thecavalry . They also have to contend with hiredgunslinger s who have been sent by railroad magnates to stop the journey in fear of bad publicity of the west, and their discovery that Harlow had been part of the infamousDonner Party .Production
On Friday,
March 4 ,1994 Candy died of a heart attack in his sleep on location in theMexican state ofDurango after the day's shooting for this film had finished. The film makers claim he had completed all his scenes for the film at the time of his death but this claim is disputed by critics and audiences.Some sources state that Candy died before he had completed his remaining scenes and he was either replaced by a stunt double or his remaining scenes were re-written not to involve him.
IMDB , trivia forWagons East at [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111653/trivia IMDB.com] ; last accessedDecember 24 ,2006 .] At least one scene, of Candy in a bar emptying a liquor bottle, was re-used later on in the film with the background altered. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F99n9SydtM YouTube scene comparison]Both the
VHS andDVD boxes read: "This motion picture is dedicated to the memory of John Candy".This was the last film John Candy was shooting before his death but not the last film he appeared in to be released. His last film "Canadian Bacon" released in 1995. He had completed "Canadian Bacon" before filming of "Wagons East!" began but his death caused the film's delayed release.
Reception
The film was released five months after Candy's death and was widely panned by critics and audiences alike. Despite being the posthumous release of Candy, it was a box office disaster and critic reviews were universally negative criticizing the acting, weak story and poor attempts at comedy. Critic
Roger Ebert notably quoted the film as "a sad way to end John Candy's career", but stated that his legacy was already permanent, and would survive this film. Review of Wagons East at [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19940826/REVIEWS/408260303/1023# Roger Ebert.com] ; last accessedFebruary 27 ,2007 .] The film has a very low rating of 1.7/10 onRotten Tomatoes .Rating of Wagons East at [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wagons_east# Rottentomatoes.com] ; last accessed 18 March 2007.]Notes
External links
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