Stagecoach (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Stagecoach


image_size = 225px
caption = re-release film poster
director = John Ford
producer = Walter Wanger "(exec. prod.)"
writer = Ernest Haycox "(story)"
Dudley Nichols
Ben Hecht
starring = Claire Trevor
John Wayne
Andy Devine
John Carradine
Thomas Mitchell
Louise Platt
George Bancroft
Donald Meek
Tim Holt
Tom Tyler
music = Gerard Carbonara
cinematography = Bert Glennon
editing = Otho Lovering
Dorothy Spencer
Walter Reynolds
distributor = United Artists
released = 15 February fy|1939
runtime = 96 minutes
country = FilmUS
language = English
imdb_id = 0031971

"Stagecoach" is a fy|1939 western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The screenplay, written by Dudley Nichols and Ben Hecht, is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. The film follows a group of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.

Although Ford had made many silent films in the Western genre prior to "Stagecoach", this was his first with sound. It was also the first of many films which Ford made on location in Monument Valley, in the American southwest on the Arizona-Utah border, many of which also starred John Wayne.

Plot

In Arizona Territory in 1880, a motley group of strangers boards the east-bound stagecoach to Lordsburg, New Mexico Territory. Among them is Dallas (Claire Trevor), a prostitute who is being driven out of town by the members of the "Law and Order League"; an alcoholic doctor, Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell); Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt), who is traveling to see her cavalry officer husband; and whiskey salesman Samuel Peacock (Donald Meek).

When the stage driver, Buck (Andy Devine), looks for his normal shotgun guard, he is told by Marshal Curly Wilcox (George Bancroft) that he has gone out to look for a fugitive, the Ringo Kid (John Wayne). Buck tells Marshal Wilcox that Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler) is in Lordsburg. Knowing that the Kid has vowed to avenge the deaths of his father and brother at Plummer's hands, the marshal decides to ride along.

As they start to pull out, U.S. cavalry Lieutenant Blanchard (Tim Holt) informs them that Geronimo and his Apaches are on the warpath, and that they will have no escort until they get to Dry Fork. Gambler and Southern gentleman Hatfield (John Carradine) joins them to provide protection for Mrs. Mallory. At the edge of town, the stage is flagged down by pompous banker Henry Gatewood, (Berton Churchill), who is sneaking away with $50,000 embezzled from his bank.

Along the way, they come across the Ringo Kid, whose horse had become lame and left him afoot. Even though they are friends, Curly has no choice but to take Ringo into custody. As the trip progresses, Ringo takes a strong liking to Dallas.

When they reach Dry Fork, they are informed that the expected cavalry detachment has moved on to Apache Wells. The passengers vote on whether to press on or turn back. With only Peacock objecting, they go on and reach Apache Wells. There, Mrs. Mallory faints when she hears that her husband had been wounded in battle. She begins to go into labor. Doc Boone is called upon to help her through her childbirth. Eventually, Dallas emerges with a healthy baby. Later that night, Ringo asks Dallas to marry him. She does not give him an immediate answer, afraid to reveal her checkered past, but the next morning, she agrees to marry him if he promises to give up his plan to take on the Plummers. Encouraged by Dallas, Ringo makes a break for it, but turns back when he sees signs of Indians.

When they reach Lee's Ferry, they find the station and the ferry burned down and the people either dead or having fled. They tie large logs to each side of the stagecoach and float it across the river. Just when they think that they are in the clear, the stagecoach is chased by the Apaches. Curly releases the Kid from his handcuffs to help fight them off. During a long chase, when things look bleak, Hatfield is about to kill Mrs. Mallory with his last bullet to save her from being taken alive when he is fatally wounded. Just then, the U.S. cavalry charges to the rescue.

When the passengers finally arrive in Lordsburg, Gatewood is arrested by the local sheriff, and Lucy is told that her husband's wound is not serious. Dallas begs Ringo not to go up against the Plummers, but he is determined to settle matters. In the ensuing shootout, the Kid dispatches Luke and his two brothers. He returns to Wilcox, expecting to go back to jail. He asks the lawman to take Dallas to his ranch. However, when Ringo gets on a wagon to say goodbye to her, Curly and Doc laugh and start the horses moving, letting him "escape".

Origins

The screenplay is an adaptation by Dudley Nichols of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a short story by Ernest Haycox. The rights to "Lordsburg" were bought by John Ford soon after it was published in "Colliers Illustrated" on 10 April 1937. [http://www.ochcom.org/haycox Ernest Haycox, Jr., "Ernest Haycox (1899-1950)", Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission, 2001. Accessed 14 April 2007] ] According to Thomas Schatz, Ford claimed that his inspiration in expanding "Stagecoach" beyond the barebones plot given in "The Stage to Lordsburg" was his familiarity with another short story, "Boule de Suif" by Guy de Maupassant. [Schatz, Thomas, "Stagecoach" and Hollywood's A-Western Renaissance", in "John Ford's Stagecoach", ed. Barry Keigh Grant. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. pp. 21-47. ISBN 0-521-7933119] Schatz believes "this scarcely holds up to scrutiny" (p.27) and argues that a more likely inspiration was Bret Harte's 1892 short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flats".

Ford's claim also seems to be the basis for claiming that Haycox himself relied upon Guy de Maupassant's story. However, there appears to be no concrete evidence for Haycox actually being familiar with the earlier story, especially as he was documented as going out of his way to avoid reading the work of others that might unconsciously influence his writing, and he focused his personal reading in the area of history.Ernest Haycox, Jr., "Ernest Haycox (1899-1950)"]

Cast

*Claire Trevor as Dallas
*John Wayne as The Ringo Kid
*Andy Devine as Buck
*John Carradine as Hatfield
*Thomas Mitchell as Doc Boone
*Louise Platt as Lucy Mallory
*George Bancroft as Marshal Curly Wilcox
*Donald Meek as Samuel Peacock
*Berton Churchill as Henry Gatewood
*Tim Holt as Lieutenant Blanchard
*Tom Tyler as Luke Plummer
*Yakima Canutt as Cavalry scout
*Chris-Pin Martin as Chris

Reputation

"Stagecoach" has been lauded as one of the most influential films ever made. Edward Buscombe writes that the introduction of Wayne's character Ringo is "one of the most stunning entrances in all of cinema...The camera dollies quickly in towards a tight close-up...So fast is the dolly in that the operator can't quite hold the focus." [ Edward Buscombe, "Stagecoach", British Film Institute, 1992, p.9.] Orson Welles argued that it was a perfect textbook of film making and claimed to have watched it more than 40 times during the making of "Citizen Kane". [Welles, Orson and Bogdanovich, Peter, "This is Orson Welles", Da Capo Press, 1998, pp. 28-29. "After dinner every night for about a month, I'd run "Stagecoach".... It was like going to school."]

Awards and honors

Winner

*Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Thomas Mitchell)
*Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring (Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold, Leo Shuken)
*New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Director (John Ford)

Nominated

*Academy Award for Best Picture
*Academy Award for Directing (John Ford)
*Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Alexander Toluboff)
*Academy Award for Best Cinematography-Black-and-White (Bert Glennon)
*Academy Award for Film Editing (Otho Lovering & Dorothy Spencer)

Honors

* In 1995, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.

* In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. "Stagecoach" was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the western genre. [cite news | author = American Film Institute | title = AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres | work = ComingSoon.net | date = 2008-06-17 | url = http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 | accessdate= 2008-06-18] [cite web | title= Top Western | url = http://www.afi.com/10top10/western.html | publisher= American Film Institute |accessdate= 2008-06-18]

Re-releases and restoration

The film was originally released through United Artists, but under their old seven-year-rights rule, surrendered its distribution rights to producer Walter Wanger in 1946. Many independent companies were responsible for this film in the years since. The film's copyright is currently held by 20th Century Fox, who produced a later 1966 remake of "Stagecoach". However, distribution rights are now held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive on behalf of ancillary rights holder The Caidin Trust, with Castle Hill Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures representing. UCLA formally restored the film in 1996 from surviving elements and premiered on cable's American Movie Classics network. The current DVD releases by Warner Home Video do not contain the restored print, but rather a video print held in the Castle Hill/Caidin Trust library.

Remakes

* The 1966 remake of "Stagecoach" starred (in alphabetical order) Ann-Margret, Red Buttons, Mike Connors, Alex Cord, Bing Crosby, Robert Cummings, Van Heflin, Slim Pickens and Stefanie Powers.
* A 1986 television version featured Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings.

ee also

* John Wayne filmography (1926-1940)

Notes

External links

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* [http://thenostalgialeague.com/olmag/haycox.html "Stage to Lordsburg"] by Ernest Haycox
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/film.php?filmid=877 Literature on Stagecoach]