Stagecoach (film)
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- This article is about the 1939 film. For the 1966 remake, see Stagecoach (1966 film).
| Stagecoach | |
|---|---|
| Image:Stagecoach movieposter.jpg original film poster | |
| Directed by | John Ford |
| Produced by | Walter Wanger (Executive producer) |
| Written by | Dudley Nichols & Ben Hecht, based on story by Ernest Haycox |
| Starring | Claire Trevor John Wayne Andy Devine John Carradine Thomas Mitchell Louise Platt George Bancroft Donald Meek Tim Holt Tom Tyler |
| Music by | Gerard Carbonara |
| Cinematography | Bert Glennon |
| Editing by | Otho Lovering Dorothy Spencer Walter Reynolds |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | February 15, 1939 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Stagecoach is a 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.
Although Ford had made many silent films in the Western genre prior to Stagecoach, this was his first using 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 starred John Wayne.
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[edit] Plot
A motley group of strangers boards the stagecoach to Lordsburg, New Mexico, among them are the local prostitute Dallas (Claire Trevor) and alcoholic Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell), who are both being driven out of town by a "morality league"; pompous banker Henry Gatewood (Barton Churchill); Southern gentleman Hatfield (John Carradine); cavalry officer's wife Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt); whisky salesman Samuel Peacock (Donald Meek); Marshal Curly Wilcox (George Bancroft); and the driver, Buck (Andy Devine).
Along the way, they pick up the Ringo Kid (John Wayne), a young rancher who has broken out of jail, having landed there after being framed for murder by the Plummer brothers. His aim is to get even with Luke Plummer for having killed his father and brother. Even though they are friends, Curly has no choice but to take the Kid into custody. As the trip progresses, the Kid takes a strong liking to Dallas.
They encounter a cavalry detachment, which informs them that Geronimo and his Apache warriors are on the warpath, and that they will not be able to escort the stagecoach all the way. When the group reaches the first post, they discover that the soldiers who were supposed to escort them further have had to leave. They hold a vote to decide whether to proceed to Lordsburg or turn back. They decide to go forward and reach Apache Wells in the evening.
At this point, Lucy faints, Doc Boone is called upon, and eventually Dallas emerges holding Lucy's newborn child. Ringo, encouraged by Dallas, makes a break for it, but turns back when he sees signs of nearby Indians. Curly releases the Kid to help fight them off. A long chase ensues, in which Hatfield is killed and Peacock injured. Just as they run out of ammunition, the U.S. cavalry comes to the rescue.
The rest of the passengers make it safely into town, whereupon Gatewood is arrested by the local sheriff for absconding with bank funds. 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 Plummer (Tom Tyler) and his two brothers. He returns to Curly, expecting to go back to jail; he asks the lawman to take Dallas to his ranch. When he gets on a wagon to say goodbye to her, Curly and Doc laughingly start the horses moving, letting him "escape". It ends with the sheriff offering to buy Doc Boone a drink, and Boone surprises everyone by replying, "Just one."
[edit] Plot 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.[1]. According to Thomas Schatz, Ford put forth the idea 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.[2] 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 of inspiration 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.[3]
[edit] Awards and honors
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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.
[edit] Reputation
Stagecoach has been lauded as one of the most influential films ever made. 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. Akira Kurosawa noted that Stagecoach was one of his favorite films and influential in his making of Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai). In 1989, Gian Luigi Bonelli and Claudio Nizzi created a story for Italian comic series Tex Willer clearly inspired by Stagecoach with the title Piccolo Lupo. An intermediate part of this story, drawn by Aurelio Galleppini, got the title Ombre Rosse, the Italian title of the film.
[edit] Principal cast
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[edit] Remakes
- A 1966 remake called 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ernest Haycox, Jr., Ernest Haycox (1899-1950), Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission, 2001. Accessed 14 April 2007
- ^ 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
- ^ Ernest Haycox, Jr., Ernest Haycox (1899-1950)
[edit] External links
- Stagecoach at the Internet Movie Database
- "Stage to Lordsburg" by Ernest Haycoxda:Diligencen
de:Ringo (1939) es:La diligencia fa:دلیجان (فیلم) fr:La Chevauchée fantastique hr:Poštanska kočija it:Ombre rosse ja:駅馬車 pl:Dyliżans (film) pt:Stagecoach ru:Дилижанс (фильм) fi:Hyökkäys erämaassa sv:Diligensen
