#23 - Stagecoach (1939, John Ford)

I must admit, westerns are a major blind spot for me, as is the filmography of John Ford in general. I don't dislike westerns, never have, just haven't delved into the genre too much. Oh boy, I really want to now! Stagecoach is considered a landmark in the genre, taking a much-maligned genre of cheapie afternoon thrills for the kiddos and inflecting it with visual panache and fantastic dialogue for grown-up tastes. You know, like the Arch DeLuxe.

Ford was no stranger to the western: his 1924 The Iron Horse is among the few silent westerns still held in high regard today. Much of Stagecoach's lore surrounds the casting of "unknown" B-movie actor John Wayne as the lead, escaped con The Ringo Kid. Ford and Wayne had been friends for years and many of Wayne's early "b-movie" roles were in Ford pictures. In 1930, Wayne had the lead role in Roaul Walsh's groundbreaking early talkie western The Big Trail. I haven't seen The Big Trail yet, but I gather it was quite a big deal back in the day, the first film ever shot on 70mm stock. Apparently, the film was a bust though, which may be why it took almost a decade for Wayne to become a major movie star.

Stagecoach is kind of weak on plot, but big on character. A motley crew of residents from an Arizona town head out east? west? Does it matter? Some of them have been run out of town, others have actual purpose. We've got a drunken doctor (my favorite of the gang), a "loose woman", a greedy banker, a meek Kansan father (played by Donald Meek!), a pregnant woman seeking her husband in the cavalry, a Hatfield, and of course, Duke!

It wouldn't be a Wayne/Ford review without mentioning the film's treatment of Native Americans. Here the enemy is the Apache. Apparently they are being led by the great and fearful Geronimo, a character spoken of often but never appearing in the film. Really, none of the Apache figure as characters. None ever speak, but when the stagecoach pulls through their territory they jump on it (literally!). Admittedly, the fight/chase scene with the Apaches is one of the great action sequences of the American cinema, a purely visceral experience expertly shot and edited.

The other oddly racist scene occurs when our heroes visit a Mexican camp. The Mexicans are portrayed as stupid but harmless and therefore sympathetic. But that's not my concern. When it is revealed that the lead Mexican (damn '30s movies and their limited credits) has an Apache wife (a fact the stagecoach gang can tell just by looking at her, how I dont know because the wife is clearly played by a STUNNING Mexican-American actress), the Mexican thinks "oh well, now the Apache can't bother me" but the Whites know better. Bitch is up to something. Sure enough she steals some horses overnight. One wonders how long she was married to the guy waiting to do some patented Apache evil.

The film's main theme of camaraderie was refreshing in light of politically loaded later Wayne pictures. Ford, whose political allegiances have been debated for decades, is I think, ultimately a social conservative whose Catholicism inspired a mix of conservative socialism and liberal libertarianism, both values completely lost in 21st century red state / blue state pluralism.

All in all, a great film, its (major) flaws serve an important historical context in laying the groundwork for one of the great American film genres, both to inspire and to destroy.

New #100: Kings of the Road (#240 overall)