Stagecoach, 1939, is a film directed by the infamous director John Ford. It was a very ambitious film and was part of the “golden era of cinema” (1939-1941). The film gets the recognition it does for various reasons. First, it re-evaluates the standard of western genre films; it brought it up from a B class film to an A class. Second, it put John Wayne on a new pedestal and brought him an overnight stardom. The film is about a trip a group of people take from Tonto to Lordsburgh. It features various characters which represent someone from every aspect from society (Stagecoach is actually considered a metaphor for society); rich, poor, low class, rebels, sensible, voice of reason, socially slow, drunkards, etc. It features various themes like sexual and social prejudice, alcoholism, revenge, redemption, and greed. The film was shot and filmed in Monument valley, a place John Ford has used numerous times for his projects. The film also gathered numerous awards such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best B&W Cinematography, Interior Decoration, and Editing.
Article
Why the Movie Stagecoach Is the Most Influential Western
John Ford's movie Stagecoach (1939) has a fair claim to be the most influential Western ever made. It was the director's first attempt into the genre since 1926 and his first to be shot against the impressive scenery of Monument Valley. Ford was the film-making counterpart to Zane Grey, the ex-dentist turned writer who single-handedly revived the cowboy novel. Just as Grey's combination of piety and lyricism inspired a sense of awe in his readers, the movie Stagecoach ensured that Westerns on the big screen would once again be taken seriously.
During the 1930s, they had fallen from grace. Rather than making energetic tales about pioneers heading westward hol, Hollywood produced a complacent series of unstimulated B-pictures, many starrring John Wayne, whose standing with the studios was much reduced since his first significant role in Raoul Walsh's epic, The Big Trail, in 1930. This was the era of Hopalong Cassidy, The Three Mesquiteers, and the singing cowboy Gene Autry, to be followed a generation later by Roy Rogers.
The movie Stagecoach was loosely based on Ernest Haycox's The Stage to Lordsburg, a short story published in Collier's Magazine in 1937, but Ford later claimed that the real inspiration was the Guy de Maupassant story, Boule de Suif, a cutting story about a coach journey across Prussian-occupied France. Dudley Nichols (a Ford regular) adapted the novella, and with this test script Ford tried to convince various studio's in making it into a movie. But no one was interested, they said, that it was a Western and that nobody makes Westerns anymore.
Ford's friend, Joseph P. Kennedy, father of later president John F. Kennedy, was interested at first but the boss of RKO Radio Pictures decided to withdraw at the last moment. He also claimed that there was no interest in Westerns anymore with the public. Besides this, his advisors thought that the storyline was too weak for a feature-length movie. Producer Walter Wanger, who was committed to United Artists for making one last movie, finally accepted the movie Stagecoach because he thought he could make it into a cheap 'star movie' with Gary Cooper as Ringo Kid and Marlene Dietrich as Dallas. John Ford convinced Wanger to refrain from Cooper and Dietrich, by saying that they were too expensive. He said that you have to produce such a Western for peanuts, a "quickie" with a minimal amount of money.
From that moment Wanger didn't interfere with the project anymore, giving Ford all the freedom. Ford arranged the casting, and quickly went to work.The attack and the pursuit of the Indians were shot in two days in Monument Valley. The movie Stagecoach was filmed fast and efficient, almost like a B-picture. Ford edited the film as it were 'in the camera's' and the camera's were attached to the cars that drove next to the coach and the horses, and sometimes even between the hordes of Indians. Film journalists later asked Ford why the Indians not simply killed the horses in front of the coach to shorten the pursuit. Ford replied that the Indians were not interested in the "pale-faces" but in the horses.
In the story, the travellers are held up at an Inn. The most benevolent and kind-hearted among them is a prostitute, nicknamed Boule de Suif. The other travellers force her to sleep with their captor so that they can resume their journey. Once she does so, they immediately ignore her -- although she was only doing what they'd demanded. But if one examines Ford's movie Stagecoach closely you'll see it's not that austere. Above all, it's a tale of salvation -- on screen and off. In the progress of their hazardous journey across Indian country, the passengers overcome their own shady pasts. The alcoholic surgeon Dr Boone (Thomas Mitchell, oscar winner Best Supporting Actor) conquers the DTs and the threat of persevering and hostile (ruthlessly burlesqued) Indians to deliver a baby; Dallas (Claire Trevor), the Boule de Suif character with the heart of gold wins over the good folk who ignored her at first through patience and kindness; the harsh outlaw, the Ringo Kid (John Wayne), whom Dallas has a crush on, displays heroic deeds during the Indian attack and then avenges the death of his father at the hands of the Plummer gang.
The movie Stagecoach combined spectacular mise en scne, magnificent stunts (including the amazing sequence in which Yakima Canutt, playing an Apache, falls in front of the coach and is run over by it), and powerful characterisation. The dialogue by Dudley Nichols, was far complexer than the sententious one-liners found in the B -Westerns of that period. Real stagecoachers used to pass through Monument Valley. Their tracks were still visible. Ford shows them in the film, as if to emphasize its genuineness.
After the movie Stagecoach, which was a huge box office success, nobody could ever again sneer at the Western -- 'one of the few art forms the Americans can lay claim to'. as Clint Eastwood put it. As commented before in the article on John Ford the influence is still recognizable in the Westerns made today, like if one watches Kevin Coster's Wyattt Earp (1994) or Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992) one can see the inspiration of the movie Stagecoach in the story development or camerawork. Ford bought the rights of Ernest Haycox's The Stage to Lordsburg for $2500,-, an amount that's not that tremendous for what is now known as a milestone in the history of movie art.
Summary
The article claims that Stagecoach is one of the most influential films of all time. In its opening, it mentions how the film brings credibility to the dying western genre, in fact, one learns that there was a lot of criticism towards the making of the film as it was expected to be a miserable fail. The article states that John Ford derived the inspiration for the film from “Guy de Maupassant story, Boule de Suif, a cutting story about a coach journey across Prussian-occupied France.” It also mentions how J.F Kennedy’s father was interested in being a part of the film but didn’t due to the lack of interest in western films. Next, the article talks about the scene where the Indian tribe attacks the Stagecoach. It says how innovative and inspiring the shot was. The article also gives a brief analysis of the characters calling the Prostitute: kind hearted, and stating how the characters of the Doctor, and the others help give the movie a touchy sense that the crowd could relate to. In addition, the article goes onto state why the film is different from other westerns, and this is due to the writing; which was much more innovative and did not lack creativity like other westerns. In the last paragraph, the writer of the article mentions how influential John Ford as an identity is to the film industry. And as for Stagecoach as a film, the writer concluded his article by saying that it has everything a movie needs, a good story, development, and camerawork.
Relation of the Article to the Screening
The most clear relation between the article and the screening is how the article mentions the importance of the characters. The article discusses how the events that the characters deal with in the film makes the film authentic and helps the audience relate to the characters. For example, the writer mentions how the doctor came over his fear of delivering babies (he had to go though self realization in order to do so; something that will touch the audience in a personal way). Then, he mentions Dallas, who is a prostitute that gets looked down upon by everyone but in the end, wins everyone’s heart.
On another note, the article mentions the scene where the Indians attack the Stagecoach. The scene, when seen, is an example of genius filmmaking. The scene required various heart clenching moments that were extremely hard to film for its time. It is things like this that makes John Ford one of the most important directors.
Critique of the Film.
The film, hands down, is one of the best films in the history and it is not because it was something different for its time, but because a film like this is simply timeless. Every aspect of this film, may it be acting, dialogues, cinematography, story, or delivery, everything is well put together and it is not an over exaggeration when one calls it one of the best films of all time. My favorite aspect of this film is the story; the fact that the film is very down to earth and doesn’t portray anyone as extra special is very appealing to me. All the characters in the film are equally important and lend a major role in its greatness. The delivery of the actors was very believable and the message at the end was very heartwarming. Also, the awards the film achieved were very well deserved and all the great things said about it are so very true.
