Rent Stagecoach (1939)

A Classic Western - Stagecoach review by CP Customer

My whole family enjoyed this, and I’m not surprised. After (in my opinion) a bit of a slow and very slightly confusing first 10-15 minutes the adventure begins. The basic story covers a group of mismatched people who are begrudgingly bought together to travel on a stagecoach through the deserts of Utah and the difficulties this throws upon them. Best known as the film that brought John Wayne into the spotlight, it also has some great character acting from actors such as Claire Trevor, Tim Holt and Thomas Mitchell.

The photography and scenery are amazing when you think it was made in 1939. I recommend this to any fan of Western films, it’s also a great introductory film of the Western genre.

Key Western. - Stagecoach review by Steve

This is rated a critical landmark because it is the first major studio western of the sound era... Well, that is debatable, but it is at least a key release for genre superstar John Ford, as his breakthrough picture set in the old west. However, if it was innovative at the time, it has been copied so relentlessly, it has lost any impression of originality.

A group of conflicting western archetypes take a stagecoach journey through 'Indian' country. There is the outlaw (John Wayne), the good hearted sex worker (Claire Trevor), the gambler (John Carradine), the whisky doctor (Oscar winning Thomas Mitchell), the aloof lady of manners (Louise Platt). And many more. And they overcome their differences to see off an Apache attack.

There are the standard virtues of a Ford western, with the Utah landscape, the artistic photography, the wistful score... which all builds to a well-staged action climax. Though it might be acknowledged that many horses were killed during the shoot. And there are the usual negatives too, with the native Americans serving no other purpose than as targets for the heroes' guns.

The characters and situations are formulaic, but that's expected in a genre film. The actors are well cast with a star making role for Wayne. This is a decent Ford melodrama with lots of atmosphere, and stunts which are still impressive. It's even interesting as an insight into the conditions of stagecoach travel in the old west! But it's not going to convert anyone who doesn't already love westerns.

Masterpiece. The Classic Western - Stagecoach review by GI

This classic remains a wonderful film even after so many viewings. John Ford effectively put the western genre on the map with this his first since making silent westerns. The 1930s had churned out hundreds of serial and cheap B westerns but it took Stagecoach for the genre to be taken seriously. And of course it's the film that made John Wayne a star. He'd been stuck in those serial B films for years but Ford saw the potential and the rest is history. What is especially marvellous about Stagecoach is its structure. Essentially it's about the social and emotional dynamic between the seven passengers inside the tiny passenger compartment as they travel the hazardous journey across the desert (in this case Ford's first use of the famed Monument Valley). Each has their own particular reasons for being aboard and prejudices and bigotry are rife. The fear of attack from renegade Indians is no more than a plot device to showcase the flaws and attributes of the characters on the stage. Claire Trevor (who has top billing as the established star) is the prostitute with a heart who has been run out of town, Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell) the alcoholic and burned out old man who will have to refind his courage, and John Wayne as the good natured outlaw intent on a mission of revenge. The others include a banker fleeing with his banks money, a soldier's wife hiding her pregnancy and a gambler with a mysterious agenda (John Carradine here arguably the most enigmatic of the passengers). The Indian attack when it comes is exciting and full of now famous stunt work principally by Yakima Canutt and the film has a climactic gunfight to top it all off. Ford broke many film making conventions here especially with his camera use and what is often described as the 180° rule and his style of letting the action happen in front of a static camera rather than moving it works superbly here. What may seem genre cliché today was very innovative in 1939 for this is a masterclass in film story telling from a genius director who went on to make some of the most revered American films of all time. This is a film every movie fan has to see at least once. It's a masterpiece of the art form.