Stagecoach |  | Director: John Ford
Actors: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
Buy New: $19.94
as of 3/21/2010 02:34 EDT details
New (1) Used (5) from $7.34
Seller: INDYCDSTORE
Rating:  100 reviews
Sales Rank: 9503
Format: Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Running Time: 96 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D115866D
UPC: 085391158660
EAN: 0085391158660
ASIN: B000O59A02
Theatrical Release Date: March 2, 1939
Release Date: August 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
STAGECOACH (DVD MOVIE)
Amazon.com essential video
This landmark 1939 Western began the legendary relationship between John Ford and John Wayne, and became the standard for all subsequent Westerns. It solidified Ford as a major director and established Wayne as a charismatic screen presence. Seen today, Stagecoach still impresses as the first mature instance of a Western that is both mythic and poetic. The story about a cross-section of troubled passengers unraveling under the strain of Indian attack contains all of Ford's incomparable storytelling trademarks--particularly swift action and social introspection--underscored by the painterly landscape of Monument Valley. And what an ensemble of actors: Thomas Mitchell (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the drunken doctor), Claire Trevor, Donald Meek, Andy Devine, and the magical John Carradine. Due to the film's striking use of chiaroscuro lighting and low ceilings, Orson Welles watched Stagecoach over and over while preparing for Citizen Kane. --Bill Desowitz
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 100
 Greatest? Hard to say. Most influential, and essential? Almost certainly March 16, 2010
Muzzlehatch (the walls of Gormenghast)
Conventional wisdom has it that John Ford's STAGECOACH changed the landscape of the western film, bringing it a respectability and a seriousness that it largely lacked throughout the early years of the sound era - and that it made John Wayne a star. The latter is pretty obiously true; though Wayne had starred in a big-budget, "epic" western nine years earlier that was made by another legendary director known for his work in the genre, Raoul Walsh's 70mm widescreen THE BIG TRAIL and gotten decent reviews for his performance, that film was a large-scale flop and Wayne was reduced to b-westerns and serials for the remainder of the decade. It's rather amazing to think that this one film was to make him the biggest star in the world for the next three decades, but when you see him appear for the first time, so much larger than life, about two reels into the film, you'll get it - if you understand the mythmaking and iconography of Hollywood even slightly.
As to the first statement, it's not quite so simple. There were actually quite a few "serious" westerns in 1939, with two of them even in Technicolor - and one of those was also directed by John Ford (DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK). The other color western, JESSE JAMES, starred matinee idol Tyrone Power, big star actor Henry Fonda, and Wayne's primary competition as a western star, Randolph Scott, and it was a huge box-office hit, placing in the top 5 for the year. The black-and-white STAGECOACH, with a much less well-known cast toplined by recent Oscar nominee Claire Trevor, didn't place in the top 10. And all of these films, as well as Cecil B. DeMille's spectacle UNION PACIFIC were shot largely on location - something else that Stagecoach often gets mentioned for, as it wasn't all that common at that point, even on larger budget pictures. We also shouldn't forget the important seriocomic DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, with stars James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich in their first of many westerns. A great year for the genre indeed.
So if it's not as groundbreaking as it at first might appear, why then is the film so influential, and so much better-known than the other westerns of its day? I'm sure a big part of it has to do with the specific trends it started; it was the first major western shot in Monument Valley, and the vast, empty yet splendid landscapes of the deserts and canyons would soon come to exemplify "the west" for generations of filmgoers, and it was the first collaboration between John Ford and John Wayne, meaningless at the time of course but hugely important in retrospect. And the fact that it's neither pretentious and self-consciously "grand" or "epic", nor overburdened by comic nonsense or songs. In short, it's a serious take on a fairly simple story, extraordinarily well-told, and it caught a fire that many have tried to imitate but few have succeeded at. The perfect recipe for a classic.
And it was also a take-off on a by-then hoary genre - the all-star many character story set in one place, pioneered by GRAND HOTEL and DINNER AT EIGHT a few years earlier. Except, of course, our disparate cast of characters is here confined (mostly) to a stagecoach and a couple of rustic buildings along the trail. We've got the alcoholic doctor (Thomas Mitchell), the town harlot (star Claire Trevor), the reluctant driver (Andy Devine), the banker-turned-thief (Benton Churchill), the marshal riding shotgun (George Bancroft), the lady who turns out to be pregnant (Louise Platt), the liquor salesman (Donald Meek), the southern gentleman card-sharp (John Carradine) and finally the outlaw Ringo Kid (Wayne). It's been given as common shorthand that all of these people are running from something - that the physical journey by stage is also a journey of the spirit for all of them; though this isn't a stretch as a reading for most of the characters, I think it's an oversimplification. Certainly the marshal and the driver are just doing their jobs; the liquor salesman seems to be also, though one wonders why he's off so far from his apparently large family; and the pregnant gentlewoman is on her way to meet her husband. As for the rest - most are well aware of what they're running from, and where they might be going; in the end only Ringo and Dallas, the lady of ill repute, are on a truly uncertain road, and not until the very end do they receive any kind of real direction.
It's all stunningly photographed by Bert Glennon, who lost out to the equally great monochrome work of Gregg Toland at the 1940 Oscars. Look at the night sequences in particular, which have an early-noirish quality about them and an immense depth of field. The shots in Lordsburg at the end actually convey the sense that this is a real town with multiple streets, blocks, alleys, etc - and it looks very different from Tonto, the town from which the stage departs. This also begs mentioning the production design - art direction by Alexander Toluboff, another big part of the influence the film had. Everything is dry and dirty, hot and sun-blistered, and you can positively smell and cough on the dust in nearly every scene. This is no clean and pretty "Hollywood" western where the women all look perfectly primped at every moment.
The justifiably famous Indian attack on the stage still packs an excitement that all the fast edits and tens of millions of CGI budgets just can't match, largely because the characters have all become well-developed enough by this point that we actually want to see them pull through it - and the narrative hasn't given us any reason to assume they all will. Dudley Nichols' screenplay from an Ernest Haycox story certainly contributes greatly to these wonderfully drawn little portraits, but just as impressive are the actors who inhabit these archetypes and make something more of them. The whole cast here is impressive, and you'd expect nothing less of many of these pros like Mitchell and Meek. Carradine in particular is wonderful, oscillating from likable to arrogant to tender in seconds; but there really isn't a weak link anywhere. But ultimately the show belongs to John Wayne, just as capable in the tender moments with Dallas and of showing uncertainty and fear in the face of going back to jail, of what his life might end up being, as he is of being heroic in the face of danger. No black and white, simple hero here.
NOTE ON TAPE/DVD: None of the copies of this film that have been released on either VHS or DVD thus far have been particularly good, print-wise; this old WB tape has served me well and will continue to until I grab the new Criterion, which promises to be the definitive version for the forseeable future. This copy and the official DVD from the same source is watchable enough though, so if you can get it cheap, why not?
5 star package of famous film December 23, 2009
Douglas M
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There are endless reviews extolling the merits of this famous film, a landmark of sorts in 1939, much imitated but in fact, not quite the trendsetter which might be concluded. All the cliches for westerns abound but the quality of the acting and the direction are what makes it special. The film made John Wayne an A feature star after years toiling in Z grade westerns and he certainly has presence even if his acting is still immature. Claire Trevor and Thomas Mitchell are the standouts and Mitchell won a deserved Oscar.
What makes this DVD really special, other than the restored but not perfect print, is that this a 2 disc edition with some great extras:
- a first rate commentary by Scott Eyman which is easy on the ear and full of insight into the maverick director John Ford and his technique.
- a detailed documentary exploring the complex relationship and rich legacy of the collaboration of Ford and Wayne
- a further documentary on the film itself some of which is covered in the commentary
There is also a radio adaption but that holds little interest because that medium can not capture the filming techniques which lift this film above its obvious cliches.
The DVD is good value, expecially if purchased as part of a John Wayne collection.
civilized, poetic, human, epic December 9, 2009
trastevere (rome, italy)
John Ford was a man of few words and concise images. Let it suffice to say that this film is one of the works which may come to define America for all time. It will be a fine monument.
Stagecoach w/John Wayne November 16, 2009
TARHEEL (NORTH CAROLINA)
A lot of great movies came out in 1939...Stagecoach was close to the top of the list. It helped launch John Waynes career from "B" movies to one of the best, if not the best cowboy of all time.
 Life and Death in the Southwest October 25, 2009
Acute Observer (North Jersey Shore)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The film opens on a road in the southwest. Two riders gallop into an Army post. The Apaches are on the warpath, led by Geronimo. [No reason given.] The coach stops to change their six horses. The conversation introduces the characters. "What's good for the banks is good for the country." [Does the banker resemble President Harding?] Dallas is driven out of town by the good women to avoid a calamity. Doc Boone hasn't done well. Cavalry escorts the stagecoach to guard against attack. The banker hops aboard. Johnny Ringo hitches a ride. They proceed through Monument Valley. Shall they continue without a cavalry escort? They take a vote. "What difference does it make?" Seating at the table shows their status.
The banker spouts political slogans that are still relevant (and wrong) today. They take a detour north for safety and learn bad news. Mrs. Mallory faints and needs medical attention. "It's a baby!" Ringo must carry on the family feud. We learn more about the people and their concerns. [Too sentimental?] Smoke on the mountain sends a signal. The stress affects the people. The next stop reveals a burned house and ferry. They get across the stream and continue. An arrow announces the Apache attack, the chase begins. [That wasn't much of an ambush! Would the clever Apaches attack in the open?] Will the cavalry arrive in the nick of time? The survivors arrive in town. "Johnny Ringo is in town." Luke's hand had aces and eights. The telegraph was repaired and the Sheriff greets banker Gatewood.
Ringo is given his ten minutes. The men in the bar await the news. Three men look for Ringo in the dark. Shots are heard, a woman screams. Ringo returns to the Marshal, and meets Dallas again. There is a surprise for a happy ending. The film reflects the culture of that era and hasn't aged bacly. Ringo had knocked around enough to know what Dallas was and wouldn't care anyway. [Too sentimental?]
Ernest Haycox wrote many popular Western novels, some adapted to films. This is a story of clichés about a group of people who are thrown together, face a peril, and live through it. How did it compare to the other western movies from that era? Few have survived to be placed on tape or disc. Was it more censored in some respects and less in others? I think remakes of this fil will drop the banker and pregnant wife due to cultural changes. John Wayne played in many westerns before this film.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 100
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