The Wasteland Reviewer

The Wasteland Collection: Stagecoach (1939)

When was the blueprint laid down for what would define the western genre for generations to come? There were early western films like The Great Train Robbery that introduced this classic genre to audiences. But it would be a few more decades before this genre had its first few major successes. There were a few people that made the western what it would become (as in the purest American genre of cinema). Funny enough they were two “Johns” …John Ford and John Wayne. Ford has gone down as the director who defined the genre with the choices he would make with his production, storytelling, and filmmaking. Wayne became the face of the genre with decades of films under his belt. But there was one film, the first big collaboration between the two of them, that is considered the first big successful western…Stagecoach.

What has made this film so revolutionary for the genre? Ford’s decision to film out in the western United States and not on a sound stage would set the bar for this sprawling and exciting genre. His decision to use Monument Valley for Stagecoach would become a common choice for Ford for many of his films, which also influenced other filmmakers to use the same locations. This would make Monument Valley a staple and representation of American cinema and a fixture of western filmmaking. There are plenty of other elements of Stagecoach that have back fixtures in the western genre. Wayne’s Ringo Kid would become an archetype for so many roguish outlaws who would soon become iconic anti-heroes in westerns. The stunt work showed off in this film and the shoot outs set the bar for action in westerns as well. Ringo Kid jumping on the horses during the climax to fix the coach is insane and absolutely thrilling (for the audience). The music from composer Gerard Carbonara sets the motifs and themes that will be echoed in other westerns for the next 85 years. One of the negative influences that Stagecoach had was its portrayal of indigenous people. Geronimo and his tribe were portrayed as violent and ruthless, and this would be an easy antagonist to replicate for so many other writers in the western genre.

What is one of the most impressive and trend setting elements of Ford’s Stagecoach? The impressive ensemble.  The usage of such a talented ensemble in the film was relatively new and fresh as well with so many different characters to connect with and explore in the film. Ensemble stories with plenty of big-named actors are quite common nowadays but not back then. There are close to a dozen characters that feel like real people fleshed out with distinguishable personalities. Ringo Kid is the obvious face of the film with the big presence, anti-hero personality, and the swaggering attitude that Wayne injects into him. There is an effective romance between him and Claire Trevor’s Dallas, a sex worker being at odds with the “good” people of town. They have a strong connection as they are both outcasts and Wayne and Trevor have good chemistry. Thomas Mitchell (who won an Oscar for this) is a big standout as the drunken doctor who is a blast while stepping up when he needs to. Andy Devine makes for a hilarious comic relief character driving that carriage. John Carradine is slick and proud as the gunman Hatfield who has a strong connection to a pearl-clutching pregnant woman who feels the danger of this situation. Goerge Bancroft is the honorable and tough Marshall who is the moral compass of the film. Each of these characters (and more) have so many layers and elements to this film which is surprisingly lean at only 96 minutes. The blueprint set by Stagecoach will live on in cinema and we will get to enjoy big star-studded ensemble casts like this.

What is the most interesting filmmaking progression that Stagecoach helped build? For the early parts of cinema, films were all wide shots with stationary cameras. But Stagecoach is a film with a lot of confined scenes that take place in this coach. The way that John Ford and his cinematographer Bert Glennon do some impressive work allowing the camera to capture all the tension of the situation. The way the editing pulls all these shots together and makes the audience feel like they are on the coach too is quite impressive. The tension that builds in these scenes just would not work with a more traditional approach to filmmaking. Ford revolutionized something here. So many claustrophobic films exist because of what was accomplished on films like Stagecoach. There are some impressive shots including Carradine’s guy in frame about to put the new mother out of her misery only for a gunshot and his gun slowly lowering out of shot before he could finish his choice. This is such an evocative shot that captures so many layers in it about both characters. When the filmmaking can elevate the concept as well as the characters, you know something is quite special. What Ford and crew accomplish with Stagecoach is a seismic shift in filmmaking and cinema.

Is Stagecoach really that influential? This film is truly one of the most influential films in cinema. Few films can drastically change a whole genre thanks to the blueprint it delivers. Not only that, Ford and Wayne became a duo that set the tone for all westerns to follow or go against in the future. Thrilling, romantic, funny, and entertaining, Stagecoach is not just an important film…it is a masterpiece of the western genre.