STACK Aug #154

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drummer and an aristocratic Southern gambler. Along the trail they happen upon Ringo Kid, a fugitive from justice, who hitches a ride with them to Lordsburg to avenge the death of his father and brother at the hands of Luke Plummer who he knows will be there waiting for him. During the hazardous journey they must all learn to work together to survive. Not surprisingly, the least socially reputable members of the group

The cast of Stagecoach l to r. Andy Devine, George Bancroft, John Carradine, Donald Meek, Louise Platt, Claire Trevor and John Wayne (missing from the scene are Thomas Mitchell and Berton Churchill)

goddamn fairy. Hell, I should have hired Gary Cooper for the part instead of a big oaf". The character, Ringo, is a resolute man when confronted with danger but he is awkward, inarticulate and uncomfortable in social settings. Ford's continual belittling and bullying of Wayne in front of the rest of the cast and film crew

The impressive entrance of John Wayne in Stagecoach .

A scene from Stagecoach filmed in the magnificent Monument Valley

was deliberate. By doing so he managed to draw out the best performance from the novice actor by making him feel exactly as his

perform the most heroically. The whore and drunken doctor deliver the baby and Ringo ensures the safety of the coach when attacked by the Apache. The film ends with a climactic gunfight between Ringo and the Plummer gang on the empty streets of Lordsburg. Viewed today these now familiar types and tropes might seem a little clichéd. But by combining a richly detailed narrative with dramatic action, Ford delivered for cinema audiences the first "adult western". Furthermore, it has become a virtual anthology of scenes and techniques that has inspired and guided generations of filmmakers. Orson Welles reportedly viewed Stagecoach over forty times whilst making Citizen Kane. Stagecoach is also identified as the film that launched John Wayne's rise to stardom and screen immortality. For Wayne, his role as the Ringo Kid was the culmination of eight years slaving away in the B-western graveyard appearing in over 50 forgettable "cowboy movies". Now he found himself working with distinguished veteran actors such as Thomas Mitchell, John Carradine, George Bancroft and a frequently tyrannical movie director. Ford's hostile treatment of Wayne on the film set has passed into legend. He rode him mercilessly with such vitriolic comments as "Can't you walk for Chrissake, instead of skipping like some

acclaimed and popular films he would go on to shoot there. Over the next twenty-five years the magnificent vistas would serve Ford as his dream landscape of the American past. Monument Valley became synonymous with the old west and forever identified with moviegoers as John Ford country. Stagecoach was released in February 1939 and reviewers were unanimous in their praise, describing it as a true American classic. It also proved a substantial commercial hit, grossing more than a million dollars in its first year. In addition it garnered seven Academy Award nominations including Best Director and Best Film. But that year it was up against Gone With The Wind which practically swept the awards board, nevertheless, it still managed to win two Oscars. Thomas Mitchell won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the drunken Doc Boone and composer Richard Hageman for best music score. John Ford's Stagecoach gave the western a respectability it had never had before and moreover, its impact on adult cinema audiences led to the western becoming a permanently popular film genre for the next three decades.

One of the many amazing stunts from the movie performed by Yakima Canutt here doubling for Wayne's character Ringo as he leaps from the coach to retrieve the horses' harness

character is depicted in the movie. Some time during the making of Stagecoach John Wayne became a bona fide film actor. Part of the movie's location introduced audiences to the spectacular mesas and buttes of Monument Valley, an isolated area of the Navajo Indian reservation on the border of Utah and Arizona. Ford employed the Navajo population as movie extras and labourers during the location filming of Stagecoach . He would continue to do so for all of the critically-

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