Stagecoach (DVD)

Well stupid me when I said hubby could pick the film as I knew it was bound to be a John Wayne but I never knew just how bad it could be. This being the first film which John Ford directed and the start of the working relationship between Ford and Wayne is shows how old the film is.

The storyline to the film is pretty basic with a group of 6 people leaving a town on the stage to head for Lordsberg. The gang include an alcoholic Doctor, ...
...a banker and a lady who is off to meet her husband who unbeknown to everyone is pregnant. The stage is driven by a bumbling fat man who really is funny and he is helped by the sheriff.

The stage is dubious about leaving as there are Indians in the area but they are escorted by the American Calvary so they start on their journey. Before long the stage is stopped and the sheriff meets Ringo, an escaped prisoner, played by John Wayne ... more

Well stupid me when I said hubby could pick the film as I knew it was bound to be a John Wayne but I never knew just how bad it could be. This being the first film which John Ford directed and the start of the working relationship between Ford and Wayne is shows how old the film is.

The storyline to the film is pretty basic with a group of 6 people leaving a town on the stage to head for Lordsberg. The gang include an alcoholic Doctor, an ex-prostitute, a shy and quite sales man, a gambler a banker and a lady who is off to meet her husband who unbeknown to everyone is pregnant. The stage is driven by a bumbling fat man who really is funny and he is helped by the sheriff.

The stage is dubious about leaving as there are Indians in the area but they are escorted by the American Calvary so they start on their journey. Before long the stage is stopped and the sheriff meets Ringo, an escaped prisoner, played by John Wayne and he is re-arrested and put inside the stage. The journey goes well until they get to the next town the cavalry turn back as the danger is worse now from the Indians but after a vote the stage heads on.

Will the stage make it to Lordsberg and will Ringo runaway from the Sheriff, will their be any unexpected passengers to add to the already crowded stage?

Yes that really is the whole plot and nothing exciting is missing from it. The storyline could have been made so much better with a little more though and to me t just seemed quite rushed. The cast were quite good and despite this film being listed as staring John Wayne he does not seem to overpower the other actors and they are all equally featured.

The actors and actress in the film include appearances from Clare Trevor, Andy Devine, Thomas Mitchell and George Bancroft just to name a few and I thought that they all worked very well together but there was just not the chemistry which I have seen in other older films.

The film was set a long time ago in America by the border and the costumes and settings were all very authentic. I did however notice that the effects in the film and the back drops were shocking. The shots with the stage going along the desert looked authentic and as if they were done on location but the close up shots of the actors in the stage were awful and the views through the windows were clearly painted back drops. I did also notice that none of the clouds ever moved! The film is in black and white which did put me off slightly but I think that this helped to hide some of the bad effects so may have benefited the film. Also due to the age of the film the sound was very questionable and at times we did get a high pitched squeaking noise from the film. Other noticeable sound blunders included times when the actors would be whispering to each other and we could not hear a word which was said and also when we met the Mexicans we could not understand a words of what they were saying as their accents were too thick.

The best character in the film for me had to be the alcoholic Doctor as he really did bring an element of much needed humour to the film and I liked how he would not care what he said or who he offended when he was drunk. I also think the stage driver was very funny. On about the stage though I do have to question how we are supposed to believe that from the small size of it the inside was home to 7 adults. It was just way too small for this and so unbelievable. I did enjoy how John Wayne’s character was relegated to sitting on he floor.

The fighting scenes with the Indians left a lot to be desired and we did see the same Indian being shot and killed three times over and by this time we gave up looking for him to dye again so it could have been shown a lot more times. I think this just shows the age of the film and how they were trying to make it on such a low budget.

The running time of this film is 96 minutes and the certificate is a universal and I do agree with this. We paid just under £3 for out DVD from Amazon so if you do still wish to see this then do shop around for the lowest price. The DVD which we have does not have any bonus material which was a blessing for me as I am not a fan of it and the film certainly was not of a standard where I would have taken the time to watch it.

I am not going to recommend this film as I have seen better western and much better with John Wayne in.

 

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