Review of Stagecoach (1939) by Connor G — 14 Nov 2013

Stagecoach (1939).

I'm afraid that I'm not normally a big fan of John Wayne, but I do have my favorite movies of his, and this is one of them. John Ford directed an ensemble cast to give us the ultimate western in his favorite location of Monument Valley, Arizona.

Stagecoach driver, Buck Rickabaugh (Andy Devine) travels reluctantly through Apache Territory with a coach-full of differing characters with the sheriff, Curly Wilcox (George Bancroft) riding shotgun. They come across the Ringo Kid (Wayne) along the trail, who just broke out of prison, and is headed for Lordsburg to take revenge on the Plummer brothers who framed him.

Inside the tiny confines of the coach, he meets hooker with the heart of gold, Dallas (Claire Trevor), the mild-mannered alcohol salesman, SamualPeacock (Donald Meek), followed closely by the alcoholic, Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell), the pregnant southern bell, Lucy Mallory (Louse Platt) looking for her soldier husband, along with her protector, gambler, Hatfield (John Carradine) and a gruff banker with a secret bag of money Henry Gatewood (Berton Churchill).

The film also features some great stunt riding by Yakima Cannutt. If you've never seen this film before, you owe it to yourself to watch it.