Review of Stagecoach (1939) by Ray H — 01 Oct 2011

I decided to watch this as the movie that reportedly launched John Waynes career. As a quality of movie reproduction/experience, this film looked unusually good. The conception of the story has held up well since 1939. Ive never thought much of J Wayne as an actor. It always seemed to me that he was just playing himself, over and over again, as different characters in different stories. The notes to this and other DVDs make the case that he did have some skills. It still seems to me that they were very modest. The guy did find his niche. But, his contemporaries, eg Robert Ryan, Richard Widmark, Burt Lancaster, etc; seem like much better actors to me.

I enjoyed this movie. The story held my interest to some degree. John Fords direction here was very good. The scenes from Monument Valley were beautiful to behold. The violence was pretty tame by current standards. There was zero gore, w/ the action scenes being shot from a distance.

The 3 evil-doers that Ringo (J Wayne) must face seemed like an odd-looking lot to me. 2 of them seemed either a bit too old and/or just disheveled and not very menacing/crazy. The chief evil-doer, looked the part. He completed the old time western look by wearing a large black hat. The guy also seemed to be wearing eye liner. When this guy staggers to his demise; no blood is seen on his chest or back ... odd.