Stagecoach (1939 movie)

Theatrical poster, 1939
George Bancroft, John Wayne, and Louise Platt

Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western movie, which was based on the 1937 short story The Stage to Lordsburg by Ernest Haycox. The film is a Walter Wanger production that was released through United Artists. Directed by John Ford, it stars Claire Trevor and John Wayne, who are supported by Andy Devine, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, Louise Platt, George Bancroft, Donald Meek, Berton Churchill, and Tim Holt.

In June 1880, nine people with differing characters and backgrounds travel by stagecoach from the fictional town of Tonto, in the Arizona Territory, to Lordsburg, New Mexico. The route is dangerous as Geronimo is on the warpath, and the action highlight of the movie is a chase across the desert in which the travellers flee from Apache attack. Just as it seems the stagecoach will be overcome, a bugle is heard and the U.S. Cavalry charge to the rescue. The film became influential through its basic concept of a random group of characters coming together by chance and being forced to endure and, mostly, survive an ordeal.[1]

Stagecoach was nominated in seven categories at the 12th Academy Awards in 1940, and won two: one for its music score, and one for Mitchell as Best Supporting Actor.[2] In 1995, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[3]

The film is widely considered a classic within the Western genre, but it has been criticised for its negative depiction of the Apache warriors. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote in 2011: "The film's attitudes toward Native Americans are unenlightened. The Apaches are seen simply as murderous savages; there is no suggestion that white men have invaded their land".[1]

The film was remade as Stagecoach in 1966, and again in 1986.

References

  1. 1 2 Ebert, Roger (August 1, 2011). "John Ford. John Wayne. History". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  2. ↑ "12th Annual Academy Awards. Winners and Nominees". Academy Awards. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 7 October 2025.

Other websites


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.