Stagecoach

Gregory Lopez
FILM 2600: Film History
Stagecoach
1. In regards to the screening “Stagecoach”, we discussed in class that it was set in 1880 and involved a variety of themes and roles. The roles include a banker, sheriff, outlaw, prostitute, doctor, wife, salesman, gambler, and stagecoach driver. The themes in Stagecoach consist of different social classes in a compact setting, greed, revenge, redemption, prejudice, discrimination, alcoholism, shame, and empathy. We discussed how the characters in this film all come from different backgrounds with different mind frames and morals. This relates to the screening because in the film, a crowd of unlikely traveling acquaintances find themselves together on the same stagecoach to Cheyenne. They include a drunken doctor, a bar girl who's been thrown out of town, a professional gambler, a traveling liquor salesman, a banker who has decided to steal money, a gunslinger out for revenge and a young woman who’s determined to join her husband whom is an army captain. All are full of mysteries but when they are ambushed by a Geronimo Indian war clan and then a group of outlaws, they come to the conclusion that they must all work together in order to stay alive.
2. The article I chose talks about John Wayne and John Ford’s collaborations, their success, and how they both benefited from each other in regards to “Stagecoach” and other screenings. Most likely because of his long relationship with Wayne, Ford was often seen as a conservative in regards to his films. Within the film "Stagecoach," beats a benevolent heart that shows compassion with a humanitarian nature that reflects the views of Ford and overall talent of Wayne, providing perspective as to why both were so prestigious and well-endowed in their careers. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110801/REVIEWS08/110809999/1004
3. This article relates to the screening because it mainly talks about John Wayne and John Ford’s careers, their relationship, and how their careers were renewed as a result of their collaborations. It discusses how they came together at a promising moment in Ford's career. He was 45. He had directed his first silent films in 1917, along with 9 more. He had experienced awesome success, and won an Academy Award for directing "The Informer" in 1936. But now came his years of triumph. No director of the sound era made more great films more quickly than Ford did when he followed "Stagecoach" with "Young Mr. Lincoln" and "Drums Along the Mohawk," all three in 1939, and then made "The Grapes of Wrath" and "The Long Voyage Home" in 1940 and "Tobacco Road" and "How Green Was My Valley" in 1941, accumulating in that period three nominations and two Oscars for directing. In regards to Wayne, Ford had his eye on John Wayne from the days when he was called Marion Morrison, nicknamed Duke, and was a football player from USC, working summers at 20th Century-Fox. In the decade before "Stagecoach" Wayne worked in about 40 Westerns, from an extra to a lead, without differentiating himself. Ford thought he had the true makings of a star, and decided Wayne was perfect for the key role of the Ringo Kid in "Stagecoach." With Ford’s influence as a director and Wayne’s clout as an actor, it proceeds to discuss how both would continue to make iconic films and later establish themselves as one of the legendary partnerships in film history.
4. A group of strangers traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo Indians and learned many facts about each other in the process. I personally enjoyed the film due to the morals, themes, roles, and overall plot of the movie. I loved how they all didn’t approve of each other in the beginning but came to a common point when they find out they need to stick together in order to stay alive. The suspense and action scenes in the movie really grasped my attention, as well as the whole film in general. Since seeing this film, I have a newfound respect for John Wayne and John Ford.