Stagecoach (1939) | |
| Director(s) | John Ford |
| Producer(s) | John Ford (uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Western |
| Top Topics | Book-Based, Romance (Action), Wild West |
Featured Cast:
Stagecoach Overview:
Stagecoach (1939) was a Western - Black-and-white Film directed by John Ford and produced by John Ford.
The film was based on the short story The Stage to Lordsburg written by Ernest Haycox published in Collier's in Apr 1937.
SYNOPSIS
This film is the greatest Western entry in Hollywood's annus mirabilis of 1939, and Ford's prototype for the Western genre he dignified. This also marked Wayne's commercial breakthrough and a new level of maturity in his performances. A motley crowd - a loose woman, a gambler, a banker with a mysterious satchel, an expectant young bride, a whiskey salesman, and a drunk doctor - set out from a dusty New Mexico town with Devine at the reins and Bancroft riding shotgun and with eye out for the escaped outlaw, the Ringo Kid (Wayne). They pick up Wayne soon enough, and alliances and suspicions are forged in the tension of anticipating an Indian attack. The first of many Westerns filmed in the forbidden majesty of Monument Valley.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.Stagecoach was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1995.
Academy Awards 1939 --- Ceremony Number 12 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Supporting Actor | Thomas Mitchell | Won |
| Best Art Direction | Alexander Toluboff | Nominated |
| Best Cinematography | Bert Glennon | Nominated |
| Best Director | John Ford | Nominated |
| Best Film Editing | Otho Lovering, Dorothy Spencer | Nominated |
| Best Music - Scoring | Richard Hageman, Frank Harling, John Leipold, Leo Shuken | Won |
| Best Picture | Walter Wanger (production company) | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
Claire Trevor and John Wayne head the cast of “Stagecoach”
By Stephen Reginald on Jun 30, 2021 From Classic Movie ManClaire Trevor and John Wayne head the cast of “Stagecoach” Stagecoach (1939) is an American Western classic directed by John Ford and starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne. The film was produced by Walter Wanger Productions and the cinematography was by Bert Glennon (Young Mr. Linco... Read full article
Silver Screen Standards: Stagecoach (1939)
By Jennifer Garlen on Apr 5, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub BlogSilver Screen Standards: Stagecoach (1939) I took a short ride in a stagecoach once, at the Old Tucson Western theme park in Arizona, and it permanently altered my impression of films like Stagecoach (1939), where travelers make long journeys in those noisy, dusty, bumpy conveyances. Anybody who ... Read full article
Review: Stagecoach (1939)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Apr 21, 2019 From 4 Star FilmsWhile the western hardly began with Stagecoach, one could go out on a very slight limb and say it became a more fully realized version of itself in the hands of John Ford; it all but grew in stature as a genre. This progression cropped out of the prevailing assumption of the day and age that the wes... Read full article
Stagecoach: An Appreciation
By Amanda Garrett on May 15, 2018 From Old Hollywood FilmsClaire Trevor and John Wayne in the classic Western Stagecoach (1939). This article is part of The Classic Comfort Movie Blogathon hosted by Classic Film & TV Cafe. "What I remember is the time John Wayne killed three people with a carbine while falling to the dusty street in Stagecoach," ... Read full article
DOUBLE BILL #7: Stagecoach (1939) and The Searchers (1956)
By Carol Martinheira on Oct 10, 2017 From The Old Hollywood GardenDOUBLE BILL #7: Stagecoach (1939) and The Searchers (1956) On October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 By CarolIn Uncategorized John Ford and John Wayne. One of cinema?s greatest and most celebrated director-actor partnerships. They made dozens of films together and they were ... Read full article
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Quotes from
Marshal Curly Wilcox: How 'bout you, Mr. Hancock?
Samuel Peacock: Peacock. I'd like to go on, brother. I want to reach the bosom of my dear family in Kansas City, Kansas as quickly as possible; but, I may never reach that bosom if we go on... so, under the circumstances - you understand, brother - I think it best we go back with the bosoms... I mean the soldiers.
Henry Gatewood: [clutching valise with embezzled funds] I can't get over the impertinence of that young lieutenant. I'll make it warm for that shake-tail! I'll report him to Washington - we pay taxes to the government and what do we get? Not even protection from the army! I don't know what the government is coming to. Instead of protecting businessmen, it pokes its nose into business! Why, they're even talking now about having *bank* examiners. As if we bankers don't know how to run our own banks! Why, at home I have a letter from a popinjay official saying they were going to inspect my books. I have a slogan that should be blazoned on every newspaper in this country: America for the Americans! The government must not interfere with business! Reduce taxes! Our national debt is something shocking. Over one billion dollars a year! What this country needs is a businessman for president!
[Lt. Blanchard has just informed the stagecoach occupants that the cavalry will not escort them to Lordsburg]
Marshal Curly Wilcox: This stage is going to Lordsburg. If you think it ain't safe to ride along with us, I figure we can get there without you soldier boys.
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Facts about
Near the end of the movie, Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler) has a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This is the notorious "dead man's hand" supposed to have been held by Wild Bill Hickok before he was killed.
Doctor Boone's misquote, 'Is this the face that wrecked a thousand ships/ and burned the towerless tops of Ilium?', is from 'The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus' by Christopher Marlowe, Scene xiv.
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