leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (05/03/85)
STAGECOACH
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
STAGECOACH is one of those films I hear about but somehow never have an
opportunity to see. I finally saw it--complete with a muddled soundtrack--
on a Beta cassette at a resort in the Bahamas. Hey, I film I haven't seen
is a film I haven't seen, even on vacation.
Had I not known STAGECOACH was a John Ford western, it would have been
obvious that it was at least in Ford's style. Ford's westerns are usually
tributes to the American dream. The musical score for STAGECOACH is cobbled
together from traditional American folk tunes, usually of the period. While
the actors are predominantly white, Ford is careful to portray the West as
having a racial and ethnic mix. The script has several humorous sequences,
mostly centering Andy Devine as the stage driver or Thomas Mitchell as an
alcoholic doctor. The score, the ethnic mix, and the humor all point to
John Ford's western style.
The story follows a number of passengers' lives as their stage rides
through hostile Indian territory. Not unlike in a GRAND HOTEL or an AIRPORT
movie, each character has a dramatic but totally fouled-up personal life,
but in the course of the film, they will either die or solve all their
problems--perhaps both.
Parts of STAGECOACH today are cliche. Its 96-minute plot still manages
to fit in the two greatest cliche scenes of westerns: the showdown and the
last-minute charge of the cavalry. Seen from a 1980's perspective, only the
style of this film really shines through; a 1939 audience might have been
more impressed. Then again, a 1939 audience might have just seen GONE WITH
THE WIND and STAGECOACH couldn't hope to match the spectacle of that
classic.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeperjay@umd5.UUCP (05/06/85)
> Parts of STAGECOACH today are cliche. Its 96-minute plot still manages >to fit in the two greatest cliche scenes of westerns: the showdown and the >last-minute charge of the cavalry. > > Mark R. Leeper John Ford is generally credited with inventing most of what have become cliches in the Western genre. As such, I don't think it's fair to criticize him just because (as Firesign Theater used to say) "hindsight is golden". -- Jay Elvove ..!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!umd5!jay