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Stagecoach Movie Review

Stagecoach is a 1939 western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Claire Trevor. It’s a solid, but highly overrated picture.

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“Well, you gotta live no matter what happens“

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It follows a group of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory. The plot is my main issue with this movie. Yes, it proved out to have been hugely influential upon this genre afterwards, but not in a great way in my opinion as this is the type of movie that focuses so heavily on action and spectacle instead of genuinely strong storytelling or characterization.

The characters are all solid and of course very well performed by its great cast, but I simply did not find either of them all that memorable when all is said and done. Claire Trevor is one of the highlights. Though a standard prostitute character, Trevor imbued Dallas with a lot of necessary humanity and realism.

This movie features a breakout turn from John Wayne. He became a genuine movie star only after this particular project, and that is understandable given that he is very charismatic and highly memorable here. But unfortunately, I found all of the other characters utterly forgettable and not worth discussing more.

Of course, this is one of those movies that are racist in their depictions of Native Americans, which should be forgiven given the film’s age, but I myself have to admit that I prefer the westerns from this period that do not revolve around Indians, thus this one was personally not for me.

Stagecoach is undeniably adventurous and spectacular throughout. There are some moments here that are downright majestic in their cinematic and sprawling qualities. The cinematography is truly impressive as the movie looks polished and splendid through and through. It has its fair share of memorable imagery and a great score as well.

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John Ford’s direction is solid, though far from great. I did like that the movie was small-scale at first, but then I began to wonder why all of this matters as the stakes were too low, ending in a movie that is among the least uneventful of all westerns. I did find some of its Oscar nomination truly deserved, but its winning best score over the greatness that is the score of ‘Gone with the Wind’ is one of the worst travesties ever committed in this category.

Stagecoach is quite impressive in its cinematic and sprawling qualities. The cinematography is particularly superb here. John Wayne and Claire Trevor both delivered and stole the show from the other vastly less memorable players. The movie is fun at times, but overly concerned with spectacle and not enough with plot. It was hugely influential for sure, but it’s one of those overly simplistic westerns that aren’t that appealing in comparison to the genre’s more heady affairs. As a result, this is a solid, but highly overrated picture.

My Rating – 3.5

You can get Stagecoach on Amazon.