Stagecoach (1939)
Director: John Ford
Screenwriter: Dudley Nichols
Historical context
Despite the fact that John Ford directed Irish dramas, military dramas, and even a couple of comedies, he continues to be best remembered for his westerns. At the time when Stagecoach was released, the genre was at a low ebb with respect to box office popularity. Mostly it had been relegated to B-pictures with low budgets, aimed largely at the Saturday afternoon matinee crowd. Indeed, John Wayne, who stars in Stagecoach, was at that time one of those largely unknown B-movie players. It was the success of Stagecoach that re-established the western as a commercially viable form of cinematic storytelling, while at the same time moving Wayne up the ranks to full fledged movie stardom.
Narrative context
Ford and Nichols balanced the action that people had come to expect from westerns with a set of character studies by observing a group of socially and temperamentally diverse individuals who are confined in close quarters over the course of a dangerous journey.
How does the film establish the characterization of each individual? Which characters are we encouraged to identify with? Which characters are presented as less sympathetic? Are there any characters who are neither sympathetic nor unsympathetic? Are there any characters about whom you are inclined to change your opinion as the film progresses?
The structure of the film breaks down into eight segments:
- Prologue — cavalry and telegraph wires
- Town of Tonto — exposition
- First leg of stagecoach trip — introduce Ringo
- Dry Fork way station — dinner table scene
- Second leg of stagecoach trip — snow
- Apache Wells outpost — baby is born
- Third leg of stagecoach trip — Indian attack
- Town of Lordsburg — gunfight and conclusion
How does this structure help serve the purpose of combining action with strong characterization?
Stagecoach has been described as a story of redemption. In what sense might redemption be said to be an integral part of the film’s theme?
Visual context
Ford is known for his strikingly composed images. How does his visual style affect the telling of his story?
Rhetorical context
In what way(s) does the film comment on society?
Period films often say more about the time in which they are made than about the time in which they are set. How does the rhetoric of Stagecoach relate specifically to 1939?
Generic context
What conventions can you identify in Stagecoach that are traditionally associated with the western genre? (Consider both characterization conventions and plot/action conventions.)
What are the attributes of the traditional western protagonist?
