STAGECOACH: Blu-Ray (Walter Wanger 1939) Criterion

John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) is often billed as the first ‘adult western’ - and for good reason; coming, as it did, on the heels of a decade’s worth in low-budget two-reel western quickies afforded little consideration beyond Saturday matinee filler for the kiddie sect. Ford’s revision of the Hollywood western was therefore something quite different – if not new. The script by Dudley Nichols, and an unaccredited Ben Hecht, wove a hypnotic narrative of lives intertwined and confined to a carriage, racing towards an uncertain destiny on the open plains. The story begins in earnest with woman of ill repute, Dallas (Claire Trevor) and disgraced alcoholic, Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell, in his Oscar-winning role) run out of town. The women are glad to see the pair go – the rummy and the whore…who needs them? Brought together with a disreputable card shark, Hatfield (John Carradine in a thinly veiled impersonation of Doc Holliday), pregnant newlywed, Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt) – eager to be reunited with her husband serving in the cavalry, and, henpecked traveling salesman, Samuel Peacock (Donald Meek), the stagecoach hits the open road, driven by the irrepressible, Buck (Andy Devine).

On the outskirts of town, the stage stops to pick up bank manager, Henry Gatewood (Berton Churchill) who has just absconded with its $50,000 payroll. But danger is near. Buck and Marshall Curly Wilcox (George Bancroft) have received word Geronimo’s tribe is on the move. Under the cover of a cavalry escort (led by a very young and dashing Tim Holt), the stage makes its way across Monument Valley's desolate landscape, meeting up with The Ringo Kid (John Wayne) – a good-natured desperado just broken out of the penitentiary, and, on the hunt to avenge his brother's killer, Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler). The rest of Ford’s fabulous frontier is basically distilled into a series of thoroughly compelling vignettes, to trace and intersect these lives with the social hypocrisies afflicting their varying strata. Louise refuses to eat at the same table as Dallas. She is sheltered by Hatfield who presents himself as a gentleman. Ringo befriends Dallas – and later proposes marriage. Doc Boone reclaims his profession, as well as his dignity, by delivering Louise’s baby. Henry is exposed as a thief. But all of these narrative threads are mere back story for Ford’s raison d’etre; a harrowing race against Geronimo, whose marauding Indians now threaten to put a period to all concerned.

In a chase/action sequence with few equals – Ford took many artistic liberties, broke editing rules, employed a litany of stuntmen, and, sacrificed several horses: the result - one of the truly outstanding highlights in the pantheon of the Hollywood western – Ford’s high stakes/no holds barred and bare knuckle trek across the baron wasteland, generating some serious box office revenue. Impressive too, is Ford’s meticulous attention to every last detail in staging. While westerns were generally shot on the fly, and to star less than memorable C-grade performers, bodies just warm enough to emit a few lines of dialogue, Stagecoach was afforded all the bells and whistles of an A-list feature, including some spectacular cinematography by Bert Glennon. Produced independently for Walter Wanger, Stagecoach’s screenplay by Dudley Nichols was actually based on Ernest Haycox’s The Stage to Lordsburg, the tale, considered a tad too pedestrian to suit Ford’s tastes, augmented by Ford’s love of Boule de Suif by Guy de Maupassant. If anything, Haycox had borrowed heavily from de Maupassant to write his short story. Despite his considerable cache in Hollywood, Ford could find no takers among the Hollywood majors for his passion project – even less so, when Ford insisted on casting John Wayne in the pivotal role as the Ringo Kid.

At one point, David O. Selznick agreed to take on Ford, though Selznick’s interest in Stagecoach quickly cooled, leaving Ford to pursue another avenue. A maverick of the old school in the picture-making biz, Walter Wanger was daring enough to take the gamble. Yet, here too, Wanger attempted to alter the terms of his agreement by imposing Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich on Ford, as Ringo and Dallas respectively. Ford stood his ground, leaving Wanger to partially renege on his deal. Instead, he would put up $250,000, or roughly half of the movie’s budget, but only if Ford gave Claire Trevor star-billing. It stood to reason. In 1939, Trevor was very much more the box office draw than Wayne. To keep expenses down, Ford, his cast and crew were quartered under spartan conditions in Kayenta, in Northeastern Arizona; Ford, driving his shoot well past the usual schedule and into long-hours that often began at dawn and did not abate until the sun had set. The shoot was also under siege from under hellish weather conditions – intense heat and high winds – that exacerbated everyone’s patience. In the end, it all seemed to serve the story; Stagecoach, emerging as a runaway smash hit that had critics cheering, and audiences applauding for more. Viewed today, Stagecoach remains a movie of admirable qualities, not the least, its stark beauty and intelligently scripted narrative, providing for some very unusual and intimate character studies.

Criterion's Blu-Ray bests Warner Home Video’s 2-disc DVD offering from a few years back. Still, the results are far from stellar. One really cannot fault Criterion here. Stagecoach is, regrettably, one of those exemplars from the early part of Hollywood's golden age for which no original camera negative, or even a remotely salvageable first-generation print has since survived. Criterion is working from dupe negatives here, and sincerely flawed print masters that are several generations removed from their source. The linear notes on this release infer many hours spent removing hundreds of age-related issues, including speckling, scratches, dust and dirt. If that is the case, the original film stock must have been in exhaustively horrible shape. The B&W elements are often hanging on by a thread. Dissolves and fades suffer the most with excessive and distracting grain. Long shots are plagued by a barrage of age-related artifacts. Close-ups fair the best, exhibiting fairly impressive detail. Contrast levels are marginally improved on the Blu-Ray, but bottom line, Stagecoach will never look better than this. The audio is PCM 1.0 mono and well-preserved, much more so than the picture elements. The biggest regret herein remains extras. None of Warner's special features have survived the migration to Criterion’s Blu-ray release. Lost in translation - an audio commentary, and, two informative and comprehensive documentaries, one on the making of the movie, the other, a study of the caustic alliance between John Wayne and John Ford, charting the full breadth of their respective careers. In their absence, Criterion has padded out their offering with an early silent western feature shot by Ford in 1917, a brief opinion piece by Peter Bogdanovich, an overview of stuntman, Yakima Canutt, some vintage promotional junkets, including a lengthy interview with Ford, a new audio commentary – not nearly as comprehensive as the one that accompanied the Warner DVD release, and a theatrical trailer.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

5

VIDEO/AUDIO

2.5

EXTRAS

3