Stagecoach is a 1939 western film directed by
John FordJohn Ford was an American film director of Irish heritage famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, starring
Claire TrevorClaire Trevor was an American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
and
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
in his breakthrough role. The screenplay, written by
Dudley NicholsDudley Nichols was an American screenwriter who first came to prominence after winning and refusing the screenwriting Oscar for The Informer in 1936....
and
Ben HechtBen Hecht , , was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist...
, is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a
1937The year 1937 in literature involved some significant events and new books.- Events :*January 9 - The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States.*Thomas Quinn Curtiss meets Klaus Mann.- New books :...
short story by
Ernest HaycoxErnest James Haycox , was an American writer of Western fiction.-Biography:Haycox was born in Portland, Oregon, to William James Haycox and the former Martha Burghardt on October 1 1899...
. The film follows a group of strangers riding on a
stagecoachA stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled closed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach...
through dangerous Apache territory.
Although Ford had made many westerns in the
silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
era, he had never directed a sound western.
Stagecoach is a 1939 western film directed by
John FordJohn Ford was an American film director of Irish heritage famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, starring
Claire TrevorClaire Trevor was an American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
and
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
in his breakthrough role. The screenplay, written by
Dudley NicholsDudley Nichols was an American screenwriter who first came to prominence after winning and refusing the screenwriting Oscar for The Informer in 1936....
and
Ben HechtBen Hecht , , was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist...
, is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a
1937The year 1937 in literature involved some significant events and new books.- Events :*January 9 - The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States.*Thomas Quinn Curtiss meets Klaus Mann.- New books :...
short story by
Ernest HaycoxErnest James Haycox , was an American writer of Western fiction.-Biography:Haycox was born in Portland, Oregon, to William James Haycox and the former Martha Burghardt on October 1 1899...
. The film follows a group of strangers riding on a
stagecoachA stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled closed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach...
through dangerous Apache territory.
Although Ford had made many westerns in the
silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
era, he had never directed a sound western. Between 1929 - 1939, he directed films of almost every other genre, including
Wee Willie WinkieWee Willie Winkie is a 1937 American adventure film directed by John Ford. The screenplay by Julien Josephson and Ernest Pascal was based on a story by Rudyard Kipling. The film stars Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, and Cesar Romero in a story about the British presence in nineteenth century India...
(1937) starring
Shirley TempleShirley Jane Temple , known for most of her adult life by her married name, Shirley Temple Black, is an actress, singer, and tap dancer, who is best known for being an American child actress of the 1930s...
.
Stagecoach was to be his first sound western and the first of many that Ford made on location in
Monument ValleyMonument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast and iconic sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona , near the Four Corners area. The valley lies within the range of the...
, in the American southwest on the
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
-
UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
border, many of which also starred John Wayne.
Plot
In Tonto (town),
Arizona TerritoryThe Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
in 1880, a motley group of strangers boards the east-bound
stagecoachA stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled closed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach...
to
LordsburgLordsburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 3,379 at the 2000 census.Lordsburg was founded in 1880 on the route of the Southern Pacific Railroad.-Lordsburg Municipal Airport:...
,
New Mexico TerritoryThe Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of New Mexico....
. Among them is Dallas (
Claire TrevorClaire Trevor was an American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
), a prostitute who is being driven out of town by the members of the "Law and Order League"; an alcoholic doctor, Doc Boone (
Thomas MitchellThomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
); Lucy Mallory (
Louise PlattLouise Platt was an American theatre and film actress.She is perhaps best remembered for her role as the pregnant officer's wife in John Ford's Stagecoach . A Broadway star, she came to Hollywood in 1938 and returned to the stage in 1942 after the dissolution of her marriage to theatre director...
), who is traveling to see her cavalry officer husband; and whiskey salesman Samuel Peacock (
Donald MeekDonald Meek was a Scottish character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and when coming to the United States, he appeared in several films, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Little Miss Broadway. Before becoming an actor, as a young teen, he fought in the Spanish-American War at...
).
When the stage driver, Buck (
Andy DevineAndrew Vabre "Andy" Devine was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his raspy voice.- Early life :...
), looks for his normal shotgun guard, he is told by Marshal Curly Wilcox (
George BancroftGeorge Bancroft was an American actor.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy, but left the Navy to become one of the top Hollywood stars of the 1920s...
) that he has gone out to look for a fugitive, the Ringo Kid (
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
). Buck tells Marshal Wilcox that Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler) is in Lordsburg. Knowing that the Kid has vowed to avenge the deaths of his father and brother at Plummer's hands, the marshal decides to ride along.
As they start to pull out, U.S. cavalry Lieutenant Blanchard (
Tim HoltTim Holt was an American film actor.-Early life:Born Charles John Holt III in Beverly Hills, California, he was the son of actor Jack Holt and his wife, Margaret Woods...
) informs them that
GeronimoGeronimo was a prominent Native American leader and medicine man of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States and their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades.-Biography:Goyahkla was...
and his
ApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the American Southwest. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, and are related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
s are on the warpath. His small troop will provide an escort until they get to Dry Fork. Gambler and Southern gentleman Hatfield (
John CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns.-Early life:...
) joins them to provide protection for Mrs. Mallory. At the edge of town, the stage is flagged down by pompous banker Henry Gatewood, (
Berton ChurchillBerton Churchill was a Canadian actor.Born in Toronto, Ontario. As a young man interested in the theater, he headed to New York City where he began an acting career that soon put him on the Broadway stage. There, he was one of the earliest members of Actors Equity and sat on the union's Council...
), who is sneaking away with $50,000 embezzled from his bank.
Along the way, they come across the Ringo Kid, whose horse had become lame and left him afoot. Even though they are friends, Curly has no choice but to take Ringo into custody. As the trip progresses, Ringo takes a strong liking to Dallas.
When they reach Dry Fork, they are informed that the expected cavalry detachment has moved on to Apache Wells. The passengers vote on whether to press on or turn back. With only Peacock objecting, they go on and reach Apache Wells. There, Mrs. Mallory faints when she hears that her husband had been wounded in battle. She begins to go into labor. Doc Boone is called upon to help her through her childbirth. Eventually, Dallas emerges with a healthy baby. Later that night, Ringo asks Dallas to marry him. She does not give him an immediate answer, afraid to reveal her checkered past, but the next morning, she agrees to marry him if he promises to give up his plan to take on the Plummers. Encouraged by Dallas, Ringo makes a break for it, but turns back when he sees signs of Indians.
When they reach Lee's Ferry, they find the station and the ferry burned down and the people either dead or having fled. They tie large logs to each side of the stagecoach and float it across the river. Just when they think that they are in the clear, the stagecoach is chased by the Apaches. Curly releases the Kid from his handcuffs to help fight them off. During a long chase, when things look bleak, Hatfield is about to kill Mrs. Mallory with his last bullet to save her from being taken alive when he is fatally wounded. Just then, the U.S. cavalry charges to the rescue.
When the passengers finally arrive in Lordsburg, Gatewood is arrested by the local sheriff, and Lucy is told that her husband's wound is not serious. Dallas begs Ringo not to go up against the Plummers, but he is determined to settle matters. In the ensuing shootout, the Kid dispatches Luke and his two brothers. He returns to Wilcox, expecting to go back to jail. He asks the lawman to take Dallas to his ranch. However, when Ringo gets on a wagon to say goodbye to her, Curly and Doc laugh and start the horses moving, letting him "escape".
Origins
The screenplay is an adaptation by Dudley Nichols of "
The Stage to Lordsburg", a short story by
Ernest HaycoxErnest James Haycox , was an American writer of Western fiction.-Biography:Haycox was born in Portland, Oregon, to William James Haycox and the former Martha Burghardt on October 1 1899...
. The rights to "Lordsburg" were bought by John Ford soon after it was published in
Collier'sCollier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
magazine on 10 April 1937. According to Thomas Schatz, Ford claimed that his inspiration in expanding
Stagecoach beyond the barebones plot given in "The Stage to Lordsburg" was his familiarity with another short story, "
Boule de SuifBoule de Suif is a short story by the late-19th century French writer Guy de Maupassant. It is arguably his most famous short story, and is the title story for his collection on the Franco-Prussian War, entitled "Boule de Suif et Autres Contes de la Guerre"...
" by
Guy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer and considered one of the fathers of the modern short story....
. Schatz believes "this scarcely holds up to scrutiny" and argues that a more likely inspiration was
Bret HarteFrancis Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.-Life and career:...
's 1892 short story "
The Outcasts of Poker Flat"The Outcasts of Poker Flat" is a short story written by renowned author of the American West Bret Harte. This story is a good example of local color and regionalism during the Gilded Generation. Harte, although he was born in Albany, New York, wrote passionately and in graphic detail about the...
".
Ford's statement also seems to be the basis for the claim that Haycox himself relied upon Guy de Maupassant's story. However, there appears to be no concrete evidence for Haycox actually being familiar with the earlier story, especially as he was documented as going out of his way to avoid reading the work of others that might unconsciously influence his writing, and he focused his personal reading in the area of history.
[Ernest Haycox, Jr., Ernest Haycox (1899-1950).]
Pre-production
Before production, John Ford shopped the project around to several Hollywood studios, all of which turned him down because Ford insisted on using
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
in a key role in the film. Wayne had appeared in only one big-budget western,
The Big TrailThe Big Trail is a lavish early widescreen movie shot on location across the American West starring John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh....
(1930, directed by
Raoul WalshRaoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
), which was a huge box office flop. Between 1930 - 1939, by Wayne's own estimate, he appeared in about eighty "
Poverty RowPoverty Row is a slang term used in Hollywood from the late silent period through the mid-fifties to refer to a variety of small and mostly short-lived B movie studios...
" westerns. Ford approached independent producer
Walter WangerWalter Wanger was an Academy Award-winning American film producer. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career started at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every...
about the project. Wanger had the same reservations about producing an "A" western and even more about one starring John Wayne. Ford had not directed a western since the silent days, the most notable of which had been
The Iron HorseThe Iron Horse is a silent film directed by John Ford in 1924. It was produced by Fox Film. -Synopsis:The film presents an idealized image of the construction of the American first transcontinental railroad. It culminates with the scene of driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit on May...
(1924). Wanger said he would not risk his money unless Ford replaced John Wayne with
Gary CooperFrank James “Gary” Cooper was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, individualistic, emotionally restrained, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
.
Ford refused to budge; it would be Wayne or no one. Eventually they compromised, with Wanger putting up $250,000, a little more than half of what Ford had been asking for, and Ford would give top billing to
Claire TrevorClaire Trevor was an American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
, a far better-known name than John Wayne in 1939.
Cast
- Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor was an American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
as Dallas
- John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
as The Ringo Kid
- Andy Devine
Andrew Vabre "Andy" Devine was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his raspy voice.- Early life :...
as Buck
- John Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns.-Early life:...
as Hatfield
- Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Josiah Boone, M.D.
- Louise Platt
Louise Platt was an American theatre and film actress.She is perhaps best remembered for her role as the pregnant officer's wife in John Ford's Stagecoach . A Broadway star, she came to Hollywood in 1938 and returned to the stage in 1942 after the dissolution of her marriage to theatre director...
as Lucy Mallory
- George Bancroft
George Bancroft was an American actor.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy, but left the Navy to become one of the top Hollywood stars of the 1920s...
as Marshal Curly Wilcox
- Donald Meek
Donald Meek was a Scottish character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and when coming to the United States, he appeared in several films, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Little Miss Broadway. Before becoming an actor, as a young teen, he fought in the Spanish-American War at...
as Samuel Peacock
- Berton Churchill
Berton Churchill was a Canadian actor.Born in Toronto, Ontario. As a young man interested in the theater, he headed to New York City where he began an acting career that soon put him on the Broadway stage. There, he was one of the earliest members of Actors Equity and sat on the union's Council...
as Henry Gatewood
- Tim Holt
Tim Holt was an American film actor.-Early life:Born Charles John Holt III in Beverly Hills, California, he was the son of actor Jack Holt and his wife, Margaret Woods...
as Lieutenant Blanchard
- Tom Tyler
Tom Tyler was an American actor in silent and sound motion pictures, best known for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the acclaimed 1941 movie serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel....
as Luke Plummer
- Yakima Canutt
Yakima Canutt, also known as Yak Canutt, was an American rodeo rider, actor, stuntman and action director.-Biography:...
as Cavalry scout, uncredited stunt coordinator and second unit director
- Chris-Pin Martin as Chris
- Chief White Horse as Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader and medicine man of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States and their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades.-Biography:Goyahkla was...
Reputation
Stagecoach has been lauded as one of the most influential films ever made. Edward Buscombe writes that the introduction of Wayne's character Ringo is "one of the most stunning entrances in all of cinema...The camera dollies quickly in towards a tight close-up...So fast is the dolly in that the operator can't quite hold the focus."
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years...
argued that it was a perfect textbook of film making and claimed to have watched it more than 40 times during the making of
Citizen KaneCitizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, and the first feature film directed by Orson Welles. It was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories, but won only for Best Original Screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz and Welles...
.
Winner
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Thomas MitchellThomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
)
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Director
New York Film Critics Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
(John FordJohn Ford was an American film director of Irish heritage famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
)
Nominated
- Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible...
- Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
(John FordJohn Ford was an American film director of Irish heritage famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
)
- Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Alexander ToluboffAlexander Toluboff was a Polish-born American art director. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Lublin, Poland and died in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.-Selected filmography:...
)
- Academy Award for Best Cinematography-Black-and-White
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture....
(Bert GlennonBert Glennon was an American cinematographer and film director.He was nominated for three Academy Awards in Best Cinematography categories for the films Stagecoach , Drums Along the Mohawk , and Dive Bomber .Glennon worked as a cinematographer on over a hundred films for directors including John...
)
- Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; it was first given for films released in 1934. The name of this award is occasionally changed; in 2008, it was listed as the Academy Award for Achievement in Film Editing. The New York...
(Otho LoveringOtto Lovering , also credited as Otho Lovering and Otto Levering, was an American film editor. He edited John Ford's classic Westerns Stagecoach and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, among many other films...
& Dorothy SpencerDorothy Spencer was an American film editor. Nominated for an Academy Award on several occasions she is remembered for editing several of director John Ford's best known movies, including Stagecoach and what film critic Roger Ebert calls, "Ford's greatest Western,"My Darling Clementine.She was...
)
Others
- John Ford won the 1939 New York Film Critics Award
New York Film Critics Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
as Best Director. Other critics gave the film uniformly glowing reviews.
- In 1995, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books. The head...
and selected for preservation in their National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.
- In June 2008, the American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Stagecoach was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the western genre.
Re-releases and restoration
The film was originally released through
United ArtistsUnited Artists Entertainment LLC is an American film studio. The current United Artists was formed in November 2006 under a partnership between producer/actor Tom Cruise and his production partner, Paula Wagner, and Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer Studios Inc., an MGM company...
, but under their old seven-year-rights rule, surrendered its distribution rights to producer Walter Wanger in 1946. Many independent companies were responsible for this film in the years since. The film's copyright is currently held by
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
, who produced a later
1966 remake of StagecoachStagecoach is a 1966 American film, a remake of the 1939 John Ford western Stagecoach. Slim Pickens replaced Andy Devine as the driver, football player Alex Cord filled in for John Wayne as the Ringo Kid, Ann-Margret succeeded Claire Trevor as the prostitute Dallas, and Bing Crosby played Thomas...
. However, distribution rights are now held by the
UCLA Film and Television ArchiveThe UCLA Film and Television Archive is an internationally-renowned visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds more than 220,000 film and television titles and 27 million feet of...
on behalf of ancillary rights holder The Caidin Trust, with
Castle Hill ProductionsCastle Hill Productions is an independent television and film distribution company handling classic and independent films whose library spans eight decades.-Background:...
and
Warner Bros. PicturesWarner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
representing.
The original negatives of Stagecoach were either lost or destroyed. John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
had one positive print that had never been through a projector gate. In 1970, he permitted it to be used to produce a new negative, and that is the film seen today at film festivals. UCLA formally restored the film in 1996 from surviving elements and premiered on cable's American Movie Classics network. The current DVD releases by Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . It was re-named Warner Home Video in 1980...
do not contain the restored print, but rather a video print held in the Castle Hill/Caidin Trust library.
Remakes
- The May 4, 1946 radio episode of Academy Award Theater
Academy Award Theater was a CBS radio anthology series which presented 30-minute adaptations of plays, novels or films....
had Claire Trevor reprise her role alongside Randolph ScottRandolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
.
- The January 9, 1949 radio episode of Screen Director's Playhouse
Screen Director's Playhouse is a popular radio anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949...
had John Wayne and Claire Trevor both reprise their parts.
- The 1966 remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of Stagecoach starred (in alphabetical order) Ann-MargretAnn-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer.-Early life:Ann-Margret was born in Stockholm, the daughter of Anna and Gustav Olsson, a native of Örnsköldsvik...
, Red ButtonsRed Buttons was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Red Buttons was born Aaron Chwatt on February 5, 1919 in New York City to Jewish immigrants. At sixteen years old, Buttons got a job as an entertaining bellhop at Ryan's Tavern in City Island, Bronx...
, Mike ConnorsMike Connors is an American actor best known for playing detective Joe Mannix in the long-running CBS television series, Mannix...
, Alex CordAlex Cord is an American actor who is perhaps best known for portraying the role of Archangel on the television series Airwolf....
, Bing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American popular singer and actor whose career stretched over more than half a century from 1926 until his death....
, Robert CummingsCharles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings , known professionally as Bob Cummings, , was an American motion picture and television actor....
, Van HeflinEmmett Evan "Van" Heflin, Jr. was an American film and theatre actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man...
, Slim PickensLouis Burton Lindley, Jr. , better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor who epitomized the profane, tough, sardonic cowboy, but who is best remembered for his comic roles, notably in Dr...
, and Stefanie PowersStefanie Powers is an American actress. She starred as Jennifer Hart in the 1980s television series Hart to Hart.-Early life:...
.
- A 1986
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle*Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
television version featured Willie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country singer-songwriter, author, poet, actor and activist. He reached his greatest fame during the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, but remains iconic, especially in American popular culture.He has continued to tour, record and perform in recent years, and...
, Kris KristoffersonKristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American writer, singer-songwriter, actor, and musician. He is best known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
, Johnny CashJohnny Cash , born J. R. Cash, was an American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, and Waylon JenningsWaylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer and musician. A self-taught guitar player, he rose to prominence as a bass player for Buddy Holly following the break-up of The Crickets. He escaped death in the February 3, 1959 plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie...
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