Stagecoach (1939) John Wayne Directed by John Ford

Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The screenplay, written by Dudley Nichols and Ben Hecht, is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. The film follows a group of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.

Although Ford had made many westerns in the silent film era, he had never previously directed a sound western. Between 1929--1939, he directed films in almost every other genre, including Wee Willie Winkie (1937) starring Shirley Temple.

Stagecoach was the first of many westerns that Ford shot using Monument Valley, in the American southwest on the Arizona-Utah border, as a location, many of which also starred John Wayne.

Claire Trevor as Dallas
John Wayne as The Ringo Kid
Andy Devine as Buck
John Carradine as Hatfield
Thomas Mitchell as Doc Boone
Louise Platt as Lucy Mallory
George Bancroft as Marshal Curly Wilcox
Donald Meek as Samuel Peacock
Berton Churchill as Henry Gatewood
Tim Holt as Lieutenant Blanchard
Tom Tyler as Luke Plummer
Yakima Canutt as Cavalry scout, uncredited stunt coordinator and second unit director
Chris-Pin Martin as Chris
Chief White Horse as Geronimo

The screenplay is an adaptation by Dudley Nichols of "The Stage to Lordsburg," a short story by Ernest Haycox. The rights to "Lordsburg" were bought by John Ford soon after it was published in 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 Suif" by Guy de Maupassant.[3] Schatz believes "this scarcely holds up to scrutiny"[4] and argues that a more likely inspiration was Bret Harte's 1892 short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat."
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.[5]

Although they were close friends, Ford had declined to use Wayne in any of his projects during the 1930s, telling him to wait until he was "ready" as an actor. In 1938 he gave Wayne a copy of the film's script by Nichols, asking him to recommend an actor to play the Ringo Kid. After having read it, Wayne suggested Lloyd Nolan for the part, but Ford was non-committal to the idea. The next day however, Ford announced to Wayne that he wanted him to play the role. The offer left Wayne feeling as if he had been "hit in the belly with a baseball bat"...and fearing that Ford would change his mind and hire Nolan instead.

Before production, John Ford shopped the project around to several Hollywood studios, all of which turned him down because big budget Westerns were out of vogue, and because Ford insisted on using John Wayne in a key role in the film. Wayne had appeared in only one big-budget western, The Big Trail (1930, directed by Raoul Walsh), which was a huge box office flop. Between 1930--1939, by Wayne's own estimate, he appeared in about eighty "Poverty Row" westerns. Independent producer David O. Selznick finally agreed to produce the film, but frustrated Ford with his indecisiveness over when shooting should begin, as well as Selznick's doubts over the casting. Ford withdrew the film from Selznick's company, then approached independent producer Walter Wanger 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 Horse (1924).[1] Wanger said he would not risk his money unless Ford replaced John Wayne with Gary Cooper and brought in Marlene Dietrich to play Dallas.

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 Trevor, a far better-known name than John Wayne in 1939.

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[polaroyds]

thanks for the great movie and the interesting information you gave to us cinematiclight!

[MrWhoboy]

John Ford is one of my favorite directors. I really love how he glorifies the west, but still has that grittiness. However, I saw this other film that mostly embodied a spaghetti western called "Good For Nothing" and was full of violence, but as I watched it I started seeing a satirical side to the film. The story really reminded me of Candied and took the myth of the west and turned it on its head. It is really worth a watch. hollywoodreporter. com/review/good-nothing-film-r­eview-96892

[rocknrollfanatic96]

One of the greatest westerns, and greatest films for that matter ever made. Orson Welles had it right when he said his three favorite directors were John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford. Thanks for uploading.