Stagecoach

1. In class we talked about how 1939-1941 was the greatest period in American movie making. Other than Stagecoach many great movies came out that during that period were Citizen Kane, The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Gone with the Wind. We also talked about John Ford and how he was possibly the greatest director in his time. Back then westerns weren't people's favorite type of movie to watch; they were only considered "B" movies. John Ford was not happy about directing a western; he felt it would ruin his career. Ford also didn't think John Wayne was the best choice for the leading role. During that time John Wayne was only a "B" movie actor and Stagecoach is what made him famous. After Stagecoach, Wayne worked with Ford in 23 other movies. Stagecoach had been such a success that it was the first "A" movie western and changed westerns to "A" movie status. We also talked about how Stagecoach was a metaphor for society; A society has to have law but there are people who carry a just law in themselves. Finally we talked about the Academy Awards it won such as best supporting actor and best score.

2. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91227/Stagecoach/articles.html

The article I found about Stagecoach talked about John Ford's relationship with the Navajo Indians of  Monument Valley that played the Indian clan that attacked the stagecoach in the film and how they were used again in other westerns by Ford and how they called him "Natani Nez" which means "tall leader". The article also discussed Yakima Canutt's famous stunt of being dragged under the stagecoach and how he did it, and also how Ford did not want to shoot it again. The article went into detail on how John Ford liked to bully many of the actors on the set of Stagecoach especially John Wayne. The article described some of the ways Ford bullied Wayne and how this was meant to provoke Wayne into giving a stronger performance.

3. After reading the article I felt it supported the way I think about John Ford as a director. John Ford liked to bully actors while making films to provoke the actors to give stronger performances. I feel that is a great thing to do as a director. John Ford cares about the actors that work in his films and tries to help them. While filming Yakima's famous and very dangerous stunt in Stagecoach Ford made it clear that even if they didn't get it on camera that they wouldn't do it again. Ford cares for the safety of actors on set and that says a lot about a director.

4. I felt Stagecoach was a very good film and one of my favorites with John Wayne. Stagecoach has a very important place in film history. Before Stagecoach, westerns were "B" movies. Stagecoach was the first "A" movie western and changed the status of westerns to "A" movies. Stagecoach was also the movie that made John Wayne famous and he went on to becoming one of the greatest actors in film history. The film was also directed by John Ford who is probably the greatest director in film history and did a fantastic job directing Stagecoach. The film also won two Academy Award: Best Supporting Actor, and Best Score.