Friday | March 19, 2010 7:00 pm

Stagecoach

Screening on Film

Directed by John Ford.
With John Wayne, Claire Trevor, John Carradine.
US, 1939, 35mm, black & white, 97 min.
Print source: UCLA

Set at the frontier between civilization and wilderness, Stagecoach realizes the Platonic ideal of the classic Western, with a cast comprised of exemplary stock types—the heroic cowboy, the villainous outlaw, the fallen woman with a heart of gold, the brave but fragile wife—and a climax that hangs on a nick-of-time rescue by the cavalry. Stagecoach’s thrilling cinema is born from the alchemy that combines all these elements into a story that provides both variety and closure while assuring a seamless narrative drive. Most surprising are the striking visual touches – the iconic travelling shot that introduces John Wayne’s Ringo, and Ford’s expressionistic use of light.