Stagecoach (The Criterion Collection)
by John Ford
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andy Devine, Claire Trevor, John Carradine, John Wayne, Thomas MitchellDirector: John Ford
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Bert Glennon
Producer: John Ford
Editor: Dorothy Spencer
Editor: Otho Lovering
Writer: Ben Hecht
Writer: Dudley Nichols
Writer: Ernest Haycox
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2010-05-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of Stagecoach (The Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: Outstanding edition of a Classic Western
Summary: 5 Stars
This new Criterion edition boasts a new restored, high definition transfer of the picture of this classic John Ford Western. The picture quality is excellent, as is the sound.
This 1939 western has twice been remade, but the original far surpasses the 1966 remake and the 1986 made for TV version. The story is set in 1880 in the town of Tanto in Arizona where a band of strangers set on a stagecoach journey bound for Lordsburg New Mexico. Each of these characters have different motives, issues, and reasons for leaving Tanto to go to New Mexico. The story contains a social commentary: there are the 'dregs' of society who show a heart of gold, there are self-righteous members of upper society who exhibit unfounded prejudice against those different than they, there are people who are willing to sacrifice in order to save others, and those who just look out for themselves.
This movie is special for the excellent ensemble performance of these actors/actresses, which bring their rich characters to life.
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
Tom Tyler as Luke Plummer
The ensemble acting is unmatched. The glances and looks from one character to another speak volumes. The different coupling of the characters (e.g. Dallas & the Ringo Kid, Buck & Curley, Lucy Mallory and gambler Hatfield, Doc Boone and the meek Samuel Peacock, and Gatewood all by himself) helps the viewer to see the different relationships that develop between these characters in the stagecoach.
I really enjoyed Jim Kitses' (Horizon West) insightful commentary on this movie. Kitses does a masterful job of providing the background for the making of this classic, the symbolism, themes/motifs that run throughout the story, and insights into John Ford's moviemaking of the western. Kitses' commentary is a bit more scholarly than Scott Eyman's commentary on the Warner Bros 2 disc special edition (henceforth abbreviated as WB version). Eyman's simpler commentary gives insights upon the actors & actresses' performance, while Kitses gives more insight into the social commentary & meaning of the movie.
I also really liked the WB documentaries: John Ford/ John Wayne The filmmaker & the Legend, Stagecoach: A Story of Redemption.
I wished these were included in the Criterion version.
The Criterion version has a supplemental disc which contains these features:
Bucking Broadway (1917 silent feature by John Ford)
Philip Jenkinson's 1968 video interview with Ford
New video appreciation of Stagecoach with director and Ford biographer Peter Bogdanovich
New video homage to legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt
Video essay by Tag Gallagher
Screen Director's Playhouse 1949 radio dramatization of Stagecoach
A booklet featuring an essay by critic David Cairns and Ernest Haycox's "Stage to Lordsburg" (the short story that inspired the film)
I agree with the other reviewers who recommend getting both this Criterion version and the WB version (if you have enough money to spend). Overall, I'd say that I liked the special features of the WB version a little bit more. Too bad the WB version is out of print.
However, this Criterion version boasts excellent DVD transfer, quality sound, and a new insightful commentary. Highly recommended!
Summary of Stagecoach (The Criterion Collection)
This is where it all started. John Ford's smash hit and enduring masterpiece Stagecoach revolutionized the western, elevating it from B movie to the A-list. The quintessential tale of a group of strangers thrown together into extraordinary circumstances--traveling a dangerous route from Arizona to New Mexico--Stagecoach features outstanding performances from Hollywood stalwarts Claire Trevor, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, and, of course, John Wayne, in his first starring role for Ford, as the daredevil outlaw the Ringo Kid. Superbly shot and tightly edited, Stagecoach (Ford's first trip to Monument Valley) is Hollywood storytelling at its finest.This landmark 1939 Western began the legendary relationship between John Ford and John Wayne, and became the standard for all subsequent Westerns. It solidified Ford as a major director and established Wayne as a charismatic screen presence. Seen today, Stagecoach still impresses as the first mature instance of a Western that is both mythic and poetic. The story about a cross-section of troubled passengers unraveling under the strain of Indian attack contains all of Ford's incomparable storytelling trademarks--particularly swift action and social introspection--underscored by the painterly landscape of Monument Valley. And what an ensemble of actors: Thomas Mitchell (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the drunken doctor), Claire Trevor, Donald Meek, Andy Devine, and the magical John Carradine. Due to the film's striking use of chiaroscuro lighting and low ceilings, Orson Welles watched Stagecoach over and over while preparing for Citizen Kane. --Bill Desowitz
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