STAGECOACH (1939) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - John Ford

 

Written by - Ernest Haycox, Dudley Nichols, Ben Hecht

 

Starring - Claire Trevor, John Wayne

 

 

 

"Despite the rumours of a possible Apache attack, a group of travellers ride a stagecoach from a small town in New Mexico to Lordsburg, picking up an outlaw escaped from prison who calls himself Kid Ringo on the way. A landmark western and certainly one of the first to have a more modern, intimate and adult feel to it. The final chase sequence is deeply influential to American cinema in general, and filled with breathtaking stunts that just don’t age. This first of many John Wayne and John Ford productions, Stagecoach automatically elevated Wayne to stardom and updated an already ageing and restrictive genre."

 

 

Western, USA