Stagecoach (1939) |
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Stagecoach Cast |
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Movie Highlights |
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Other InformationAwardsNational Film Registry National Film Preservation Board, USA [1995] (Won/Nominated: Won) Best Picture Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Film Editing Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Director Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Art Direction Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Music, Scoring Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Won) Best Actor in a Supporting Role Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Won) Best Director New York Film Critics Circle Awards [1939] (Won/Nominated: Won) Plot SummaryAlthough there were Westerns before it, Stagecoach quickly became a template for all movie Westerns to come. Director John Ford combined action, drama, humor, and a set of well-drawn characters in the story of a stagecoach set to leave Tonto, New Mex... TaglineA Powerful Story of 9 Strange People! Thrills! Thrills! Thrills! See - The Apache Attack! Charge of the Cavalry! Fight to the Death On the Last Frontier of Wickedness! Danger holds the reins as the devil cracks the whip ! Desperate men ! Frontier women ! Rising above their pasts in a West corrupted by violence and gun-fire ! Related MoviesStagecoach [Remade as] (Year of movie: 1966) DiscographySinglesShall We Gather at the River? She May Have Seen Better Days She`s More to Be Pitied than Censured Joe the Wrangler Joe Bowers Rosa Lee Lily Dale Careless Love My Lulu Gentle Annie Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair Ten Thousand Cattle Trail to Mexico (Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie) |
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Full Cast and Crew |
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Actor CreditsNon Actor Credits |
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Awards |
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Stagecoach (1939) was nominated for the following awards:
Academy AwardsNew York Film Critics Circle Awards |
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Fans |
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Stagecoach has no fans yet!
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Trivia |
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Trivia and QuotesQuotes Henry Gatewood: [clutching valise with embezzled funds] I can`t get over the impertinence of that young lieutenant. I`ll make it warm for that shake-tail! I`ll report him to Washington - we pay taxes to the government and what do we get? Not even protection from the army! I don`t know what the government is coming to. Instead of protecting businessmen, it pokes its nose into business! Why, they`re even talking now about having *bank* examiners. As if we bankers don`t know how to run our own banks! Why, at home I have a letter from a popinjay official saying they were going to inspect my books. I have a slogan that should be blazoned on every newspaper in this country: America for the Americans! The government must not interfere with business! Reduce taxes! Our national debt is something shocking. Over one billion dollars a year! What this country needs is a businessman for president!
[the stagecoach occupants are voting whether or not to continue without a cavalry escort]
Marshal Curly Wilcox: How `bout you, Mr. Hancock?
Samuel Peacock: Peacock. I`d like to go on, brother. I want to reach the bosom of my dear family in Kansas City, Kansas as quickly as possible; but, I may never reach that bosom if we go on... so, under the circumstances - you understand, brother - I think it best we go back with the bosoms... I mean the soldiers. Ringo Kid: Look, Miss Dallas. You got no folks... neither have I. And, well, maybe I`m takin` a lot for granted, but... I watched you with that baby - that other woman`s baby. You looked... well, well I still got a ranch across the border. There`s a nice place - a real nice place... trees... grass... water. There`s a cabin half built. A man could live there... and a woman. Will you go?
Dallas: But you don`t know me - you don`t know who I am.
Ringo Kid: I know all I wanna know. Will you go?
Dallas: Oh, don`t talk like that! Hatfield: A gentleman doesn`t smoke in the presence of a lady.
Dr. Josiah Boone: Three weeks ago I took a bullet out of a man who was shot by a gentleman. The bullet was in his back!
Hatfield: You mean to insinuate...
Ringo Kid: Sit down, mister. Doc don`t mean no harm. Dr. Josiah Boone: Seems to me I knew your family, Henry. Didn`t I fix your arm once when you, oh, bumped off a horse?
Ringo Kid: Are you Doc Boone?
Dr. Josiah Boone: I certainly am. Ah, let`s see... I`d just been honorably discharged from the Union Army after the War of the Rebellion.
Hatfield: You mean the War for the Southern Confederacy, sir.
Dr. Josiah Boone: I mean nothing of the kind, sir!
Ringo Kid: That was my kid brother broke his arm. You did a good job, Doc, even if you was drunk.
Dr. Josiah Boone: Thank you, son. Professional compliments are always pleasing. What happened to that boy whose arm I fixed?
Ringo Kid: He was murdered. Dr. Josiah Boone: [drunkenly to his hideous landlady upon eviction] Is this the face that wrecked 1000 ships and burned the towerless tops of Illium? Farewell, fair Helen. [last lines]
Dr. Josiah Boone: Well, they`re saved from the blessings of civilization.
Marshal Curly Wilcox: Yeah.
[laughs]
Marshal Curly Wilcox: Doc, I`ll buy you a drink.
Dr. Josiah Boone: Just one. [first lines]
Cavalry scout: These hills here are full of Apaches. They`ve burnt every ranch building in sight.
[referring to Indian scout]
Cavalry scout: He had a brush with them last night. Says they`re being stirred up by Geronimo.
Capt. Sickel: Geronimo? How do we know he isn`t lying?
Cavalry scout: No, he`s a Cheyenne. They hate Apaches worse than we do. Buck: If there`s anything I don`t like, it`s driving a stagecoach through Apache country. Henry, the Ringo Kid: Hold it! Buck: If I was you, I`d let them shoot it out.
Marshal Curly Wilcox: Let who?
Buck: Luke Plummer and the Kid. There would be a lot more peace in this territory if that Luke Plummer was so full of lead he couldn`t hold his liquor. Dr. Josiah Boone: Jerry, I`ll admit as one man to another that, economically, I haven`t been of much value to you. But do you suppose you could put one on credit?
Jerry (bartender): If talk was money, Doc, you`d be the best customer I got. Ed (editor): McCoy! Billy, kill that story about the Republican Convention in Chicago and take this down: "The Ringo Kid was killed on Main Street in Lordsburg tonight. And among the additional dead were..." Leave that blank for a spell.
McCoy, typesetter: I didn`t hear any shootin`, Ed.
Ed (editor): You will, Billy, you will. Dr. Josiah Boone: I`ll take that shotgun, Luke.
Luke Plummer: You`ll take it in the belly if you don`t get out of my way.
Dr. Josiah Boone: I`ll have you indicted for murder if you step outside with that shotgun.
Luke Plummer: [throws the shotgun on the bar] We`ll attend to you later.
Dr. Josiah Boone: [to bartender after Plummer leaves] Don`t ever let me do that again. [Mrs. Mallory, a passenger, has just given birth]
Buck: Hey, Curly, do you think I oughta charge Mrs. Mallory`s baby half fare? [the stagecoach occupants vote on whether to continue without a cavalry escort]
Marshal Curly Wilcox: You, Doc?
Dr. Josiah Boone: I`m not only a philosopher, sir, I`m a fatalist. Somewhere, sometime, there may be the right bullet or the wrong bottle waiting for Josiah Boone. Why worry when or where?
Marshal Curly Wilcox: Yes or no?
Dr. Josiah Boone: Having that philosophy, sir, I`ve always courted danger. During the late war - when I had the honor to serve the Union under our great president, Abraham Lincoln... and General Phil Sheridan - well, sir, I fought mid shot and shell and cannon roar...
Marshal Curly Wilcox: Do you wanna go back or not?
Dr. Josiah Boone: No! I want another drink.
Marshal Curly Wilcox: Now folks, if we push on we can be in Apache Wells by sundown. Soldiers there will give us an escort as far as the ferry. Then it`s only a hoot and a holler into Lordsburg. We got four men who can handle firearms - five with you, Ringo. Doc can shoot if sober. The Ringo Kid: That was my kid brother that broke his arm. You did a good job, Doc, even if you were drunk.
Dr. Josiah Boone: Thank you, son. Professional compliments are always pleasing. Henry Gatewood: So you`re the notorious Ringo Kid.
The Ringo Kid: My friends just call me Ringo - nickname I had as a kid. Right name`s Henry. [Lt. Blanchard has just informed the stagecoach occupants that the cavalry will not escort them to Lordsburg]
Marshal Curly Wilcox: This stage is going to Lordsburg. If you think it ain`t safe to ride along with us, I figure we can get there without you soldier boys. [the telegraph breaks off in mid-message]
Capt. Sickel: Well? What`s wrong?
Telegraph operator: The line went dead, sir.
Capt. Sickel: What have you got here?
Telegraph operator: Only the first word, sir.
Capt. Sickel: (reading) Geronimo. Ringo Kid: You may need me and this Winchester, Curly. Saw a ranch house burnin` last night. Ringo Kid: Well, I guess you can`t break out of prison and into society in the same week. Marshal Curly Wilcox: Come busting in here - you`d think we were being attacked! You can find another wife.
Chris: Sure I can find another wife. But she take my rifle and my horse. Oh, I`ll never sell her. I love her so much. I beat her with a whip and she never get tired.
Dr. Josiah Boone: Your wife?
Chris: No, my horse. I can find another wife easy, yes, but not a horse like that! Dallas: Well, you gotta live no matter what happens. Henry, the Ringo Kid: Well, there are some things a man just can`t run away from.Trivia Pictured on one of four 25¢ US commemorative postage stamps issued 23 March 1990 honoring classic films released in 1939. The stamp featured Stagecoach (1939), Beau Geste (1939), The Wizard of Oz (1939), and Gone with the Wind (1939). Ranked #9 on the American Film Institute`s list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Western" in June 2008.
The hat that John Wayne wears is his own. He would wear it in many westerns during the next two decades before retiring it after Howard Hawks` Rio Bravo (1959), because it was simply "falling apart." After that, the hat was displayed under glass in his home. Although Louis Gruenberg receives screen credit for the musical score, his contribution was not used and his name was omitted for the Academy Award nomination. Film debut of Mickey Simpson. Producer Walter Wanger wanted Gary Cooper for the role of Ringo but Cooper`s fees were too high. Bruce Cabot unsuccessfully tested for it before John Ford got his wish and cast John Wayne. It`s believed by many that the famous line "A man`s gotta do what a man`s gotta do," widely attributed to a John Wayne Western character, is spoken by Wayne in this film, however, it isn`t. His character, The Ringo Kid, instead says "There are some things a man just can`t run away from," when asked why he intends to stay and avenge his family`s murders rather than try to escape to Mexico. John Wayne`s salary was considerably less than all of his co-stars`, apart from John Carradine. John Ford originally wanted Ward Bond to play Buck the stage driver but gave the role to Andy Devine when he found that Bond couldn`t drive a "six-up" stagecoach and there wasn`t time to teach him. A device known as a "Running W" was used on the Indians` horses during the sequence where they are chasing the stagecoach. Strong, thin wires are fixed to a metal post, then the other end of the wires are attached to an iron clamp that encircles the legs of a horse, and the post is anchored into the ground. The horse is then ridden at full gallop, and when the wire`s maximum length is reached--just when the rider is "shot"--the animal`s legs are jerked out from underneath it, causing it to tumble violently and throw the "shot" rider off. The trouble was that the rider knew when the horse was going to fall but the horse didn`t, resulting in many horses either being killed outright or having to be destroyed because of broken limbs incurred during the falls. The use of the "Running W" was eventually discontinued after many complaints from both inside and outside the film industry. Near the end of the movie, Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler) has a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This is the notorious "dead man`s hand" supposed to have been held by Wild Bill Hickcock before he was killed. Orson Welles privately watched this film about 40 times while he was making Citizen Kane (1941). The premise of Ernest Haycox`s story comes from Guy de Maupassant`s famous story `Boule de Suif`, which takes place in Normandy during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. In 1939 Claire Trevor was the film`s biggest star, and thus commanded the highest salary. John Ford gave John Wayne the script, asking him for any suggestions as to who could play the Ringo Kid. Wayne suggested Lloyd Nolan, not realizing that Ford was baiting him with the part. Once filming began, however, Ford was merciless to Wayne, constantly undermining him. This psychological tactic was designed to make Wayne start feeling some real emotions, and not to be intimidated by acting alongside the likes of such seasoned professionals as Thomas Mitchell. Hosteen Tso, a local shaman, promised John Ford the exact kind of cloud formations he wanted. They duly appeared. Local Navajo Indians played the Apaches. The film`s production was a huge economic boost to the local impoverished population, giving jobs to hundreds of locals as extras and handymen.
John Ford`s first sound Western, and his first in that genre in 13 years. Westerns had fallen out favor with the coming of sound, as it was tricky to record on location.
David O. Selznick was interested in making the film, but only if he could have Gary Cooper as the Ringo Kid and Marlene Dietrich as Dallas. The interior sets all have ceilings, an unusual practice at the time for studio filming. This was to create a claustrophobic effect in complete counterpoint to the wide open expanse of Monument Valley. In 1939 there was no paved road through Monument Valley, hence the reason why it hadn`t been used as a movie location before (it wasn`t paved until the 1950s). Harry Goulding, who ran a trading post there, had heard that John Ford was planning a big-budget Western so he traveled to Hollywood, armed with over 100 photographs, and threatened to camp out on Ford`s doorstep until the director saw him. Ford saw him almost immediately and was instantly sold on the location, particularly when he realized that its remoteness would free him from studio interference. John Ford loved the Monument Valley location so much that the actual stagecoach journey traverses the valley three times. John Wayne`s 80th film. When the film was being cast, John Ford lobbied hard for John Wayne but producer Walter Wanger kept saying no. It was only after constant persistence on Ford`s part that Wanger finally gave in. Wanger`s reservations were based on Wayne`s string of B-movies, in which he came across as being a less than competent actor, and the box office failure of Raoul Walsh`s The Big Trail (1930) in 1930, Wayne`s first serious starring role. The first of many collaborations between John Ford and John Wayne. This was the first of many films that John Ford filmed in Monument Valley, Utah. Others were: My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Wagon Master (1950), Rio Grande (1950), The Searchers (1956), Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and his last western, Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Asked why, in the climactic chase scene, the Indians didn`t simply shoot the horses to stop the stagecoach, director John Ford replied, "Because that would have been the end of the movie." | ||
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