Stagecoach (1939)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Ernest Haycox (original story)
Dudley Nichols (screen play)
(more)

Release Date:

2 March 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

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 !

Plot:

A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.

Plot Keywords:

Stagecoach | Drunken Doctor | Doctor | Horse Chase | Kiss

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Claire Trevor	...	Dallas
John Wayne	...	Ringo Kid
Andy Devine	...	Buck
John Carradine	...	Hatfield
Thomas Mitchell	...	Doc Boone
Louise Platt	...	Lucy Mallory
George Bancroft	...	Curley
Donald Meek	...	Peacock
Berton Churchill	...	Gatewood
Tim Holt	...	Lieutenant
Tom Tyler	...	Luke Plummer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorothy Appleby	...	Girl in Saloon (uncredited)
Frank Baker	...	(uncredited)
Chief John Big Tree	...	Indian Scout (uncredited)
Ted Billings	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Wiggie Blowne	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Danny Borzage	...	(uncredited)
Ed Brady	...	Lordsburg Saloon Owner (uncredited)
Fritzi Brunette	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Yakima Canutt	...	Cavalry Scout (uncredited)
Nora Cecil	...	Boone's Landlady (uncredited)
Steve Clemente	...	Bit (uncredited)
Bill Cody	...	Rancher (uncredited)
Jack Curtis	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Marga Ann Deighton	...	Mrs. Pickett (uncredited)
Patricia Doyle	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Tex Driscoll	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Johnny Eckert	...	Small Role (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Deputy Frank (uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	Billy Pickett (uncredited)
Brenda Fowler	...	Mrs. Gatewood (uncredited)
Helen Gibson	...	Girl in Saloon (uncredited)
Robert Homans	...	Ed - Editor (uncredited)
William Hopper	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Si Jenks	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Cornelius Keefe	...	Capt. Whitney (uncredited)
Florence Lake	...	Nancy Whitney (uncredited)
Al Lee	...	Small Role (uncredited)
Duke R. Lee	...	Lordsburg Sheriff (uncredited)
Theodore Lorch	...	Lordsburg Express Agent (uncredited)
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Chris (uncredited)
Jim Mason	...	Jim - Tonto Express Agent (uncredited)
Louis Mason	...	Tonto Sheriff (uncredited)
Merrill McCormick	...	Ogler (uncredited)
J.P. McGowan	...	(uncredited)
Walter McGrail	...	Capt. Sickel (uncredited)
Paul McVey	...	Pony Express Agent (uncredited)
Jack Mohr	...	Small Role (uncredited)
Kent Odell	...	Billy Pickett Jr (uncredited)
Artie Ortego	...	Lordsburg Bar Patron (uncredited)
Vester Pegg	...	Hank Plummer (uncredited)
Jack Pennick	...	Bartender in Tonto (uncredited)
Chris Phillips	...	Small Role (uncredited)
Joe Rickson	...	Ike Plummer (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Rancher (uncredited)
Elvira Ríos	...	Yakima (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson	...	(uncredited)
Margaret Smith	...	Small Role (uncredited)
Woody Strode	...	Man in Saloon (uncredited)
Chuck Stubbs	...	(uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Telegraph Operator (uncredited)
Leonard Trainor	...	Small Role (uncredited)
Mary Kathleen Walker	...	Lucy's Infant (uncredited)
Bryant Washburn	...	Capt. Simmons (uncredited)
Whitehorse	...	Indian Chief (uncredited)
Hank Worden	...	Cavalryman Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Ernest Haycox		(original story)
Dudley Nichols		(screen play)
Ben Hecht		uncredited

Produced by
John Ford	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Gerard Carbonara		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Bert Glennon		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Otho Lovering		(film editor)
Dorothy Spencer		(film editor)
Walter Reynolds		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Alexander Toluboff		(art direction)

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett		(costumes)

Production Management
Daniel Keefe	....	production manager (uncredited)
Jack Kirston	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director
Yakima Canutt	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Lowell J. Farrell	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Wiard Ihnen	....	associate art direction (as Wiard B. Ihnen)

Sound Department
Frank Maher	....	sound
Robert Parrish	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ray Binger	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Iron Eyes Cody	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ken Cooper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Johnny Eckert	....	stunts (uncredited)
W. Frank Long	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Mohr	....	stunts (uncredited)
David Sharpe	....	stunts (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunts (uncredited)
Billy Yellow	....	stunt rigger (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James V. King	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Ned Scott	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Lee Bradley	....	extras casting (uncredited)
Harry Goulding	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Otho Lovering	....	supervising editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Wilf Carter	....	composer: "My Lulu"
Louis Gruenberg	....	musical score adaptation: based on American folk songs
Richard Hageman	....	musical score adaptation: based on American folk songs
W. Franke Harling	....	musical score adaptation: based on American folk songs (as Franke Harling)
John Leipold	....	musical score adaptation: based on American folk songs
Boris Morros	....	musical direction
Leo Shuken	....	musical score adaptation: based on American folk songs
Danny Borzage	....	musician: accordion (uncredited)

Other crew
Walter Wanger	....	presents
Danny Keith	....	location manager (uncredited)
W. Frank Long	....	horse handler/wrangler (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Walter Wanger Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (released thru)
• Atrium-Filmverleih (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Corona Film (195?) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Herald Film Company (1973) (Japan) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Masterpiece Productions (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Shochiku Eihai (1940) (Japan) (theatrical)
• atlas Film (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• ARC (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• Castle Hill Productions (1992) (USA) (all media) (colorized version)
• Cosmic Pictures (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Divisa Home Video (2011) (Spain) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• First Trading (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• GP Museum Soft (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Masterpiece Productions (1950) (USA) (TV)
• PSG (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Tohokushinsha Film (2000) (Japan) (DVD)
• Tohokushinsha Film (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Tone (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (196?) (USA) (all media)
• UCLA Film and Television Archive (1996) (USA) (VHS) (re-release)
• Voulez Vous Film (2010) (Germany) (DVD) (digital remastered version)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U | Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (nf) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | USA:TV-G | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S (1951) | Norway:16 (1939) | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #5029)

Filming Locations:

Beale's Cut, Newhall, California, USA

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the begining of the film, when the stagecoach is going into Tonto street, we see its shadow to one side. In the next shot the shadow is on the other side.

Quotes:

[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.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Amérique, notre histoire (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

She's More to Be Pitied than Censured

Not just a great western but one of the best movies ever made.

Stagecoach has all the hallmarks of a truly great film.The characters,the direction, the camera work, the scenery, the soundtrack. The story may seem simple but the characters are skillfully developed and colorful. They are real and interesting, not cliches. The desert setting and the stagecoach itself serve to make the great directing and camera work even greater. So many classic scenes in one movie. There are lot of little things like the shot of the coyote howling in the desert night. The shot of the stagecoach from behind going through a sand wash. The shot of the Indians on the hill looking down at the stagecoach. They look real and they look serious. The shot of the "Ringo Kid" watching Mr. Hatfield die.The "Kid" does'nt say a word but you can tell he's thinking about his murdered brother. The very first shot of John Wayne in his very first "A" movie may be his most memorable. Even if you've never seen Stagecoach you have seen that scene of the "Ringo Kid" holding his rifle and saddle while waving down the stage with the Monument Valley as a backdrop. No actor ever had a more spectacular debut. When you here the soundtrack, you can't help thinking about the Old West. John Ford should have won the Oscar for best director. His attention to details make this movie a classic. Classic in the sense that Stagecoach does'nt seem manufactured but seems like something that always was.