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Wagon Master (1950)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
19 April 1950 (USA) morePlot:
A group of Mormons hoping to found a new colony in the trackless San Juan River country hire horse traders Travis and Sandy as wagonmaster and guide... more | add synopsisNewsDesk:
(2 articles)
In John Ford's West, a Methodist Hymn Starts Somber, Then Inspires Sarcasm (From amctv.com - Future of Classic: Westerns. 9 January 2009, 9:00 PM, PST)
DVD Spotlight: 10/7.
(From GreenCine. 7 October 2008, 2:49 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Marvellous Western moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Ben Johnson | ... | Travis Blue | |
| Joanne Dru | ... | Denver | |
| Harry Carey Jr. | ... | Sandy | |
| Ward Bond | ... | Elder Wiggs | |
| Charles Kemper | ... | Uncle Shiloh Clegg | |
| Alan Mowbray | ... | Dr. A. Locksley Hall | |
| Jane Darwell | ... | Sister Ledeyard | |
| Ruth Clifford | ... | Fleuretty Phyffe | |
| Russell Simpson | ... | Adam Perkins | |
| Kathleen O'Malley | ... | Prudence Perkins | |
| James Arness | ... | Floyd Clegg | |
| Francis Ford | ... | Mr. Peachtree | |
| Fred Libby | ... | Reese Clegg | |
| Jim Thorpe | ... | Navajo | |
| Mickey Simpson | ... | Jesse Clegg |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
86 minCountry:
USAColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)Certification:
Finland:K-12 (1964) | Finland:K-16 (1951) | UK:PG | UK:U (original rating) | Iceland:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | USA:Approved (PCA #14314) | Sweden:15Fun Stuff
Trivia:
When Elder Wiggs breaks up the fight between Sandy and Jackson, a dog joins in and tears one of the legs of his pants. This was not in the script. It just happened on the set, and John Ford had liked it so much he kept it in the film. moreGoofs:
Continuity: During the dance, when done going around in a circle, Travis has his hand on Denver's waist, in the next shot it is on her shoulder. moreSoundtrack:
SONG OF THE WAGON MASTER moreFAQ
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"One hundred years have come and gone since 1849"intone the Sons of the Pioneers over the titles of the movie ,thus establishing what we are about to see is a reminiscence of the days when the West was opened up.The movie is ballad heavy indeed,and could be seen as the movie that most precisely mirrors Ford's love of music,which is shown as a unifying force bringing communities together .Ford was to claim it was his favourite movie-one which,together with "The Fugitive"and "The Sun Shines Bright"saw him most accurately achieve what he set out to do It is an intimate epic whose episodic narrative focuses on the exploits of a Mormon wagon train leaving the inhospitable climes of the city to seek out the "promised land"near the San Juan River.They are guided by two horse traders,played by those dependable Ford repertory company members Ben Johnson and Harry Carry Jnr .Indians are encountered but ,uniquely for a wagon train movie they are friendly and there is no grand scale Indian attack.Instead the chief menace comes from an outlaw gang headed by the truly evil Uncle Silas(a mesmerising performance by Charles Kempson)and featuring rare unsympathetic roles from James Arness and Hank Worden.It is they who bring trouble on the train and menace its inhabitants.
The casting is perfect.Ford normally relied on iconographic peformers like Wayne ,Fonda or Stewart but by casting Johnson and Carry he chose the "right size"actors 'ones who are more able to suggest the decent ordinary men who will lay it on the line for the right cause and can persuade an audience they just might lose Good to see Alan Mowbray as an itinerant showman reprising the type of role he played so memorably in My Darling Clementine and Ward Bond as the worldly Mormon leader is fine.Only two problems for me with the movie-love interest in the form of Joanna Dru did not convince and I could not believe Mormons were as liberal as depicted here.Minor quibbles apart it is a beautiful movie with atmospheric monochrome photography and a love for the material and the era it celebrates shining through.Elsewhere on this site-its Message boards to be exact-Ford detractors have started their pettifogging sniping.I would like to think this movie would silence their iconoclastic jejeune ravings but probably not. Enjoy and wallow in its visual and emotional beauty