Stagecoach, compared to any amount of western films would seem almost bland and stereotypical. All of the characters are exactly what you'd expect, a lead female without fault, a kind-hearted prostitute, a greedy banker, and John Wayne being John Wayne. It takes place in the wild west and there's a constant threat of attacking native Americans. There's guns and saloons. It's all very... generic. However, Stagecoach gets credit where credit is due, as it is THE western film to base all western films on and because it helped make John Wayne become a success. The story consists of three parts, a buildup, and action packed climax, and a wrap-up ending. Without going into plot details, the buildup focuses entirely on character development. At the time, this would be great, no one has seen these character tropes before. Now it almost seems excessive. I found myself bored for a good portion of the intro simply because the film establishes well defined character tropes for half the film. After making it through the character build-up phase the film picks up quite a bit and is over all quite enjoyable. Also John Wayne never said 'Pilgrim", which was a little disappointing.
Review of Stagecoach
