MovieChat Forums > Stagecoach (1939) Discussion > 8-9 months pregnant on a stagecoach

8-9 months pregnant on a stagecoach

posted 10 years ago by DeepFriedJello
11 replies | jump to latest

Bouncing for hours in heat and cold, with smelly passengers.
What was she thinking?
But maybe she didn't know she was expecting since no one else seemed to notice.

[–] cdjunkee-1 9 years ago

Didn't women carry differently back then? As in not having a noticeable belly. No one noticed because she looked normal.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] cdjunkee-1 9 years ago

I mean not every woman gets a huge noticable belly when they are pregnant... Each woman can gain a ton of weight while others don't. consider that and the way she was dressed and no one probably noticed... take into account the time period this took movie took place in. People were also smaller back then.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] bari2525 9 years ago

**THE** most important thing you have to remember about pregnancy in the movies during this time (up until the late 60's) and TV until the same time frame, is that they NEVER, EVER showed the belly!!!

They NEVER used the word PREGNANT, and they ALMOST never said anything but "on the nest," or "expecting," or "in the family way."

It was ALL due to the VERY ignorant Hays Code, and EVERY movie goer above the age of 13 knew that it was ALL a bunch of garbage...

Also..your statement about people being "smaller back then" is not really factual. They were maybe an inch or two SHORTER, on the average, but overall, not really SMALLER...

I don't act...I react. John Wayne

[–] ebettman-1 9 years ago

I think the showed Lucille Ball's Gravid Belly.

At least they didn't have ZIKA then!

German Measles, Syphillis, Maybe...

but no ZIKA!

[–] NOTACLERK1 9 years ago

Women were tougher back then you did what you had to do not cry snd moan about life not being fair.

[–] ebettman-1 8 years ago

EVERYONE was Tougher back Then!

[–] scullyxenagg 8 years ago

I also thought that her presence in the coach, almost 9 months pregnant, was due to a bad error of judgment on her part – or she had no idea how tough a coach ride could be.
On the other hand, I’d wish they had made it clear how long she and her Major husband had been separated, for it was common practice in those days that couples spent many months, even years living far apart. This way we would know whether the baby was his or not. The latter being the case, her prejudice towards Dallas would have been very hypocritical.
Did anyone notice a reference of the time she and her husband were last together? All I can remember is that she said she was travelling all the way from Virginia.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

not unusual for the time

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

She must not have read “What Dost Thou Expect When Thou Is In The Family Way”

They barely had midwives nevermind OBGyns to advise them,.