I just watched Stagecoach on the big screen with a theater full of people. I watch old movies on the big screen alot! And everyone laughed and cheered at all the right places! That doesn't always happen with old movies! Definately the greatest western of all time! AND STILL EFFECTIVE!!!!!
You're absolutely dead-on with your comments. It IS a great western, and it IS still effective--but I have one point of disagreement. I just now saw it myself (alas, not on the big screen. Our revival theater went comercial on us) and my opinion of it was affirmed, i.e., it IS one of the great westerns, but not the greatEST. A couple of other John Ford western fill my top two slots: The Searchers and My Darling Clementine. In Stagecoach, (why in the world did they ever try and remake it??) we see John Wayne give his first excellant portrayal. In The Searchers, we see him give his greatest portrayal. Not to mention that Mr. Ford seems to have grown as a director in the 16 years since he crafted your favorite. The camera work here is even better than in Stagecoach (and that's pretty darn good), the cinematography flawless. The opening and closing shots are simple, elegant, and wonderful. There is great suspense, wonderful humor (Ward Bond is hilarious), and secrets that are never revealed (we see that there has been something between Ethan and his sister-in-law, but this is left unstated). ...Clementine, I believe, is better as well and may be Ford's best job of directing. The story is a little more complicated and the characters drawn more completely. Victor Mature as Doc Holiday, is QUITE complicated (he at once seems to be a villain, a loyal friend, a hero, a drunkard, a disillusioned romantic, a thug, a man who appreciates culture) and Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp is terrific--here we have a man who is very smart, and though extremely adept at gunfighting, is not a violent man, is actually gentle and isn't above having cologne slathered on him after getting his hair cut(Clementine: I just love the smell of desert flowers. Wyatt: That's me.<pause> Barber.) It's also a very funny movie.
I'm not suggesting that your choice for best western is bad. No, you could do LOTS worse. If you haven't given the two afformentioned movies a chance, though, do yourself a favor and give them each a couple of viewings. Even if they don't knock your "Champion" off its gold medal perch, they should at least provide some stiff competition. Cheerio!
"THE SPOTS!!!"
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Red River IS an excellent film, but to date I've only seen it once, and that many years ago. I most definately have to give it another go. In your post you made a bit of an error when you said:
I put Stagecoach at three, after Stagecoach and Red Riverunless your saying that Stagecoach is so good it's both your favorite AND third favorite film? or was that supposed to be The Searchers at number one?
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COLOR!!!!!! I'm not saying that color doesn't have its place (take the Grand Canyon for instance, or lilacs, or Vertigo, or exclamation points), but a B & W film is NOT one of those places. I most definitely will give Red
River another viewing, and soon. And it will most decidedly be in beautiful black and white. By-the-way, since I intuit that you are a John Wayne fan (gosh! how do I do it?), I suggest you check out Wake of the Red Witch which is a flawed, but still quite good film. It happens to contain another of Wayne's best performances (John Ford must have missed that one). I recently wrote a review of the film, which you can find at: <http://imdb.com/title/tt0040946/usercomments-7>; which could give you an idea about whether it'd be your cup of tea or not. Cheerio!
"I'm a lover of beauty--and a beauty of a lover!"--The Court Jester
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When you say "ending," are you referring to that image of Ralls and Angelique at the helm of the Red Witch? If so, I can certainly see your point, though I found it moving (though a little corny). It was similar to how Wuthering Heights (1939) ended, which I am certain was the source for this film's inspiration (along with Reap the Wild Wind). I love romance, especially romance that occurs within the context of bigger stories, Casablanca being the ultimate example, I suppose. I loved the romance in this film, but it was actually the relationship between Ralls and Sidneye that powers the film along, imho, and John Wayne's performance. His character had a degree of complexity (and an amazing lack of integrity) seen in few of his other films.
But if you were surprised by the degree of romance in the film, I wonder if you've see The Quiet Man, another John Ford/John Wayne collaboration. Unlike the westerns and cavalry pictures, this film has romance at its center. If you haven't, I would strongly recommend it. Cheerio!
"I'm a lover of beauty--and a beauty of a lover!"--The Court Jester
Sorry I didn't like Red River that much and thought the reconciliation scene incomprehensible. Montgomery Clift is of course an outstanding actor and you rarely see that sort of acting quality from a male lead in a Ford film.
This brings me to my 1.2.3. Westerns:
I would go with 1.Stagecoach 2. The Searchers 3. Shane by George Stephens. (I used to always put The Searchers but at the moment Stagecoach is shaving it.)
The issue with The Searchers is that both male leads (Wayne & Hunter) whilst at times outstanding, are also inconsistent in their performances. I also think that Ford perhaps sacrifices some psychological reality from the ending in order to "nail" Wayne in the doorway. Admittedly, it's such a great scene, that it was worth the sacrifice but I think the audience is expecting just a little more. Remember, by way of preparation for the famous scene, all we get is Wayne picking up his niece with the words: "Let's go home Debbie", this after 2 hours of trying to kill her. Now, I know that this echos his holding her in his arms as a little girl when he first returns home but it just lacks impact second time around. It's perhaps just too subtle and too "dry" even for an Englishman like me!
Don't misunderstand, it's still a great film but I'm placing it behind Stagecoach for the moment!
Joseph
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It's futile in a sense, to compare the spaghetti westerns of Leone, Fulci and Corbucci to the early all-American productions of Ford and Hawks.
In terms of spaghettis, my favourites are:
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,
For A Few Dollars More,
Once Upon A Time In The West,
Navajo Joe,
The Mercenary,
Django,
The Great Silence,
My Name Is Nobody,
A Fistful Of Dollars,
Duck You Sucka!
Companeros
Sartana
Death Rides A Horse
Sabata
Four Of The Apocalypse
The Big Gundown
A Bullet For The General
Keoma
Texas Adios
In regards to the older westerns, I love The Searchers, Rio Bravo, High Noon and One Eyed Jacks, but I've yet to see some of the essentials like Stagecoach, El Dorado etc.
* I can only express puzzlement, which borders on alarm. *
I think the older list of the great age of westerns must also include
The Oxbow Incident (near the top of the list)
Westward the Women (ditto)
Winchester 73
The Magnificent Seven
Cheyenne Autumn
Wagonmaster
and for comedy westerns:
Blazing Saddles (the best in this genre)
Cat Ballou
Paint Your Wagon
I loved The Searchers. It is definitely my favorite Wayne flick. Some much symbolism and the scenery is amazing. I agree the the end with Debbie was a little...lame, I guess. But It's still a fantastic movie, I think, and I'm of the younger generation.
shareAm fascinated to find this thread - I watched it at the Glasgow Film Festival yesterday afternoon, and had the same experience! I've seen it before, on my own, on DVD in the comfort of my own home, but watching it in a cinema with an audience really brought alive to me just how effective the acting is. Everyone laughed at Doc Boone, gasped when Peacock was hit by the arrow, cheered when the cavalry arrived - and clapped at the end!
A masterpiece, right to this day!
Live slow, die old.
I'm showing it to a group of maybe 200 college students right now.
They seem to be reacting very favorably.
It still holds up.
A classic.
Yes indeed...THIS MOVIE WORKS. I've seen it over and over again since I was a kid...and I still love it...and I am still not sure why it works so well. A lot of it is dated...some of the characters mannerisms still hark back to the old silent era...but it all holds together wonderfully. So I have decided to stop trying to analyze it and just enjoy it...hahaha.
LionHearted