The Covered Wagon (1923)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

James Cruze

Writers:

Emerson Hough (novel)
Jack Cunningham (adaptation)

Release Date:

8 September 1924 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Indian Attacks, Prairie Fires, Fording of Swollen Streams, a Great Buffalo Hunt, Dramatic Situations Galore---All Go to Make Up "The Covered Wagon"

Plot:

Two wagon caravans converge at what is now Kansas City, and combine for the westward push to Oregon...

Plot Keywords:

Partially Lost Film | Ménage À Trois | Based On Novel

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

J. Warren Kerrigan	...	Will Banion
Lois Wilson	...	Molly Wingate
Alan Hale	...	Sam Woodhull
Ernest Torrence	...	William Jackson
Tully Marshall	...	Jim Bridger
Ethel Wales	...	Mrs. Wingate
Charles Ogle	...	Jesse Wingate
Guy Oliver	...	Kit Carson
Johnny Fox	...	Jed Wingate
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Cruze	...	Indian (scenes deleted)
Frank Albertson	...	Bit (uncredited)
Constance Wilson	...	Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
James Cruze

Writing credits
Emerson Hough		(novel)
Jack Cunningham		(adaptation)

Produced by
Jesse L. Lasky	....	producer

Original Music by
Manny Baer
Hugo Riesenfeld
J.S. Zamecnik

Cinematography by
Karl Brown

Film Editing by
Dorothy Arzner

Costume Design by
Howard Greer

Art Department
Delmer Daves	....	props

Stunts
Jack Padjan	....	stunt double: J. Warren Kerrigan (as Jack Padjeon)
Spike Spackman	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Edwin W. Willat	....	still photographer
Irvin Willat	....	assistant camera

Other crew
Ennice G. Anderson	....	historical advisor
Tim McCoy	....	liaison: Indians
A.E. Sheldon	....	historical advisor
Yakima Jim	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Ed Jones	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Famous Players-Lasky Corporation
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1923) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• National - Film A.-G. (1925) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent | De Forest Phonofilm

Certification:

Portugal:17 (director's cut)

Filming Locations:

Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Company:

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation

Trivia:

A recording of the music for this film was made using the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. Some sources say the entire film was scored and recorded in this process, but other sources say only a couple of reels were recorded as an experiment. See also Bella Donna (1923).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Movie Memories (1935)

A million dollar lawsuit.

Good accuracy on most of the equipment and clothing. The leading characters' make-up was almost clown-like and over-acting was running rampant, but that was the norm of the time and cannot really be criticized. What cannot be excused is the pathetically weak and insipid story line.

Jim Bridger's only surviving child, Virginia K. Bridger Wachsman Hahn, reacted violently after viewing Tully Marshall's portrayal of her father in the then newly-released `The Covered Wagon' in 1923. She instituted a $1,000,000 libel action against the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, charging that they wrongfully depicted her father as a drunkard and a man of questionable morals, defaming his character and casting a stain upon her birth.

Judge Albert L. Reeves, of the federal court at Kansas City, sustained a demurrer filed by the defendants on the grounds no one could recover damages for defamation of the character of an ancestor, setting the precendent for Hollywood's dismal record of accuracy in its portrayal of historic personages.