Wagon Master (1950)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Patrick Ford (written by)
Frank S. Nugent (written by)

Release Date:

19 April 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Mormon | Guide | Desert | Wagon Train | Medicine Show

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Wagonmaster (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Navajo

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound 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:15

Filming Locations:

Colorado River, Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

Ben Johnson did all his own stunts.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Denver throws the bucket of water on Travis and he falls in the dirt, his arms and back are covered in dirt, in the next shot there is hardly any dirt on him, and he did not have time to brush it off.

Quotes:

Sandy: By Golly, I bet it's going to be hotter then...
Jackson: Mind your language!
Sandy: I wasn't cussin'!
Jackson: You were going to say hell!
Sandy: I was going to say hades, but hell ain't cussin', it's geography... It's the name of a place, like you might say Abilene or Salt Lake City.
Jackson: Don't you be going making any remarks about Salt Lake City!
[Sandy turns away, but when he cinches his saddle, he purposesly bumps into Jackson, Jackson does it back, and they do it back and forth. Then they turn around and fight]

Movie Connections:

Featured in John Ford (1990) (TV)

Soundtrack:

WAGONS WEST

Film-as-poetry

One of the most poetic narrative films ever made, WAGONMASTER is nonetheless a difficult film to immediately like. I love this movie, but I recommend seeing some of John Ford's other westerns before taking a look at this one. The first time I saw it I was 18 years old and I hadn't seen too many other westerns, and I hated it. I thought it was incredibly boring. I kept waiting for something to happen. It took several years for me to love this picture. First, I fell in love with westerns in general -- the traditions, characters, landscapes, ways of talking, etc -- and that made me realize when I saw WAGONMASTER again that a lot is happening in it after all.

I also was simply a more experienced moviegoer at that point and had learned to appreciate visual storytelling, and to listen to what each image was telling me. WAGONMASTER is a very visual movie by one of the most visual of directors working near the peak of his career.

The movie is a celebration of a way of life, and its subject matter is more emotional and interior than other Ford westerns. Actually, that's not really as accurate as saying that, rather, it has a lot less exterior action than the other westerns. (The other westerns have exterior action AND interior emotion.) It quite beautifully places its Mormon pioneers in the context of nature. There are many shots of animals and children -- not for any surface, narrative purpose, but for illustrating this idea. That is why the movie can be called a poem. It isn't about the surface story (which barely exists) nearly as much as it is about an emotional idea, and it gets this idea across through composition, editing, sound and music. In fact, one could argue that this is a purer form of filmmaking because the images directly express the emotional idea of the film, rather than having to first service a "story."

Give this movie a chance, and allow it to exist on its own terms, not the terms of other westerns or other movies.