The Western genre existed in motion pictures before John Wayne made his first onscreen appearance in 1926, but the movie Western as we know it today owes just about everything to John Ford's "Stagecoach." Wayne had tread water as a Republic Pictures contract player prior to this, and, at the age of 32, might've been running out of chances to prove he belonged on Hollywood's A-list, so it's not hyperbole to say that "Stagecoach" is one of the most pivotal and influential films ever made. Of Wayne's pre-"Stagecoach" Westerns, the most interesting is easily Raoul Walsh's "The Big Trail," a 1930 70mm epic that died at the box office due to the exhibition difficulties caused by the Great Depression.
Author: staff@slashfilm.com (Jeremy Smith)
Published at: 2025-05-24 22:45:00
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