1.Stagecoach was your typical American-western movie. It had the guns, the horses, open-range and just about everything else that screams cowboy. According to the text, Stagecoach is a metaphor to the society. I found this couldn’t be any truer after watching the movie. Each character within Stagecoach played a vital role that could be compared to certain social statuses in the world. The wife was looked at as a high-class, more than likely, rich person. She had certain mannerisms about her that presented her like a stuck-up celebrity of today. The prostitute was presented as the low-class, more than likely, a prostitute of today. Almost everyone in the group of travelers held a prejudice against her and treated her poorly for it. The doctor was looked at as a good man with a problem. In the movie, he was a drunk for most of it. However, when he had to sober up, he was able to come through and help out with bringing the baby into the world. John Ford, the director, didn’t just use this movie as a foundation for conflicts within American society but nearly all of his movies in one way or another. Stagecoach just happens to be looked at as one of his finest.
Aside from looking at metaphors for American society, the movie can be used to look at what was going on in the film industry at the time. The industry was under fire in the department of censorship. The industry adopted a code in which it had to follow in order to gain the seal saying that the movie is watchable by the general public. There is no guarantee, but I think it is safe to say that pre-code would have had the prostitute dressed less clothing. I also think that the wife wouldn’t be the metaphor for high-class and her role would have went to a man in pre-code. Of course these two theories are speculation but certainly possible.
2./3. For more reading material on the movie check out: http://www.filmsite.org/stagec.html
The article feels likes something that was gone over in class after reading it. It mentions how the western film genre was revived by Stagecoach, and it also mentions how this movie turned Wayne into an A-list actor. Stuff that it also mentions that wasn’t said in class is that the movie is actually based on a few other stories. For starters, the whole premise is based on Ernest Haycock’s short story, “The Stage to Loudsberg”. It also grabs details from Guy de Maupassant’s “Tub of Lard” in the part with a prostitute traveling by a coach. The article conveniently gives a break-down of the characters and how they represent different social classes which was mentioned earlier in the blog. Also included is a break-down of the scenes where it mentions how there are mainly two sets of four alternating scenes. One scene will focus on character interactions, while the next will have action, and this process repeats until the end. The article ends with a copy of the screenplay.
4. I actually enjoyed watching Stagecoach very much. Going into it I thought I would as well being that I enjoy other western movies. I thought that John Ford’s incorporation of social classes and issues was brilliant and spot on in most cases. I have never seen the next movie on our list, but since it is a John Ford I do have to say I am excited to see that one as well. I will admit though that the black and white is starting to get to me. I am certainly yearning for some color. I feel that this is a problem for most people who have grown up with movies with color though. We are just so used to seeing it, that even when a black and white movie is masterfully done like Stagecoach, one starts to desire to go back to what we know.
