Movie Review: Stagecoach (1939)

Stagecoach is great. While I’m a huge fan of the western genre, I’ll say that my taste leans heavily towards color films, just because so much of what I enjoy out of the genre is the beautiful colors of the desert. But this movie’s shot in a studio anyways, so who cares.

I will say that John Ford is obviously an incredible filmmaker, and I give him a lot of credit for this movie, which changed the course of his career and obviously the career of John Wayne. Props to Ford for recognizing the star power that John Wayne had, given how low profile he was coming into the movie.

This is a movie that seems to know who John Wayne is, and what he would mean for American film for the next 30+ years. Just in the way he’s shot, the way his character is written. Wayne’s a horrendous actor, of course, but he is occasionally just perfect for his parts, and the Ringo Kid is no exception.

Rating: 8/10