Stagecoach
1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the
screening.
“Stagecoach” which was made in 1939 was one of the earliest
westerns made and holds a huge historical significance today. The end of
the 1930’s and the beginning of the 1940’s was one of the most influential
times in American cinema and it makes sense to why “Stagecoach” is still one of
the best westerns of all time. Westerns were still a new style of cinema and
the movies took the audience someplace very different from their everyday homes enviornments. That made this movie as well as others from the time period so
important throughout the great depression because it would help bring the audience
someplace away from their own reality. In “Stagecoach” new elements start to
come to the screen such as mythical heroism and classic tragedies. These were
not entirely new to storytelling but they were new elements that were yet to be
seen on screen. The amazing job of director, John Ford really helped make this
movie special as well. Ford also took
the chance of casting John Wayne for the part of Ringo. After “Stagecoach”, neither
Wayne nor Ford looked back. “Stagecoach” was John Wayne’s first big movie, and
since then he has worked with Ford on 24 other occasions. Overall “Stagecoach”
was not only entertaining but it helped bring westerns to an “A” list status,
and without it many of the best westerns of today might not exist.
2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio,
actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content. You may use
the library or the internet.
The article “John Ford: at war and out West once again”
describes and goes into detail about why stagecoach is such an influential
movie, not only for westerns but for the movie industry in general. “Stagecoach”
is one of Ford’s most remembered movies; and rightfully so
because of the impact it had on the film industry. “Stagecoach” was Ford’s
first non-silent western to come out of the film industry. Every single aspect
of the film is what helps make it so great. Ford was able to do such a good job
of building up the story through characters and commanding things on the set
that he was able to create a story that was so much more complex than what
people were used to seeing. By using such a large variety of characters it
added many different elements to the film such as comedy and romance yet the
majority of the film was led by the morals of the Ringo kid. The article also briefly talks about the recent release of
the film onto Blu-ray and DVD. The film has been re-mastered from a duplicate
of the original film negative and can now be seen in beautiful high definition. The article also explains how some of John
Ford’s other movies made it onto the Blu-ray copies of “Stagecoach” helping to
further preserve some of Ford’s earlier work.
3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did
the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director,
content, etc.?
The above article for sure supported the way I felt about
the film “Stagecoach”. The article pointed out a lot of information about the
film that I had previously not paid attention to such as the large variety of
characters. No two characters that ride on the stagecoach are the same and that
aspect helps add interest to the story, because then the audience becomes
curious about how each character will interact with each other. Also I did not
realize that this movie was Ford’s first non-silent western. The way Ford
directs the movie and is able to get such important audio for the movie really
makes a big difference. Whether it is the way he changes music between cuts,
uses good sound effects for gun shots, or controls the pacing of the actors,
Ford makes the movie feel like it could have been made in modern day. Lastly,
it’s nice to know that “Stagecoach” has been re-mastered onto Blu-ray to help
better insure that a classic movie like this will be able to be seen in high
definition.
4) Write a critical
analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of
the screening, class discussions, text material and the article. I am less interested
in whether you liked or disliked a film, (although that can be part of this)
than I am in your understanding of its place in film history or the
contributions of the director.
“Stagecoach” is an extremely influential movie throughout
film history and without it we probably wouldn't have many of the westerns we have
today. There are so many amazing and ground breaking things about this movie
that really makes it stand out against some of the other movies of its time period
and even against many modern movies of the same genre. The movie has so many
different things going on throughout, yet I never felt overwhelmed or confused
to what was going on. We follow this big cast of characters as they make their
way to a another city in a stagecoach; each one of the characters seemingly having their own plot
and back story. Aside from the obvious escort mission of the stagecoach
carrying the passengers, we also get to see a tale of revenge and of romance.
When we are first introduced to Ringo and learn his back story, we quickly see
that there is a strong plot point about revenge which makes the movie very
interesting to me. Also one of the best parts of the movie for me was the chase
scene towards the end of the movie. Even though there are other things going on
in the movie such as Ringo’s revenge, and Dallas and Ringo’s romance, we still
get taken back to the chase with the Apache’s. One of the underlining conflicts
of the film was that the Apaches were the biggest danger to the stagecoach on
its travels, and during the climax of the film we see why this is true. The chase scene definitely does not disappoint
as it is something that is hinted at throughout the film. The fast paced
action, quick cuts and gun slinging make the chase scene feel real and
authentic. The authenticity is one of the reasons why I liked the film so much
and why I think it will forever be one of the greatest westerns of all time.
Everything from the horses falling after getting shot, to the end scene where Ringo
gets his revenge on the three brothers, “Stagecoach” is a brilliant western and
should be recognized as one of the best westerns of all time.
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this assignment for any
other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other
classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I used any passages word for word, I
put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (
) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in
the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally
read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in
another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not
so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I
checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and
ideas used in my paper.
Name: __Joe Katulak_____________________________ Date: _10/8/14_________________
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this assignment for any
other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other
classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I used any passages word for word, I
put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (
) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in
the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally
read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in
another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not
so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I
checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and
ideas used in my paper.
Name: __Joe Katulak_____________________________ Date: _10/8/14_________________
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