John Wayne Centenary: The '30s - The Big Trail and Stagecoach

While John Wayne’s film career started in the 1920s it wasn’t until the 1930s that he got his first shot at stardom. This series of articles will take a wander through five decades of Wayne movies from the '30s to the '70s, picking out classics and personal favourites along the way.

After spending a few years playing bit parts mostly in John Ford films, Wayne landed his first starring role in the 1930 epic The Big Trail when first choice Gary Cooper turned it down.

The Big Trail (1930)

Raoul Walsh’s tale of a wagon train heading to Oregon fairly screams EPIC! Whether it’s river crossings or lowering the wagons down a cliff face (done for real, no model work here), this is film about spectacle.

Yet while the film may not lack for grandeur, its story is a flimsy one. Breck Coleman (Wayne) signs on as guide for the train when he finds out that the man responsible for his friend’s death is acting as wagon boss. Along the way he falls in love with Ruth Cameron (Marguerite Churchill). That’s really all there is to the plot.

The fledgling star acquits himself well in the action scenes but fails to convince as a romantic lead. Wayne was rarely at his best in conventional leading man roles and this was at least partially responsible for his long career; here, however, it holds him back.

Luckily there are also more seasoned hands on board. Tully Marshall is excellent as Zeke, Coleman’s sidekick. It’s the sort of role that would appear often in Wayne’s movies, a kindred spirit to Walter Brennan’s Stumpy in Rio Bravo. The main villain is played with relish by Tyrone Power Sr. making his last film appearance. He makes the ugly, hulking brute Red Flack both cowardly and menacing by turns. Looking at the grizzled actor it’s hard to see how he could produce an offspring with the matinee idol good looks of Power Jr.

For all its epic stature, the film didn’t set the box office alight and Wayne failed to capitalise on his big break.

It was another nine years before Duke got another chance to shine. Those years were filled with an endless list of forgettable B westerns and bit parts. By the time Stagecoach came around in 1939 Wayne was almost a seasoned pro.

Stagecoach (1939)

This film is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in the history of the western. Prior to Stagecoach the genre had been looked down on as the province of B pictures after the failure of, amongst others, The Big Trail. Ford, making his first film in the genre in thirteen years, changed all that.

Article Author: Ian Woolstencroft

Ian Woolstencroft was brought up on a diet of John Wayne movies and Marvel Comics and still has a passion for both. Now as a blogcritic he finally understands what Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben meant when he said ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ …

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