John L.

I have commented on this film before. Since IMDB would only allow me 380 words, I am adding this note.

Factual error: The state company that operated arround Lordsburg, NM was the Butterfield Line not the Overland Line.

Music Score: The scene in Lordsburg where Ringo meets the Plummer brothers on the street uses a few bars of music lifted directly from the score of the movie "Alexander Nevsky" composed by Prokoviev. Watch the scene in Nevsky when the Teutonic Knights appear. Same few bars as when the Plummer boys start walking down the street in the dark. Alexander Nevsky was produced in 1938. Stagecoach was produced in 1939.

I have seen this movie at least two dozen times since I was a youth. This includes viewing as part of college curriculum. Clearly, this movie is a national institution, helped establish a film genre, became a pictograph of part of our history, and made the careers of more than one actor. However, it was watching it again this morning that I came to realise how some scenes are masterfully composed. I am not talking about Monument Valley, Utah, the scenes most associated with John Ford. The compositions I was impressed by took place early in the story at Chris' stagecoach stop. Chris was the Mexican proprietor with the Apache wife ("They don't bother me..., I think...). Recall the moment at night with the Vaqueors sitting around a small fire. Each of them is wearing a broad brimmed hat (not quite a sombrero) and a serape'. One man has his foot up and is holding a guitar. The scene appears to be lit solely by the fire (a skillfull illusion in the days of "slow" black and white film!). The camera remains still on thise scene for a moment. It almost looks like a painting by El Greco or Velasquez.

In most US made submarine action movies the process of torpedoing the enemy appears fairly straightforward and painless. Clark Gable, Cary Grant and Tyrone Power never seem to miss. In this movie one gets the sense that it is not so easy to sink an enemy ship at range. In this movie during the battle scene the Coxswain can't seem to keep the boat level in the water, the first officer forgets to read the bearing, someone else seems to be asleep at the switch at a vital moment. This little bit of realisim was appreciated by this viewer.

The best line in the movie is when the cook bites into a dinner sausage prepared for the crew grimmaces and comments "No wonder they stopped dog racing" or words to that effect.