Wagon Master

This was purchased as a Christmas gift for my husband. It was received in good condition and will be enjoyed by my husband.

As the Swallows & Amazons might say, "Three million cheers!" that this undeservedly neglected John Ford Western has made it to DVD. The director's own admitted favorite and certainly one of mine, it's something many people might overlook because (a) it's in black and white, and (2) its biggest "name" is probably crusty Ward Bond (who went on to play a similar part, until his death, as Maj. Seth Adams in the classic TV series Wagon Train - The Complete First Season - Special Limited Edition - 39 episodes!), though "Gunsmoke" buffs may enjoy seeing James Arness in a non-speaking role as one of the outlaw Cleggs, and the famed Indian athlete Jim Thorpe has a part as an unspecified Navajo. But it really deserves your attention. This delightful story of two horse traders, Travis Blue (Ben Johnson) and Sandy (Harry Carey, Jr.), who agree to guide a company of 100 Mormons (led by Bond as Elder Wiggs) to the San Juan Valley, is at once a family film and an action epic, and as such should please just about everyone.

Travis and Sandy have just brought a string of horses into Crystal City when they meet Wiggs and his second-in-command, Adam Perkins (Russell Simpson), who've been invited out of the town as fast as they can depart. At first reluctant, Travis allows Sandy to persuade him that it's their duty to help "all those women and children," and agrees to the job, which will pay the two of them $600 for their horses and $100 for themselves. Sandy quickly falls for Adam's granddaughter, Miss Prudence (Kathleen O'Malley), and when the party comes across a stranded medicine show headed up by "Dr." A. Locksley Hall (Alan Mowbray), Travis too finds a girl, in the person of Miss Denver (Joanne Dru), a performer with the show--though she's far too worldly wise to admit any reciprocal attraction. Then, just as the combined groups are celebrating their conquest of a 40-mile "waterless scrape," they're joined by the outlaw Clegg family, Uncle Shiloh (Charles Kemper) and his four "boys," Reese (Fred Libby), Jesse (Mickey Simpson), Luke (Hank Worden), and Floyd (Arness). At first the Cleggs seem disposed to live and let live, especially after Dr. Hall, under pressure, takes a bullet out of Uncle Shiloh's shoulder; but when, the outfits having been invited to join a band of Navajos for a social dance, Reese attempts to force himself on an Indian girl and Wiggs, to protect his own people, orders the man flogged, things change. Uncle Shiloh is patient, though, and his revenge is both delayed and potentially tragic for the Mormons, leading to a sudden and explosive climax.

It's true that in using his beloved Monument Valley for a shooting location, Ford somewhat confuses the geographically oriented viewer: if Travis and Sandy acquired their horses in "Navajo country...southwest 'a here," as Travis says, and the Mormons must cross a "waterless scrape" of 40 miles or more to get where they're going (most likely NE New Mexico or SE Utah), they're probably following the Santa Fe Trail at least part of the way (to the Cimarron Crossing) and starting out somewhere in western Nebraska, which is high plain but not desert. It's also true that his scriptwriters, Frank Nugent and his own brother Patrick, erred slightly in implying that the Mormons were pacifists who didn't carry guns (in fact all Western Mormons excelled at riding, shooting, and dancing) and favored drab clothing (Quakers did, but Mormons were (and are) forbidden chiefly "deleterious substances" such as alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea). But there are so many more pluses than minuses to the film that you can overlook these errors. The characters alone are worth your time--the formerly-sinful Elder Wiggs, quiet Travis with his hint of a past ("I thought you never drew on a man." "That's right, sir. Only on snakes."), enthusiastic Sandy with his old-fashioned courtly manners, Dr. Hall and his troupe, cowhorn-tooting Sister Lidgett (Jane Darwell), and the sinister Cleggs most of all. There's plenty of humor of the old-fashioned clean and subtle kind, gorgeous scenery (it's a pity we don't see it in color), excellent performances all around, and some thrilling scenes such as the river crossing and Travis's flight from the Navajo party. (Johnson, who started out as a cowboy, was one of the best horsemen in Hollywood, and he proves it in at least two sequences.) This is a DVD that will stay on my shelves till the floor falls through.

I rate this as a mediocre film with a mediocre plot.I would not say that this was one of Fords better accomplishments. It didn;t hold my interest at all, and I haven't still, watched the whole thing at one time.
I was very disapointed.
Ken L

Great, under-appreciated Western starring the great, under-appreciated BEN JOHNSON (RIO GRANDE / SHANE / MIGHTY JOE YOUNG / ONE-EYED JACKS / WILD BUNCH / LAST PICTURE SHOW / GETAWAY / DILLINGER / ETC.). Terrific story, acting, direction, cinematography - the film actually overcame my natural aversion to singing in Westerns. ONE COMPLAINT: The DVD's excellent commentary (especially by Harry Carey Jr.) was almost ruined by overlong, distracting excerpts from Bogdanovich's well-known John Ford interview, which took way too much attention from the film at hand (even during the climactic shootout!).

In the DVD movie commentary John Ford observed that this film was not intended to be a big commercial success and he was satisfied that it earned enough to cover expenses. It is a personal work both unlike his other westerns and also, I think, the quintessential Ford western. Different with it's lingering episodic pace and lack of big stars and big scenes. But also a poetic distillation of Ford's Western vision. OK, so I really dig this movie!
There is a lot to like in this movie; read the other reviews for more. But let me focus on the visual aspects. The black and white print is impeccable: clear and finely detailed. The camera work: great compositions, stunning exposures, 90% filmed on location outdoors. As movie commentator Peter Bogdonovich repeatedly points out, Ford shot many of the scenes as if this was a silent film, letting the action and the actors' facial expressions do the story telling. I'm impressed.
And then there's that background: mesas, rock walls, outcroppings, pinnacles, boulders. Where else could this be but the Great American West?!
Oh,and BTW this film was not filmed in Monument Valley. If you ever want to see the locations with your own eyes just drive down Utah Highway 128 between Moab and Cisco. It runs along the Colorado River and is one of the most spectacular car rides on planet earth.