One of the most iconic Westerns ever made, Stagecoach, was only the beginning of one of the most prolific collaborations in film history, that of John Ford and John Wayne. Before Stagecoach, Wayne had already worked in eight Ford films, but only in minor roles, receiving no screen credit. It wasn’t until Wayne starred in The Long Trail for Raoul Walsh that Ford saw Wayne as a leading man. It would be 8 more years before the right role came along, but when it finally did it was magic, and the John Wayne personae as we know it was born.

Very few actors have ever had as electrifying an introduction in a film as Wayne did in Stagecoach. We hear a great deal about the exciting and dangerous Ringo long before we ever see him, especially from the colorful cast of characters who are to be his fellow passengers on the ill-fated coach. But it isn’t until the coach is forced to stop along the trail that we get a dramatic, push-in, rack-focus shot of Wayne twirling his shotgun and posing as the Western Adonis he came to personify. And with all the talk, it turns out that Ringo is just a good kid at heart, on the lam from the law so he can revenge his brother’s death. His fellow passengers, however, are not all what they seem to be, with Claire Trevor as the prostitute with a heart of gold for whom Ringo falls, Thomas Mitchell as an alcoholic doctor who makes good in a pinch, and among a few others is the magnificent character actor John Carradine, playing a mysterious gambler with a gentlemanly air who cops a ride just to be of service to a refined lady in need.

Stagecoach is your basic “bunch of strangers stuck together on a journey, forced to pull together and place their petty differences aside when their lives are placed in danger” movie. But it’s very likely the best one of its kind due in large part to a stellar cast under the superb direction of one of Cinema’s all time best. After all, when it’s Ford, Wayne, and a Western, you just can’t lose.

(click on names for IMDB.com listings)