1939 was the turnaround
year for John Wayne. By his count he had appeared in about 80 B Westerns
since the early 1930s. His descent into B Westerns must have hurt after being
the lead in the big budget Western The Big Trail in 1930, but it was a commercial
flop and Wayne was stuck in B films for the next nine years. But he used
that time to train with the legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt to learn how
to ride, rope, fight and take a fall. In 1939 Wayne's drinking buddy John
Ford wanted to try to direct a big budget Western which had fallen out of
fashion. It would be his first since the silent era. It was called Stagecoach.
He got one studio to agree to make it. As
long as he got rid of the B actor he wanted to use. Hire Gary Cooper and
we have a deal. Ford said no. Wayne is my guy and he walked away. Next he
approached Walter Wagner. Wagner agreed as long as it wasn't Wayne. Again
Ford said no and Wagner gave in. It is very close to my favorite Western
and it made Wayne a star the moment he shows up with Monument Valley behind
him. Claire Trevor was the girl. Interestingly, it didn't immediately get
Wayne out of B films. Perhaps contractually, but he appeared in three more
of the Three Mesquiteers films as Stoney Brooks. He had been in four of them
the year before.
Then along came this film. A big budget
starring Wayne in a pre American Revolution setting. His female co-star is
again Claire Trevor as she was to be in his next film, Dark Command. Even
though he was to appear in a few Westerns over the next few years, the War
slotted him primarily into those type of films. It wasn't until 1948 when
he was in Red River and Fort Apache that he really began to be identified
with Westerns. This is a decent film based on a real incident and though
the film takes a few liberties, a big chunk of it is true.
After the Seven Years War ended with England
coming out on the winning side, Canada became British. One of the prisoners
exchanged was James Smith who had been captured first by the Delaware tribe
and forced to run the gauntlet to survive. He was then adopted by the Mohawks
and stayed with them for five years till he escaped and was then imprisoned
by the French and now exchanged. He went back home to Pennsylvania and soon
fought in Pontiac's War against a League of tribes. After the end of that,
traders began selling goods to the tribes that could be used for war. Smith
and other settlers putting a stop to that came into conflict with the British
army. That was termed the Black Boys Rebellion. Smith is played by Wayne.
The girl waiting all those years is Claire Trevor and the smug British Captain
is of course George Sanders at his arrogant best. Trevor was top billed above
Wayne in this as well as Stagecoach.
The film begins with the exchange where
Smith has words with the pompous by the book Captain. Their dislike for one
another runs all the way through the film. The Captain seems to have been
based on a real person. The fiesty Trevor character not so much as Smith
was already married. Brian Donlevy is the villain and Chill Wills is one
of the settlers. Not in this film, but Smith was to become a Colonel in the
Revolutionary War and later a missionary to the Native Americans. He died
in1813. Quite a life. Directed by William Seiter. It was a commercial failure,
but fortunately Wayne did not have to go back to B's.
