IMDb RATING
7.1/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
Two young drifters guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter cutthroats, Indians, geography, and moral challenges on the journey.Two young drifters guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter cutthroats, Indians, geography, and moral challenges on the journey.Two young drifters guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter cutthroats, Indians, geography, and moral challenges on the journey.
- Director
- Writers
- Frank S. Nugent
- Patrick Ford
- John Ford(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the scene where Sandy (Harry Carey, Jr.) and Jackson (Chuck Hayward) fight, the fight is broken up by Elder Wiggs (Ward Bond). Bond has ripped pants as he separates the fighters, and you can hear a dog barking in the background. This happened because Director John Ford wanted to use two dogs, that had been ruining every scene in the film by fighting, in the background as the men fought, hoping the dogs would start fighting as a contrast to the men fighting. Instead of fighting, however, one of the dogs ran away, and the other attacked Bond and ripped his pants. Ford could barely contain his laughter, but kept filming. Afterward, he became quite concerned and said they needed to find the dog, in case it had bitten Bond, not just ripped his pants. Ford was worried the dog might have needed a tetanus shot.
- GoofsWhile the peaceful Mormon homesteaders may not have been carrying sidearms, that they would also not have rifles and shotguns (for hunting and protection from animals) seems unlikely. Certainly 19th century Mormons didn't have an aversion to firearms - one of the greatest gun designers in history, John M. Browning, was a practicing Mormon.
- Quotes
Uncle Shiloh Clegg: You boys ever draw on anybody?
Travis Blue: No, sir. Just snakes.
[later, after Travis shoots Clegg]
Elder Wiggs: I thought you never drew on a man?
Travis Blue: That's right, sir. Only on snakes.
- ConnectionsEdited into Trail Guide (1952)
- SoundtracksWAGONS WEST
Words and Music by Stan Jones
Recorded by Sons of the Pioneers (as The Sons of the Pioneers)
Sung (behind credits) by the Sons of the Pioneers (uncredited)
Featured review
My brief review of the film
Although Ford's movie only really starts halfway through, once the traveling folk and the outlaws meet, the second half of the film is strong enough that the lengthy roundabout beginning is almost forgotten. The outlaws are plain stereotypes, painted very similar to the Clantons in 'My Darling Clementine', but the intense interactions between them and the traveling folk are worth watching for. Oddly enough, the depth of the film does not lie in the happenings between them but rather in the singing and dancing featured. Song and dance is shown as a uniting force between very different cultures, and the songs of the film are very well suited to the Old West atmosphere. The film is a mix of different things: there is a typical predictable love interest, awkward bits of humour, and of course men slinging guns. Then there is the plot of outlaws against the good guys and the almost non-related deeper ideas about bonding between different people. The overall product is rather strange and certainly not one of John Ford's strongest efforts. That said, it is good viewing once it gets going, and Ford captures the vast western landscape as well as one would expect.
helpful•80
- sol-
- Apr 17, 2006
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $999,370 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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