Stagecoach (1939)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Dallas	Claire Trevor
The Ringo Kid	John Wayne
Hatfield	John Carradine	½
Dr. Josiah Boone	Thomas Mitchell
Buck Rickabaugh	Andy Devine
Mr. Samuel Peacock	Donald Meek
Lucy Mallory	Louise Platt
Sheriff Curly Wilcox	George Bancroft

Review

John Ford's western classic (his first of many trips to Monument Valley) is one of the best examples of magnificent studio filmmaking. It contains every element, and puts it to best possible effect as Ford displays his immaculate ability to let every image and every segment propel his narrative forward with impressive vigour. Stagecoach sets off with perhaps the best ever opening sequence in classic narrative filmmaking as we are introduced to the film's many distinctive characters. These are not all necessarily multi-dimensional, but they are so brilliantly conveyed and interlaced that they all keep their essentiality to the story up until the very end. John Wayne defined the western/loner role and Ford took the western genre to the next level. Arguably the first ever road movie, this is a calculated, energetic and incredibly amiable piece of film history.