Wagonmaster **** (1950, Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey Jr, Ward Bond, Jane Darwell) – Classic Movie Review 2353

Director John Ford prefers taking care of atmosphere, acting and moral issues to developing plot in his striking and engaging 1950 movie. Ford offers a beautifully poetic treatment of a traditional, much travelled Western situation – the perilous cross-country journey. As a pioneering road trip movie, it may not have an actual plot, but it’s packed with characters and incident, and it looks a perfect treat in black and white under ace cinematographer Bert Glennon’s lensing.

You could just sit back and watch the incredible Utah scenery – Monument Valley, Colorado River, Professor Valley, Spanish Valley, Hittle Bottom. But humanity is brought to the forefront by outstanding performances from some of Ford’s favourite character actors, notably Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. They enjoy rare star roles as young drifters Travis and Sandy, the frontier guides leading a wagon train convoy of Mormons away from Indians and outlaws to their promised land of the San Juan Valley in Utah in the 1870s.

They come across stranded travellers in a medicine show run by Dr A. Locksley Hall (Alan Mowbray), which includes the attractive heroine Denver (Joanne Dru). They are also joined by Uncle Shiloh Clegg (Charles Kemper) and his murderous clan of thieves, Floyd (James Arness), Reese (Fred Libby) and Jesse (Mickey Simpson).

Also in the cast are Jane Darwell as Sister Ledyard, Russell Simpson as Adam Perkins, Francis Ford, Ruth Clifford, Kathleen O’Malley, Jim Thorpe, Cliff Lyons, Hank Worden, Don Summers, Movita Castaneda and Chuck Hayward.

Another asset is Ward Bond, who plays Elder Wiggs here. He starred as the wagon master (Major Seth Adams) in the ensuing TV series, Wagon Train (1957-61), but died of a heart attack aged 57 in 1960 and the series continued till 1965 with John McIntire.

Bond appears in seven of the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 Greatest American Movies: It Happened One Night (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938),Gone with the Wind (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940) , The Maltese Falcon (1941), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Searchers (1956). At Bond’s funeral, John Ford walked up to Andy Devine and said: ‘Now YOU’RE the biggest asshole I know.’

Stunt arranger Chuck Hayward also appears as Jackson. It was billed as ‘John Ford’s lusty successor to Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon’.

Harry Carey Jr, the son of legendary Western movie actor Harry Carey Sr, died on December 27 2012, aged 91. He was the last surviving member of the so-called John Ford Stock Company of regular actors and appeared in numerous films starring his friend John Wayne, who idolised Carey’s father. Ford and Wayne gave Carey Jr his most memorable roles in Rio Grande, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Wagonmaster and The Searchers. After Ford’s death, he appeared with Wayne in The Undefeated, Big Jake and Cahill: U.S. Marshal.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2353

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