Wagons East ** (1994, John Candy, Richard Lewis, Ed Lauter, John C McGinley, Marvin J McIntyre, Ellen Greene, Rodney A Grant, Joe Bays, Abraham Benrubi) – Classic Movie Review 9022

After making Canadian Bacon, John Candy was filming the disappointingly silly 1860’s Wild West Western spoof Wagons East in Mexico when he had his fatal heart attack on 4 March 1994, aged only 43. Wagons East was released on 26 August 1994 and Canadian Bacon on 22 September 1995. It was his 45th feature film, in a career extending back 21 years.

Candy’s few remaining scenes were either not filmed at all or were shot using a stand-in, or re-written not to involve him. His second bar sequence re-uses footage from the first one.

It ends with the message ‘Dedicated to the memory of John Candy’. It was a bad way to finish, as he didn’t want to make the film but was contractually obliged to do so, and it turned out none too well. The problem is not the performing but the weak writing by Matthew Carlson (screenplay) and Jerry Abrahamson (story).

Also in the cast are Richard Lewis, Ed Lauter, John C McGinley, Marvin J McIntyre, Ellen Greene, Rodney A Grant, Joe Bays, and Abraham Benrubi.

It is the last Carolco Pictures film to be distributed by TriStar Pictures in the US. It was made in association with Goodman/Rosen Productions and Outlaw Productions. In the UK, it was distributed by Guild Film Distribution (1994).

John C McGinley (centre) in Wagons East (1994).

Candy plays James Harlow, and Ed Lauter plays the character of John Slade, a reference to Kirk Douglas’s Cactus Jack Slade in Cactus Jack [The Villain] (1979).

On the 25th anniversary of Candy’s death, on 4 March 2019, Candy’s co-star John C McGinley recalled the atmosphere on set on the fateful day the cast was told of Candy’s passing. The same day Candy’s fellow Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds tweeted: ‘We cooked up a small tribute to a comedic genius and Canadian hero. If you haven’t seen much of his work, take a look at his films. He was a treasure.’

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9022

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