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Stagecoach

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This is where it all started. John Ford’s smash hit and enduring masterpiece Stagecoach revolutionized the western, elevating it from B movie to the A-list. The quintessential tale of a group of strangers thrown together into extraordinary circumstances—traveling a dangerous route from Arizona to New Mexico—Stagecoach features outstanding performances from Hollywood stalwarts Claire Trevor, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, and, of course, John Wayne, in his first starring role for Ford, as the daredevil outlaw the Ringo Kid. Superbly shot and tightly edited, Stagecoach (Ford’s first trip to Monument Valley) is Hollywood storytelling at its finest.

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

* New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
* Audio commentary by noted western authority Jim Kitses
* Bucking Broadway (1917), a fifty-four-minute silent western by John Ford, with new music by Donald Sosin
* Extensive video interview with Ford from 1968
* New video interview with Dan Ford, biographer and grandson of the director, about Ford’s home movies
* New video interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
* New video essay by writer Tag Gallagher
* New video feature about Monument Valley
* New video interview with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong about Stagecoach’s stuntman Yakima Canutt
* Radio dramatization of Stagecoach from 1949
* Theatrical trailer
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by David Cairns and the short story that inspired the film

Also available on Blu-ray.

DVD:
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Matt wrote:
* PLUS: A booklet featuring... the short story that inspired the film

Boule de Suif?

Looks like a great plate of extras, but I think I'm most excited about all those college art house kids who are going to discover the wonderful world of Hollywood westerns thanks to this Criterion release. Don't stop here, gang!

Matt wrote:* New video essay by writer Tag Gallagher

If the Rossellini extras are any indication this should be a wonderful supplement. I'm working my way through John Ford: The Man and his Movies by Gallagher right now, and enjoying every page.

Nice! With Bucking Broadway!

domino harvey wrote:Looks like a great plate of extras, but I think I'm most excited about all those college art house kids who are going to discover the wonderful world of Hollywood westerns thanks to this Criterion release. Don't stop here, gang!

If it isn't a noir that a French New Waver liked or something with camp value, then expect no college student to touch any classic Hollywood film.

I still remember seeing this for the first time about five years ago on TCM and being blown away. I only saw it because I read that Orson Welles was obsessed with the film and watched it over and over again before making "Citizen Kane". At this point, I had only seen and enjoyed either spaghetti westerns and gritty modern westerns like "Unforgiven", but this was the one was the gateway drug that introduced me not only to the magnificent and proudly American pre-war western, but to the great John Ford.

Excellent to see that one of Ford's best is in the collection with a ton of special features. The old Warner transfer was atrocious especially in comparison with their flawless and absolutely beautiful release of "Wagon Master".

Matt wrote:* New video essay by writer Tag Gallagher

Seals the deal for me. What a month.

I believe that while Truffaut dismissed Ford'w westerns. Rivette was quite a fan of them (including Stagecoach). Not sure about what Godard may have thought.

And Ozu (along with many other Japanese directors) was quite appreciative of Ford's westerns. ;~}

The inclusion of Bucking Broadway is fantastic news. I've been on the verge of buying the Cinéma issue that included it several times but never pulled the trigger. Looks like a great all-around package.

edit: Although it would be nice to get the second part of the Lindsay Anderson doc. I know Stagecoach doesn't fit the timeline for it, but unless Criterion's got a late Ford coming up in the future, this may be the only opportunity they have to release it.

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:If it isn't a noir that a French New Waver liked or something with camp value, then expect no college student to touch any classic Hollywood film.

I actually first saw Stagecoach during a class I took in college, and while that was over a decade ago, I can assure you that, to most college students, John Wayne does have a rather high camp value. After all, his style was highly mannered, easily imitated, and completely opposed from mainstream acting conventions of today.

But, whatever. "Noirs that the New Wavers liked" actually does provide a decent foundation for young would-be cinephiles, and classic Hollywood will still be around for them later in life, if they're so inclined to seek it out. They'll be more prepared for it then anyway, once they've disabused themselves of the notion that "old" equals "camp."

Michael Kerpan wrote: Not sure about what Godard may have thought.

Godard loved Ford and cited the Searchers as one of the ten best American films ever made

domino harvey wrote:

Michael Kerpan wrote: Not sure about what Godard may have thought.

Godard loved Ford and cited the Searchers as one of the ten best American films ever made

I suspected that -- but wasn't sure. Interesting that Godard and Rivette had such a different outlook on Ford from Truffaut.

Looks like it`s gonna be a great release with some meaty extra`s. Looking forward to the blu-ray

BUCKING BROADWAY is fine, starts well then drags a bit before picking up again, but demonstrates JF's fantastic facility with American landscape, the climactic charge down 'Broadway' is in fact downtown LA, but nonetheless satisfies and surprises...

domino harvey wrote:Looks like a great plate of extras, but I think I'm most excited about all those college art house kids who are going to discover the wonderful world of Hollywood westerns thanks to this Criterion release. Don't stop here, gang!

A-FUCKING-MEN!!!!!!!!!! =D>

"Bucking Broadway"!!! =D>
Great to finally see this with a proper soundtrack, but...ahm...Sosin... :-k
Okay, it's not an Ozu film, so he'll probably do all right.

Looks like there isn't any overlap, except the radio show I think, with the Warner 2-disc. I guess it won't have to get rid of the old disc, but I'm really wanting to know how the PQ will be. I remember the 2-disc SE from Warner actually looked weaker than the 1997 single disc....

Very nice-- happy to see this thing came out in a release that doesn't disappoint....

I'm intrigued by the list of extras, especially another Tag Video Essay - those have been pure awesome so far - but "* New video feature about Monument Valley" suggests that some of this could be fluff. How many 'features' have been done for dvds about Monument Valley? I know i've seen a dozen at least. They'll need to do something unique with this to make it matter.

I also hope this opens up the possibility of future releases of some classic westerns - many of which aren't even on DVD at all. Anthony Mann's Devil's Doorway is criminally unreleased in any format - and is a true masterpiece and the first film to treat American Indians with actual respect and not as cartoonish foils for the hero. The Tin Star has been OOP forever and was only a barebones release in the first place. The Trail of '98 would be a GREAT film for Criterion - also satisfying the longing for more silents in the collection - and it has some of the most incredible early "on location" footage in film history. Heck, a W.S. Van Dyke western Silents box would be a great Eclipse offering!

The thing about Monument Valley. and I only realised it when Cahiers du Cinema published a piece including map in their volume 'John Ford' pub. circa 1991, that Ford may let the narrative run over hundreds of miles, but the actual topography of shooting is just restricted to a few square miles, which are covered from different angles over and over again...

HistoryProf wrote:The Tin Star has been OOP forever

Though the identical R2 disc is only £3.98 from Amazon.

It's interesting they did not also include STRAIGHT SHOOTING in the package...



STRAIGHT SHOOTING (1917)



STAGECOACH (1939)

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:If it isn't a noir that a French New Waver liked or something with camp value, then expect no college student to touch any classic Hollywood film.

Now look what you've done: my copy of The Stranger's all soggy.

Anyway, I am probably one of the few who has never seen this in anything other than total quality, so I'm very excited to see it shine (if it does--it will, right?). Should be great, insta-naive-list-price preorder, I'll go without my ramen this week, don't worry mommy I'm doing it for art, etc.

I was never shown any Ford in film school (well, one clip from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.) Caught up with Stagecoach last year, which started my belated infatuation with Ford. One of the most entertaining movies ever made, and a masterclass in screenwriting characterization.

I took classes on Westerns and several Hollywood overviews as an undergraduate, so I thankfully had an "early" exposure to several great Fords-- Hard to forget the entire class struggling through a fourth generation tape dub of Young Mr Lincoln in those halcyon days before Criterion's rescue! But on the flipside, I still remember one of my upper-level English teachers showing about five minutes of the Grapes of Wrath during a Steinbeck unit and mocking it mercilessly before shutting it off. This was an intelligent man otherwise capable of great insight and open-mindedness, but there's really no dealing with studio system Hollywood for some people!