Film Analysis: Stagecoach

Between the late-1920s and the mid-1940s America underwent major economic and social change. The close proximity of adverse events such as the Great Depression and WWII took a toll on the American economy and what resulted was a paradigm shift in American economic policy and concepts. Additionally, the distressed economy led to major social changes and upheavals. Combined with the intensifying situation abroad in the Orient and in Europe, America became increasingly isolated and xenophobic. American sentiment was battered and confidence in a nation with “streets paved with gold” had become illusory.

Hollywood was left to pick up the shattered pieces of American morale and was able to successfully glue them back together with uplifting films. Shirley Temple became the darling of the world as she won the hearts of millions by instilling optimism back into the population. While, many Hollywood film ventures at the time were made for whimsy, some films, specifically in the Western genre, reflected the times. Western genre pieces, such as John Fords’ Stagecoach (1939), exemplify the mirror effect that some films had during those decades.

Stagecoach incorporates numerous traditional conventions and codes of the Western genre, but also defies many of them. Stagecoach’s use of subversive codes is a direct result of the Depression Era, although some generic Western conventions are kept in order raise the morale of the American people.

Seven strangers board a stagecoach bound to Lordsburg, New Mexico. Each one is either running away from their past or trying to catch up with it. The plot is cleverly designed to incorporate multiple characters that live within different castes, subsequently making the stagecoach itself a microcosm of the bygone era. The strangers in the stagecoach represent a thin vertical slice of the Depression Era social aristocracy; from the bourgeoisie to the pariahs and everything in-between. Samuel Peacock (Donald Meek) and Henry Gatewood (Berton Churchill) form the rich elites, Dallas (Claire Trevor) and The Ringo Kid (John Wayne) serve as pariahs, and the remainder of the characters represent the rest of the social caste system.

Placing the main protagonist ,Ringo, as a poor outcast with nothing but “half a ranch house” defies Western genre conventions of having the protagonist be a wealthy saint and widely accepted hero i.e. Mark Of Zorro (1920) and Cimarron (1931). Ringo is the product of a dire tenuous environment and as is the film's audience that he relates to. Ringo is the hero representing the poor and seemingly forgotten commoners of the era. This connotes that the real heroes are actually the ones making ends meet rather than the rich playing Robin Hood. This subversive choice was consciously made with the introduction of the elitist banker Henry Gatewood.

One of the reasons the Great Depression occurred was because of undisciplined spending and lucrative investing by banks and corporations. By the time the depression was in full effect the general sentiment the public had towards big business was distrust. Governmental regulation of businesses and the nationalization of banks were called for and consequently put into effect through the socialistic New Deal acts between 1933 and 1936. These acts started the long economic recovery.

The people of the Depression Era had created a derogatory caricature of the rich by naming them “fat cats”. Mr. Gatewood is a direct reflection of the negative sentiment the people had towards businessmen. Mr. Gatewood is the antithesis of Ringo ; he is bloated, self-righteous and inconsiderate. He steals $50,000 from the town bank and complains that the trip is being delayed because of Lucy Mallory’s (Louise Platt) illness. Additionally, as the stagecoach starts its trek across Monument Valley, Mr. Gatewood self-righteously explains that “the government is attacking banks and raising taxes; America for Americans.” Mr. Gatewood’s proposal is a farce. The contemporary audience would recognize that such capitalistic ideals and laissez-fare attitudes didn't necessarily work. By 1939 the socialistic New Deal plans had created millions of new jobs and had jump started the economy. Assurances are made at the end of the film when Mr. Gatewood is arrested by public authorities for his corrupt practices. This generic ‘justice is served’ ending comforts the audience as it shows that the government will ,confidently, set right all wrongs.

Another subversive element is the rejection of a damsel in distress. Dallas is able to stand on her own, but has become a “victim of social prejudice” because of her occupation as a prostitute. Conversely, Lucy Mallory is the damsel in distress, yet is fully accepted by society. In one scene where the stagecoach passengers take a vote on whether to continue their trek, Marshall Curly Wilcox (George Bancroft) politely asks the lady, Mrs. Mallory, first only to completely ignore Dallas. It isn’t until Ringo steps in that Dallas gets a voice in the matter. Mrs. Mallory is treated as a lady, while Dallas is treated as a secondhand citizen.

Even though Mrs. Mallory receives the benefits of being socially accepted, characteristically she is portrayed in a negative light. She is delusional and emotionally weak. Mrs. Mallory is unable to remain strong as she hears the death of her husband and in the later chase scene with the Indians she compliantly sits her head against the wall of the stagecoach amid a rain of gun fire. She doesn’t even protect her own child during the event.

Dallas, on the other hand, is portrayed in a positive light. The scene where Dallas nurses Mrs. Mallory at her bedside, amplifies Dallas’ caring and selfless characterization. Additionally, during the chase scene, Dallas clutches Ms. Malloy’s baby, protecting the baby from gun fire with her own body.

Contextually, the rejection of the damsel in distress maybe in part be the result of the prostitution boom enforced by poverty during the 1930s. Women were forced into prostitution because of financial troubles as a consequence of the Great Depression. While this circumstance was unfortunate, many women became financially independent because of the venture. Dallas represents the strong independent women of the day.

While Stagecoach is groundbreaking for undermining traditional Western codes, the film does in some instances use some generic conventions. The standard savage caricatures of Indians and the generic portrayal of courageous U.S. soldiers show how Stagecoach demonstrates certain platitudes. The clichés are used to instill optimism into the disheartened people of the time.

Anti-Japanese sentiment became prevalent in the United States in the late 1930s because of the illicit acts of violence performed by the Japanese during the controversial invasion of China (1931) and the subsequent Nanking Massacre (1937). Because of these events and American propaganda, the American people saw the Japanese as godless and savage.

In Stagecoach, Native Americans are generically portrayed as one-dimensional and savage. Non-diegetic music of battle drums erupt every time the Indians are presented. Furthermore, they are not to b3e trusted as demonstrated when the Apache wife of the Mexican reservation owner steals the replacement horses for the stagecoach.

Stagecoach creates an association between the Native Americans and the Japanese through their common perception of savagery. The film is contextual to the events of the Depression Era and becomes representational of the situation at hand. As the stagecoach comes under fire from the Indians, the passengers whom have had disagreements before, bond together against a common foe. This message is relayed to the audience and connotes the popular saying “united we stand, divided we fall.”
As the stagecoach passengers get down to their final bullets all seems lost. That is until a conventional rescue by the United States cavalry fends off the attacking Apache Indians. Their intimidating numbers and drawn swords, maintained by an uplifting trumpet horn gives a sense of excitement and assurance. This guarantees the audience that America was ready to fight in the looming European and Pacific war and that one should be “proud to see such fine young men in the U.S. Army” The typical convention was used to uplift American sentiment in an era of great tension.

Western genre films for a time were stereotyped as simplistic morality tales and entertainment fluff. Stagecoach is one of the innovative western films that took ambitious steps to elevate itself above the mold. It undermined certain traditional rules such as the damsel in distress, but still relied on some Western clichés. Whether the decisions made in Stagecoach were conventional or subversive, they were influenced by the events and sentiments of the 1930s. Stagecoach is a fine example of how a film can become iconoclastic, but it is also is a testament that genre pieces do not need to be locked into traditional conventions in order to satisfy its precedents and its audience.