Stagecoach

Stagecoach

Criterion Collection Edition #516

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 and establishing the genre as we know it today. The quintessential tale of a group of strangers thrown together into extraordinary circumstances, STAGECOACH features outstanding performances from Hollywood stalwarts Claire Trevor, John Carradine, and 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.

Stagecoach
  • Stagecoach

    Directed by John Ford • 1939 • United States
    Starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine

    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 and establishing the genre as we know it today....

Extras

  • STAGECOACH Commentary

    Recorded in 2009, this commentary features film historian and western scholar Jim Kitses (“Horizons West”).

  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on STAGECOACH

  • Michael Cunningham on STAGECOACH

  • John Ford, 1968

    This extensive 1968 interview with John Ford, by British journalist and television presenter Philip Jenkinson, features the legendary filmmaker discussing a wide variety of topics, such as the western genre, John Wayne, race representation, STAGECOACH, and violence.

  • Screen Director’s Playhouse

    This radio adaptation of STAGECOACH, originally broadcast on January 9, 1949, stars John Wayne and Claire Trevor, reprising their film roles.

  • Peter Bogdanovich on STAGECOACH

    In this 2010 video piece, acclaimed filmmaker and John Ford biographer Peter Bogdanovich offers his thoughts on STAGECOACH.

  • John Ford Home Movies

    In this 2010 video interview, John Ford’s grandson and biographer Dan Ford (“Pappy: The Life of John Ford”) discusses the director’s personal home movies and what they reveal about the man and his special relationships with Hollywood luminaries like John Wayne and cinematographer Gregg Toland.

  • True West

    In this 2010 video interview, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Buzz Bissinger (“Friday Night Lights”) explains the key role that 1920s trading post operator Harry Goulding played in bringing Monument Valley to the attention of the STAGECOACH production, thereby establishing a new cinematic icon of t...

  • Yakima Canutt on STAGECOACH

    Yakima Canutt was the talent behind the amazing physical feats in STAGECOACH, and he would go on to revolutionize Hollywood’s stuntman industry. In this 2010 video piece, acclaimed stunt coordinator and stuntman Vic Armstrong (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK) offers his thoughts on Canutt and his contrib...

  • Dreaming of Jeanie

    This 2010 video essay by writer Tag Gallagher (“John Ford: The Man and His Films”) analyzes the visual style Ford employs in STAGECOACH, and explains how his technique allows us to both deeply empathize with and remain objective toward the film’s many characters.

  • Bucking Broadway

    Directed by John Ford • 1917 • United States

    This silent 1917 film is one of John Ford’s earliest works. A rollicking western about a cowboy (Harry Carey) whose true love is whisked away by a city slicker, BUCKING BROADWAY showcases many elements that would become hallmarks of the director. Th...