Early American Epic Scale Western Movies
Films Include The Covered Wagon, The Iron Horse, and The Big Trail
Nov 3, 2008
Early western movies were mainly “white hat vs. black hat” affairs with white hatters being played by actors such as Bronco Billy Anderson and Tom Mix. Then the 1920s and early 1930s saw the creation of western film epics centered around actual events from America’s frontier past.
Three films in particular became the prototype for later spectaculars such as Union Pacific (1939), How the West Was Won (1962), and Dancing with Wolves (1990).
The Covered Wagon (1923 - 98 min.)
This film, directed by James Cruze, recreates the great movement of pioneers from the safety of their homes in the East along the Oregon Trail. The story itself revolves around a covered wagon train that leaves Westport, Missouri, in 1848, and two men (J. Warren Kerrigan and Alan Hale), who battle each other over control of the train and the love of a young woman (Lois Wilson).
However, it is not the Kerrigan-Hale battle or the romantic triangle that makes the movie memorable. Instead, it is in the depiction of several events that happen during the journey. Budgeted at 10 million (in today’s money), the movie, during its brief running time, crams in a large number of stunning scenes. These include the wagons fording a flooding Platte River; a buffalo hunt; a prairie fire; and, the obligatory Indian attack.
The Iron Horse (1924 - 133 min.)
Twenty-nine year old John Ford had already directed fifty films, many of them one-reel westerns, when he was asked by Fox Studios to expand an idea that he had into a movie that would rival The Covered Wagon in grandeur. The result was The Iron Horse, a fictionalized account of the transcontinental railroad and the men who built it. It was an immediate success with audiences and set the pattern for many of Ford’s later films.
The story of a young surveyor (George O’Brien) who dreams of a continent spanning railroad is slow moving at times and the movie is marred, unfortunately, by many stereotyped characters. Still, it is a movie that can be enjoyed by people who are silent film buffs and even by those who aren’t.
Particularly impressive are the historical images: Abraham Lincoln expressing his desire for the railroad; the day to day portrayal of the Irish and Chinese laborers hard at work; life in the end-of-the-line towns that appear and disappear seemingly overnight; and the re-creation of the driving of the Golden Spike marking the completion of the railroad. This latter scene is complete in every detail and even features the original locomotives.
The Big Trail (1930 - 158 min.)
The Big Trail is unique for at least two reasons. It was the first talking Western epic, and it was shot simultaneously in both 35mm and 70 mm. This made it one of the first, if not the first, movies shot in widescreen, predating the introduction of Cinemascope by twenty years.
This story of the overland trails has many scenes similar to The Covered Wagon. It’s basic plot revolves around Breck Coleman ( John Wayne) who joins a wagon train as a scout. He does so in order to avenge the death of a friend, believing that the murderer is part of the group. Along the way, he falls in love with Ruth Cameron (Marguerite Chapman).
Ultimately, director Raoul Walsh’s imagery in this epic is far more compelling than its sappy saga of romance and revenge. Particularly impressive, in this era long before CGIs, are the scenes of the river crossing; the wagons being lowered over a tall cliff; and a blinding snowstorm.
The Big Trail is a better movie than the stodgy Cimarron that became the first western to win best picture the following year. Unfortunately, it did not do well at the box office. Most theaters did not have wide screens nor could they afford to put them in due to the Depression. Thus, the splendor that was the core of the movie was unavailable to most contemporary viewers.
Although the movie is filled with stilted dialogue, Wayne does show a certain charisma. Had the film been more popular at the time, it might have launched him to stardom a decade sooner. It would take John Ford‘s Stagecoach (1939) to do that.
Related articles: American War Film Epics in the 1920s, American & French Revolution Films in the 1920s
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