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Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Just perfect...

Admirable film.

A lot of fun.

The perfect double bill for the 1940 20th Century Fox classic "Brigham Young, Frontiersman", this John Ford western is a fast moving and action packed follow-up to that story of a group of Mormons heading into dangerous territory with a family of vile murderers and thieves on their trail. The moment the Clegg family slithers into their camp you know something is up because of the sudden mood of merriment changing into a somber atmosphere. This slimy looking clan is wanted by the Fed's, and it is obvious that when they innocently ask for food from the traveling caravan that there is going to be trouble in the wake of their arrival.Charles Kemper is the slimy patriarch of the Clegg clan (which includes a young James Arness), and he is certainly one of the most unforgettable villains in westerns. Ben Johnson gets the leading hero role here, someone who only draws his gun on a snake, which he certainly will need to do here. Harry Carey, Ward Bond and Jane Darwell are among the elders of the group, joined by non-Mormans Alan Mowbray and Joanne Dru, a shapely woman of ill repute who has the Mormon women watching their husbands very carefully. Jim Thorpe, as in "Jim Thorpe, All American", plays a member of the Navajo tribe the group encounters. Ford presents the Navajos as distrustful of white men because of bad deals they made with others, and amusingly, when the Navajos discover that the group are Mormons, they refer to them as only partly dishonest as opposed to the other group they encountered before.A disturbing sequence has one of the Clegg men being whipped for obviously having just raped a Navajo woman, and as the Morman elders try to convince papa Clegg, it's better for his son to be whipped than the rest of them be scalped. It's nice to see the Navjos presented as a friendly tribe whose efforts to befriend the white man in previous encounters has only lead to betrayal from the supposedly more civilized Caucasians. When the Mormans, having been held at rifle point by the Cleggs, encounter the Feds, the mood becomes intense and they must make some quick decisions in order to avoid bloodshed while being questioned. These seemingly simple non-violent people prove themselves to be pretty crafty, and they realize obviously at some point, they are going to have to resort to violence to keep themselves from being annihilated by the Cleggs which comes none too soon.John Ford really was the master of the western, having in recent years proved his medal with such classics as "Fort Apache", "Red River" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon". This one actually is made more memorable by the absence of John Wayne because this is much more an ensemble piece where everybody is either a hero or villain and the focus isn't on just one character. This also has a very memorable musical score and some extremely intense moments, particularly one where they desperately try to get the covered wagons over a dangerous cliff that certainly isn't covered wagon friendly. This is a film that even non-western fans can enjoy because it is very unique in its storytelling and features a very interesting premise not usually associated with the common man's western.

Virtually the only John Ford western of the '40s and '50s that didn't star John Wayne nor Henry Fonda. In Ben Johnson, we have a born and bred Oklahoma cowboy and rodeo champion, who served a long apprenticeship as a Hollywood horse wrangler and cowboy stunt man before Ford included him in several Wayne-starring westerns, before starring in this low budget western. I like to hear his distinctive Oklahoma accent. He certainly comes across as genuine, good looking, very laconic, and likable. His drifter partner is played by sandy-haired Harry Carey Jr., raised on a horse ranch by his Ford-favorite father. His familiarity with the Navaho language comes in handy when a party of such shows up.Johnson and Carey were both in the Ford cavalry films "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Rio Grande", they being again teamed as a buddy pair in the latter, also released in '50. Ford, having previously discovered the virtues of filming in the eastern Utah landscapes, pretty much forsook his previous favorite Monument Valley in this film and the soon to be shot "Rio Grande". Ford also retreated from the Technicolor of his last 2 westerns to his favored B&W for these 2 westerns.Like "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", and unlike "Fort Apache" and "Rio Grande", potential pitched battles with 'Indians' are diffused, thus risking the criticism that "nothing happens". As with "Rio Grande", there is more than the usual amount of background music and music sung by the principals for a Ford film, with The Sons of the Pioneers supplying much of the former.In support, we have familiar Ward Bond, as leader of the Mormons, later to star in the "Wagon Train" TV series. Jane Darwell and Russell Simpson, who costarred with Fonda a decade earlier, as Ma and Pa Joad, in Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath", are reteamed. Simpson made the perfect beady-eyed, dour, god-fearing, largely silent, rustic authority figure. Jane came across as the ideal frontier matron figure, occasionally standing out with her horn blowing. Joanne Dru returns from stardom in "Red River" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" to again play the saucy romantic lead. She was well cast, although her flirtation with Johnson's character didn't clearly lead anywhere. Ford even found a small part for his older brother and film directing mentor, as the base drummer.We have a wagon train of Mormons, apparently traveling from the East, set on starting a new life in the unsettled rugged dry canyonland of the San Juan River valley, in the SW Colorado-SE Utah border region, then known by only a few wanderers and Native Americans. The historic 'hole-in-the-rock' wagon train journey that this story is based upon occurred in 1879-80, in winter, not summer as implied, and was an extremely difficult mile-a-day 180 day journey EASTWARD from Escalante, Utah, not from the Eastern US nor from the bogus Crystal City in the film, much longer than the seeming couple of weeks trip in this film.We finally get a glimpse of what much of the undertaking must have been like in the last portion of the film, when they had to hack out a passage over a ridge, and the wagons are nearly wrecked on this make-shift route to present Bluff, Utah.... The several times- mentioned California Trail, as a diversion from The Oregon Trail, was nowhere near the historic nor scripted trails. Also, unlike Hollywood's fixation on speedy horses(as in this film), pioneer immigrants had a strong preference for plodding oxen or more hardy mules to pull their wagons, whatever the preferences of westerns audiences.What begins as a purely Mormon wagon train soon is complicated by the addition of several small non-Mormon groups. The first is drifters Travis(Johnson) and Sandy(Carey), who serve as their guides and wagon masters. Soon, they chance upon a quack doctor/actor and two hoochie coochie, etc., women in fancy dress, with a wagon, drunk from their whisky, their mules having run off, leaving them stranded with no water. A while later, the 5 Cleggs, who robbed the Crystal City express office, show up during an evening dance. Huge James Arness is the most sinister looking and acting, while talkative charismatic Charles Kemper is the brains of this dim-witted evil bunch. Later, further complications are provided by a small band of (real) Navajos, and then a posse looking for the Cleggs.We can soon guess the ultimate outcome. But, we may still be entertained by the intervening events, which include a number of dances and rousing background songs, specially composed by Stan Jones and sung by the Sons of the Pioneers. The most memorable are "Wagons West", "Song of the Wagon Masters" and "Chuckawalla Swing" : the latter a dance song. Unusually, the finale consists of a series of several of Ford's favorite prior scenes from the film, most including the featured background singing, and ending with the river crossing. ...As the DVD commentators point out, Ford's experience shooting silent films had a strong impact on most of his talkies, where he often lets the visuals do much of the communicating. A particularly striking example is when the Cleggs unexpectedly show up at the dance, immediately changing the mood from gaiety to sinister. Expect to see some bucking broncos, a fist fight, some shootings, racing or overturning wagons, occasional humor, and a fast-galloping Johnson fleeing Navajos, who turn out to be friendly toward Mormons: fellow outcasts from standard white society. Being of Irish decent, Ford identified with persecuted minorities.Actually, this most reminds me of "The Grapes of Wrath": fleeing from trouble, in a long trying journey, across half the continent, with hopes of a new promised land at the end.

In the American West of the 1800s, horse-trader Ben Johnson (as Travis) and his young companion Harry Carey Jr. (as Sandy) are asked to do the Lord's work. Attracted by women, wages and adventure, they agree to lead boisterous Ward Bond (as Elder) and his community of Mormons to Utah. Along the way, Mr. Johnson is attracted to provocative Joanne Dru (as Denver) while Mr. Carey gets a hankerin' for proper Kathleen O'Malley (as Prudence). Before reaching their destination, the travelers are threatened by Outlaws and Indians...This should have been called "Wagon Train" rather than "Wagon Master" - but title legalities won in the long run as the popular television series received the appropriate title. Though not officially a spin-off, the "Wagon Train" TV show seems inspired by this western. On television, Mr. Bond took over Johnson's role as the "Wagon Master". What this film possesses, in abundance, is superb work by John Ford and company. The direction and soundtrack are especially strong. It's very posed, very staged - but in the manner of dreamy poetry.******** Wagon Master (4/19/50) John Ford ~ Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond, Joanne Dru

This film has to be as near to perfect a film as John Ford made. The film is magic, a masterpiece, the reason Ford was, well Ford. If you want to know why Ford was great this one explains it.The photography of course is superb, black and white as black and white should be, wonderful shots, not an over the shoulder conversation in it, pure Ford, great moments, big and little. The famous ripped pants of Ward Bond. Apparently two dogs kept invading the set and fighting so Ford wanted to use them in the fighting scene, but instead of fighting one dog ran away and the other attacked Ward Bond and ripped his pants, which caused Ford no end of mirth. A whole scene around plaiting a rope. The way Ben Johnson burn then snuffs his rope, wonderful foreshadowing and anticipation of the final. Harry Carey's naive courting of Prudence. The usual ford line about being scared and not showing it. Bond's horse accidentally falling in him and its left in the film. Johnson and Bond are fantastic in that scene. Lord help any Ford actor who does not stay in character while the camera is rolling even when a horse falls on top of you.A couple of very sweet romances, not intruding on the whole focus, two very likable leads, not to mention for the girls, the number of times the cameras focus on Ben Johnson's rather delightful backside.Lots of old time stuntmen getting lines and roles, Cliff Lyons, Frank McGrath. Some wonderful character studies mostly of faces staring, all the villains and main stars. A set of villains to rival any group in any western.Many many Fordian shots of faces, groups, children, women, small things happening, foals in the background (Ford seems to love images of foals), women in aprons, allowing the moment as wagons cross rivers and the camera lingers.This is probably not a western as much as an artist's picture that happens to be set in the west.Lucky the film was made in 1950 because it is impossible to imagine such a film could be ever made again, but then it is such a work of art that it would be a sacrilege to attempt it