AFI Top 100: Stagecoach

Instead of writing a normal review of Stagecoach, I thought I'd post a old paper I wrote on it back in college. It's a little rough around the edges, but I think it captures how I feel about film metaphor. The best films can be adapted into literary metaphors that transcend the medium of film into art. Stagecoach is a great example of a film being art.



 Here is my college paper on Stagecoach:

John Ford’s “Stagecoach” is a classic on many levels. It jump-started the career of John Wayne. It re-invented the western genre. It put the western where it belonged, in a mythological context that America could use. “Stagecoach” relied more on characterization than on the good guy-bad guy theme that had been done before. In the movie, a strong cross-section of people are put together on a stagecoach ride through Indian country. By the end, each character shows his or her true self, through the trials that the coach goes through. Besides the character struggles, the movie itself has symbolic meaning that applies to America. One scene in particular, epitomizes this meaning; that scene being when Geronimo and his warriors attack the stagecoach.

            As a very brilliant professor has put it, historical films often portray more about the time in which they are made rather than the time they are about. This is true for “Stagecoach” as well. The movie appeared at the end of the depression era. America had been going through hard times for about a decade. This was also the period just before World War Two broke out. With the trials of the Depression, the country really saw what it was made of; good honest people sometimes broke under the pressure, while others that appeared too weak, triumphed. For instance, some people that were thought of as decent people were businessmen that lost lots of money and ended up taking their own lives. The characters in “Stagecoach” match this description of people. Some are outstanding citizens, while others are deemed not. One case is with the banker on board. He is thought of as being a superior man. Throughout the movie he makes comments putting himself above other passengers that are of less worth. He is discovered at the end of the movie to be a crook, and is arrested when the coach arrives at its destination. This man, who appeared to have much worth, provided no value when times got desperate. When the Indians attacked, he did nothing. The movie implies here that the backbone of America does not rely on businessmen.

            Three characters onboard are considered lesser citizens. Dallas is a former prostitute, the Ringo Kid is an escaped convict and there is a drunken doctor, Doc Boone, who was thrown out of town with Dallas. These three characters prove vital to the survival of the coach and also some of its passengers. One of the other passengers is a pregnant woman, who is onboard so she can get to her military husband. While the coach is at a stop she goes into labor. The formerly useless Doc Boone, now steps up and gains control of himself so he can deliver the baby. Dallas, who before was even unworthy to sit at dinner with Lucy Mallory, the pregnant woman, also steps up, to take care of the new baby and its mother. Both of these characters who were once considered of no value to the group, which is symbolic of society, have proven themselves through hard times. At the end of the movie, Mallory tells Dallas to visit her anytime.

            The other character is the Ringo Kid, played by Wayne. He escaped from prison and is seeking revenge for the murder of his brother and father. The Plummer boys are staying in Lordsburg, the final destination of the stagecoach. The Sheriff is riding shotgun for the coach since it is traveling through Geronimo’s warpath. When the times get rough for the group, Ringo steps up to meet the challenges. As the Indians attack the coach, Ringo proves to be the most valuable person. When the coach driver loses the reins after being shot, it is Ringo that jumps from horse to horse to catch them. When the coach arrives at Lordsburg, the Sheriff allows Ringo to depart, after exacting revenge for his family.

            Of course, underneath the basic plot of this stagecoach traveling from one town to another, there is a metaphorical meaning. Simply put, the stagecoach represents the United States. One could compare this adventure to the history of the nation, or the times in which it just passed. The coach takes off from a small town in which properness and strict ethics prevail. It arrives at a larger town, Lordsburg (fortress of God). The United States started with several different colonies, each with different ideals about ethics and values, just as the passengers of the coach have different lifestyles. The coach travels through the wilderness, having many hard times along the way. Stopping at a Mexican ranch, where they find untrustworthy characters that end up running off with horses. America can rely on no one else, but itself. Out in the wilderness, the coach comes upon forces that are acting to destroy it. Only the bravery and cleverness of its passengers can help it survive, as well as help from the cavalry. America will eventually survive and make it to the Fortress of God; heaven.

            Comparing it to the contemporary times that had just passed, America had just been in the depression; a dark wilderness that tried the hearts of all Americans, rich and poor. When the stagecoach is being attacked, it didn’t matter to either the rich banker or the poor doctor, they were all in the same amount of risk. In the depths of the depression, even when all that people could do, that was not enough. It was the help of the government that saw the people through. Even with the best efforts of the coach passengers, they were doomed, except with outside help. As they run out of ammunition, the cavalry runs in to help them.

            As the end of the depression came, on the horizon was a world wide war that threatened to change the American way of life. Threatening democracy was not only fascism from the Nazi’s, but even more threatening was communism. American ideals were being attacked by forces from the outside. And as the coach learned at the Mexican ranch, it couldn’t rely on others for help. America would be entering a time when it would be tried by changing forces overseas, as well as demoralizing effects within its borders. As long as it stuck together, as the passengers of the stagecoach did, it would make it. Stagecoach was both a metaphor for America's recent past, but also a portentous allegory for what could lay ahead.