Wagon Master (1950)

WAGON MASTER has been justly praised as one of director John Ford's most poetic films, with its vivid evocation of a lost world of a wagon train traveling west in the late nineteenth century, carrying a group of Mormons led by Elder Wiggs (Ward Bond) and guided by two horse-traders (Ben Johnson, Harry Carey jnr.)In view of its release-date (1950), however, it is possible to see the film as a lament for a lost world of community, where people of different interests learn to co-exist with one another: the horse- traders set aside their buccaneering lifestyles and agree to guide the Mormons, while the Mormons offer them their hospitality in return. The only possible threat to the survival of this community is Uncle Shiloh Clegg (Charles Kemper), who initially agrees to travel with them, yet ends up holding the Mormons and the horse- traders at gunpoint. Although pretending to be friendly, it's clear he's not someone to be trusted. This notion was something very much on the public agenda in the early Fifties, at the time of the anticommunist purges: no one could be trusted anymore. WAGON MASTER makes much the same point, and further suggests that those who appear to be the most friendly turn out to be the most dangerous.Ford emphasizes the importance of community not only through the screenplay, but through the musical score (by Richard Hageman) and the songs, which evoke a prelapsarian world in which people's first loyalty is to their God and their fellow human beings rather than themselves. Although leading a very precarious life, subject to attack by various forces, including questioning by an over-zealous Marshal (Cliff Lyons), the train keeps resolutely to its chosen path and eventually reaches its own particular El Dorado. The implication is clear: faith (that inspires people to embrace the frontier myth and proceed westwards) brings its own rewards.The film has a clutch of memorable performances, ranging from Bond's comically splenetic Elder, perpetually trying to stop himself from cursing, to Jane Darwell's Sister Ledyard, who is always willing to offer succor in the form of words and/or food to anyone in trouble. Perhaps WAGON MASTER is not one of Ford's most celebrated films, but it is nonetheless a little gem.

Wagon Master (1950)*** (out of 4) Drifters (Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr.) ride into a small town to sell their horses when they come across a group of Mormons being ran out of town. The Mormons are planning to head out West in hopes of finding their new living grounds and they ask the drifters to lead them. On their journey they will struggle to find water, come across Indians and come across a ruthless family out to do them harm. This certainly isn't your typical Ford Western but all the differences here really set it apart and make it rather refreshing when compared that what type of film Ford usually delivered. Both Johnson and Carey aren't brave men and they don't even drink, draw their guns or fight back. The Mormons aren't seen as some sort of fanatics but instead of good people out to do good with their lives. The Indians aren't shown to be drunken savages but instead kind people who are friendly with the Mormons because the two groups share hatred from "white" men. We even get a rather good soundtrack featuring some country songs by Sons of the Pioneers. If you showed someone this film and didn't tell them who the director was it's very doubtful many people would guess Ford even though some of his troop members are on hand. Both Johnson and Carey are very good in their roles as they both fit them quite nicely and they share some good chemistry together and their comic timing is also quite good together. Ford regular Ward Bond gets one of his best roles as the leader of the Mormon group. Bond was also given nice, small roles but the part here is very large and has so much to do and the actor doesn't let the opportunity slip by. He really comes across well as this leader just wanting his people to reach a better place. Joanne Dru is good as his daughter and even Jim Thorpe appears as one of the Indians. Charles Kemper steals the film as the villain, the father of a group of thugs who end up taking over the Mormon people for their own greedy needs. This guy is such a creep that I can't help but rank him right up there with some of the most memorable villains I've ever seen. Just the way he carries himself and that awfully sinister way he talks makes him one you can't help but hate. James Arness plays one of the sons. The film features some rather awkward comedy bits. Some of these work while others fall flat and seem out of place. The one that does work happens early on when Bond jokes about certain myths surrounding the Mormon faith. Another nice bit is a couple of the guys getting into a fight over what type of religion is correct. WAGON MASTER really isn't considered one of Ford's best films because it isn't. It is an entertaining and it stands out from the other Westerns the legendary director was making and if you're a fan then it's certainly worth checking out.

By 1950, John Ford had already fully-developed the ideas and motifs that would form the core of his most successful Westerns. Always present, for example, is a strong sense of community, most poignantly captured in the Joad family of Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath (1940).' Within these communities, even amid Ford's loftier themes of racism and the pioneer spirit, there's always room for the smaller human interactions, the minor friendships and romances that make life worth living. 'Wagon Master (1950)' came after Ford had released the first two films in his "cavalry" trilogy – 'Fort Apache (1948)' and 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)' – and it covers similar territory, only without the military perspective and, more damningly, the strong lead of John Wayne. Ben Johnson and Harry Cary, Jr. are fine actors, but they feel as though they should be playing second-fiddle to somebody, and Ward Bond's cursing Mormon elder, while potentially a candidate for such a role, isn't given quite enough focus to satisfactorily fit the bill.In 'Wagon Master,' Ford seems so comfortable with his tried-and-tested Western formula that any character development is largely glossed over. Ben Johnson's romance with Joanne Dru is treated as an obligation more than anything else, and Harry Cary Jr's charming of a Mormon girl is so perfunctory as to be almost nonexistent in the final film, leaving one to ponder the survival of deleted scenes. Only in Charles Kemper's charismatic and shamelessly-villainous Uncle Shiloh does Ford try some different, and it works, even with his being surrounded by a troop of insufferably hammy slack-jawed yokels. Where Ford does succeed is in orchestrating the conglomeration of three distinct races of Americans – the values-orientated Mormoms, the easygoing horse-traders, the eccentric travelling showmen – into a cohesive community of pioneers looking towards a bright future. This apparent harmony is thrown into disarray by the arrival of Uncle Shiloh's gun-toting outlaws, who exploit the lawlessness of the Western frontier but ultimately lose out to the noble cowboys who "only ever drew on snakes."Ford reportedly considered Wagon Master among the favourite of his films, and perhaps this has something to do with the absence of big names like John Wayne or Henry Fonda. Armed only with his stock selection of usual players, Ford is able to generate a sense of community by avoiding placing focus on any one character, though most of the Mormom travellers still remain completely anonymous. Despite being undoubtedly well-made, I can't help feeling that this film only does well what other Ford pictures did even better: the terrific majesty of the the Western frontier was presented more beautifully in 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'; the romances and friendly squabbles among community members took greater prominence in 'Fort Apache'; the early relations with Native Americans, only hinted at here, were more thoroughly examined in 'The Searchers (1956)'; the bold pioneering spirit of the early settlers was explored more movingly (albeit by Henry Hathaway and George Marshall) in 'How the West Was Won (1962).' 'Wagon Master' is pure John Ford, but it isn't a landmark.

This small John Ford western with no 'stars' but a cast of character actors is one of his masterpieces. It has a documentary-like feel to it as it traces the journey West of a party of Mormons and it may be the most authentic looking of all Ford's films, (it's on par with "The Sun Shines Bright" which he made a couple of years later).There is a plot of sorts, (a group of bank robbers join the wagon train at one point), but the film's dramatic highlights are almost incidental. The splendid performances of Ford's stock company, (Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr, Ward Bond, Jane Darwell etc), adds considerably to the film's authenticity while the nearest the film gets to a full-bodied star performance is Joanne Dru's Denver. Dru was a much finer actress than she was ever given credit for as were Bond and Johnson, who at least was finally awarded with the recognition of an Oscar for his work in "The Last Picture Show". As he said himself, 'It couldn't have happened to a nicer fella'. Add Bert Glennon's superb location photography and you have a genuine piece of Americana that couldn't have some from anyone other than Ford. This is a film that truly honors America's pioneers and is full of sentiment and feeling.