 | | | | Wagon Master |  | Director: John Ford
Actors: Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  (7 reviews)
Format: Ntsc
Media: DVD
ASIN: B000QRI1HG
Theatrical Release Date: 1950
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
How is it that John Ford's greatest film remains largely unknown? All right, let's not kick sand on The Searchers, or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, or Ford's many other masterworks. But the director himself numbered Wagon Master among his personal favorites, and it's an utterly unique and original film no one else could have made. This crusty, eccentric production, slipped in between installments of Ford's Cavalry trilogy, doesn't really star anybody. Ward Bond plays a Mormon elder, a reformed sinner still given to "the words of wrath" who asks a slightly larcenous young horse trader to lead a wagon train through the desert to a valley "the Lord has reserved" for them. The newly anointed wagon master is played by Ben Johnson, an amazing horseman Ford had been bringing along in character roles; at this point Johnson was still getting used to delivering lines, though that's part of his charm and serves his character beautifully. A transcendent allegory of the opening of the frontier, Wagon Master follows no conventional, linear itinerary. The Lord moves in mysterious ways and so does the movie, which begins before it begins (that is, before the opening credits) and ends a few luminous seconds after THE END has come and gone. Storytelling takes a backseat to poetry, with long passages consecrated to savoring faces, landscapes, and raw sunlight. Some of these passages are supported by songs, and sometimes music rises faintly like an auditory mirage borne in from a great distance. The musicality extends to communal dancing, and to the demonic jingling of spurs that signals the appearances of "Uncle" Shiloh Cleggs (Charles Kemper), patriarch of an inbred outlaw clan whose dog-legged journey eventually intersects the wagon train's. In keeping with Ford's vision of civilization and its discontents, Wagon Master is populated mostly by pariahs. Besides the deservedly outcast Cleggses, there are the Mormons, the vagabond horse traders played by Johnson and Harry Carey Jr., a medicine-show troupe, and the first people on the land, the Navajo. As individuals and groups drift and coalesce, then separate and coalesce again in fresh configurations, a new nation gets its footing while marching west--"out across the backlands, where the dust has lain so long...." This is the heart's-core of American cinema. --Richard T. Jameson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Unassuming Masterpiece January 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
To echo many, why isn't this film on dvd? "Wagonmaster" has the visual look of a silent western. Also, it's character driven rather than plot, and the villainous Cleggs offer a perfect counter to the leisurely, unfolding story. Their unwelcome arrival in camp and subsequent conduct is the spice needed to make the rest of the story work. There's a brief, superb visual moment, when the wagon train is scene rolling along in the distance. You hear faint singing by the riders but no orchestral accompaniment. The scene is otherwise quiet and suggests looking through a time portal, and what an approaching wagon train must have looked and sounded like to a casual observer on the prairie. "Wagonmaster" is a treasure of wonderful characters (yes, even the Cleggs). Ford's comedic moments in films could be somewhat corny and overdone but not here. It's a near perfect film. Joanne Dru is very sexy as Denver and used to much better advantage than in "Red River." I hope an excellent copy will be made available on dvd very soon.
A STORY OF PIONEERS October 6, 2007
John Ford and Ben Johnson. Every character seems sculpted in the legend of the West. Essential.
An Under Shown "Classic" July 10, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
According to Ronald L. Davis' biography of John Ford, "Wagon Master" was one of the great director's happiest pictures: `Ford had no big-name actors in the cast, no studio executives around and few visitors on the set. He was in a relaxed mood'. That exert from "John Ford: Hollywood's Old Master" defines WM. This reviewer cannot remember a more positive, feel good, optimistic Western. In the Ford Western genealogy, WM follows "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and precedes "Rio Grande". WM is a polar opposite of the far grimmer "Fort Apache". The supporting cast features Ford veterans Harry ("Dobe") Carey Jr., Alan Mowbray, Jane Darwell, Russell Simpson and Hank Worden. The leading roles are played by Ben Johnson and Ward Bond, a veritable Ford stalwart. Bond and Johnson lead a Mormon wagon train to the promised land of Utah. Both are well cast and play their roles to the max, especially BJ. There are the requisite troubles with Indians and nasty outlaws but milder than within the typical Western. James Arness and Worden (!) play black hats. The scenery around Moab, Utah shines right through the black and white background. No colorization required! More important is the sense of community and respect for the land, topics which permeate so many JF films. There is fine interwoven music from the Sons of the Pioneers and some nice dance scenes with tapping feet -shades of "My Darling Clementine". Didn't one of the Sons marry Ford's daughter? A good review doesn't reveal endings, but there is one more DC tease near the fadeout. Watch closely! WM may not qualify as a forgotten movie, but it is hardly over shown. Amazoners are encouraged to make the effort to view WM. If any Western will make a viewer smile, it is this one. Recommended!
 Tribute to Ben Johnson May 23, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
A simple little story of a group of Mormons,led by Ward Bond,enlisting the help of two horse traders,Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jnr,to get them to their Promised Land.
Along the way they bump into,a love interest,Joanne Dru,and as evil a bunch of Bad Guys, The Cleggs,including a young James Arness and one of the best western character actors ever, Hank Worden;; as your ever likely to see.
Directed by the genius that was John Ford,music by Stan Jones and the Sons of the Pioneers,set in the fabulous Arizona,Monument Valley landscape and scenery,and what have you got?
;;;;;;;;A CLASSIC WESTERN;;;;;;;;
Why is this classic not been given the;;Special Edition;;treatment on DVD?
Ben Johnson,s only lead role,Harry Carey has just turned 86 years of age,Ward Bond,Hank Worden and a gallery of great western character actors and actresses.Need i say more?
Davy,Westernnut from Scotland.
underrated August 26, 2005
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Perhaps because it has no big-name stars, this film is sadly underrated. But it is said to have been Ford's personal favorite among all his many films, and I don't think it's hard to see why. Even though it's supposedly about Mormons heading west, really it's a distillation of Ford's favorite themes: the archetypal confrontation of good and evil and the "rediscovery of Eden" in the American West (or Ireland...). The whole thing has the authentic simplicity of folk poetry, if you will, with wonderful songs by the Sons of the Pioneers and Ford's trademark great landscape shots. Silence is used very effectively when the camera registers groups of expectant faces before a confrontation (and Ford of course learned his trade during the silent era). It's funny, it creates effective dramatic friction between the various little bands of people roving around the desert (Mormons, horse dealers, "entertainers," outlaws, Indians), and Ben Johnson is just wonderfully understated as the wagonmaster. Who needs big stars with a performance like this? (Aside: Johnson was a rodeo star whom Ford recruited for films; he didn't make many films after this, but be sure to see him twenty years later turning in an equally fine and low-key performance in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show.) It's not an epic film like The Searchers, but I would place it among Ford's five best (with My Darling Clementine, Quiet Man, Searchers, and Liberty Valance).
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