Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Stage Coach


 

1)   Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

    Stagecoach was directed by John Ford in 1939. At this time American Movie Making was at its greatest times. The trend of the time was serious and ambitious films. Popular movies were Citizen Kane; Gone with the Wind, and Wizard of Oz. John Ford specialized in Westerns, Social/ Protest Dramas, and Military; which is why he was told he would ruin his career because those were not the movies the people wanted to see at the time. Then came John Wayne who was a B-movie actor. He didn’t reach his fame until after Stagecoach. Beating out the expectations, Stagecoach brought back the relevance of westerns. This film was set in 1880 and consists of trips from Tonto to Lordsburgh. We spoke about the background of John ford. The structure of this film was the four scenes of action, which were short prologue, first part of trip, second part of trip, and the third part of trip. Then there were the four scenes of character interaction, which were the scene in Tonto, Dry Fork Way Station, Apache Wells Outpost, and Town of Lordsburgh. This film won best supporting actor (Thomas Mitchell), and received the best score for picture, director, black and white cinematography, interior decoration, and editing.  

 

2)    Find a related article and summarize the content.

    Stagecoach beat out all the gossip stagecoach and beliefs of Westerns after reinventing the western. Giving it a moral serious and durable form which changed the way westerns were portrayed for decades known as the first greatest western. The film had one of the greatest directors, John Ford and the most iconic star John Wayne. This film was about characterization, social commentary, and moral drama. This filmed was based on nine characters who came from all different backgrounds and played different roles in life, who were all on a bus traveling through a hostile Indian territory. The passengers of the bus consist of a prostitute, alcoholic doctor, whiskey salesman, and a pregnant woman. Although commonly they would have been criticized, these individuals were viewed in a more sympathetic and noble light.

 

 

3)    Apply the article to the film screened in class.

     As the movie started I thought that I wouldn’t make it through the film. After learning John Ford didn’t like the way John Wayne displayed his acting skills, I thought it was going to be a horrible film. The film however had its parts, some were good, and some were bad. The action scenes had me indulged, the way they were moving around I didn’t expect that so early in the film industry right then. The way that they directed this film was excellent, something different then what we were used to, but still good. The film displayed many cliché’s which I found interesting, one in particular, was the hooker who had the heart of gold and the lovable rummy; what I found funny.

 

4)       Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

    The film was not my favorite, as I am not interested in westerns. Although I did not like the film I have to say the production of the film was well put together, as well as the story line. The way that they put the different characters together was clever, it reminded me of when I take road trips on greyhound; you are on a bus with many people of different backgrounds. It was also funny how the prostitute had a heart, that is something seen a lot in film, and reality.

 

Bibliography


 

 

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM

1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) ( x ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) ( x ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4) ( x ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5) ( x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) ( x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.

8) ( x ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.

Name:_Nabilah Smith__ Date:__3/26/2013_

 

 

 

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