stagecoach

- Stagecoach has many elements of a typical western. The music creates suspense and there is a clear sense of the goodies vs the baddies. There are also many beautiful desert shots as well as many other long shots such as at the dinner table. However, the film has other elements which create much more depth.

- All the female characters are very strong. The men go out of their way to help them by moving chairs or serving dinner. This is a reversed role for a film made at this time. The ill woman (who is actually pregnant) faints, the two women pull together. The male characters at this point seem slightly useless, especially the doctor.

- There are also many characters to create humour, such as the alcoholic doctor, the useless driver and the etremely camp guy they call the reverend. This sucessfully balances out the tension in many scenes.

- Rings, who is described by all as imfamous, is the clear hero of the film. He is the rebel as well as the character who protects the others and keeps the peace. He is the voice of reason amoungst all the chaos.

- I found that the first act was over quite quickly, getting to the action quicker was probably the intent. However, I also noticed that the indians didnt appear until the very end. It was the fear of when they would arrive which made the film excitement and sucessfully built up tension.

- Being a western, Stagecoach deals with issues with race. The whole action surrounds the cowboys vs the indians - where the cowboys win despite being totall outnumberet at first. Also at one point one of the characters wifes was described as a `savage`.

- As well as action there are also touching and romantic scenes. One of my favorite moments was when Dallas was walking down a tunnel lit at the end when Ringo follows her. They bond over their tragic past and talk about the other womans baby, giving many levels to the character of ringo.

Stagecoach wouldnt be a typical western movie if it werent for its fantastic shoot-off. I found this was filmed very well and was clever as we dont actually see what has happened. We hear a bang, followed by the bad guy collapsing. We dont realise Ringo has won until the end which adds to his role as the ultimate hero.