The Big Trail, a review by Antares
The Big Trail (1930)
76/100 - The real name of this film should be Western 101, because every trope that would be used in the making of westerns for the next four decades is incorporated, in some form, in this film. After the movie was over, I wondered how much better this would have been had it been made just three years later, once the transition to sound had been conquered. The Fox Grandeur process, which pre-dated Cinemascope by twenty years, reveals the beauty and wonder of the Wyoming frontier. Being a pre-code, the story pulls no punches in telling what it was like to be a pioneer, traveling thousands of miles, in hopes of a brighter future for a family. All the hardships, calamities and dangers of the wagon train are showcased well by Raoul Walsh, who must have had a devil of a time shooting a film in the two different processes used. He proves that he had a keen eye for framing, as there are an abundant amount of scenes where his blocking is magnificent. And I daresay, that John Ford studied this film, long and hard, because everything that came to be associated with Ford's vision of the Old West, is here, long before Ford made
Stagecoach or
The Searchers. But as majestic as the cinematography is, the film suffers from the same problems that almost all films did at the time. There's an overwhelming amount of grandiose posturing and stilted delivery of lines by most of the actors. The only actor who seems to be grounded properly is Tully Marshall, a forgotten, but talented character actor of the silent and early sound era. As for John Wayne, I can see why Walsh picked him for the lead. From head to toe, he looks the part of a wily, but shrewd trail scout. But what lets Wayne down is his rawness, tinged with a bit too much exuberance, and what appears to be a bit of a whine in his voice. It would take a six pack a day cigarette habit to age that voice into the steely bandsaw he would become famous for later on. He comes across as a rough diamond that needs to be polished. Unfortunately, that polishing would take close to three decades before his sparkle shown through. If you can get past the flaws and the rather slow, first thirty minutes, I think you can appreciate what Fox was trying to get on film. I liked it, it painted for me, a picture of what I think the west was like back in the 19th century.
Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is(From Antares' Short Summations on March 11th, 2015)
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May 18, 2024, 01:43:37 AM
