Wagon Master

[poliphilo]

Wagon Master is the quintessence of John Ford. All his favourite things distilled into one short, almost plotless western. It's very beautiful. A Wordsworthian lyric about high rocks and fast rivers and simple human decency.

Comments

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Did you see Westerns on Saturdays as a child, or is that an American phenomenon?

I didn't care about the plot, which was always the same anyway; I liked the sounds--the horses snorting and galloping; the click of forks on willow-ware plates in the general's headquarters as stern officers argued and read letters or maps (I liked the sound of the papers being rustled, too); the yelling of the Indians.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The British public loved westerns.

There's a great little comedy film from the late 50s (Peter Sellers and Margaret Rutherford are in it)called the Smallest Show on Earth- all about a run-down provincial cinema that gets by on old westerns.

I didn't go to the movies on saturdays (I guess I didn't live near enough to a movie house) but lots of other people did.

I got my westerns off the TV mainly. Rawhide was my favourite.