The Big Trail (1930)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writer:

Hal G. Evarts (story)

Release Date:

1 November 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Western | Romance

Tagline:

The Most Important Picture Ever Produced

Plot:

Breck Coleman leads hundreds of settlers in covered wagons from the Mississippi River to their destiny out West.

Plot Keywords:

Cliff | Mississippi | Desert | Settler | Wagon Train

Awards:

1 win

Cast

John Wayne	...	Breck Coleman
Marguerite Churchill	...	Ruth Cameron
El Brendel	...	Gus, comical Swede
Tully Marshall	...	Zeke, Coleman's sidekick
Tyrone Power Sr.	...	Red Flack, wagon boss (as Tyrone Power)
David Rollins	...	Dave 'Davey' Cameron
Frederick Burton	...	Pa Bascom (conducts prayer, wedding)
Ian Keith	...	Bill Thorpe, Louisiana gambler
Charles Stevens	...	Lopez, Flack's henchman
Louise Carver	...	Gus's mother-in-law

Runtime:

125 min (35 mm version) | 158 min (70 mm version) | 120 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Certification:

Australia:G | New Zealand:PG | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Dunes, Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Incredibly, five different versions of this film were shot simultaneously. (1) a 70mm version in the Grandeur process for exhibition in the biggest movie palaces; (2) a standard 35mm version for general release; (3) a 35mm alternate French language version La piste des géants (1931)' (4) a 35 mm alternate Spanish language version La gran jornada (1931), and (5) a 35 mm alternate German language version Die große Fahrt (1931). The three alternate language versions were shot with (mostly) different casts.

Quotes:

Caption: Dedicated to the men and women who planted civilization in the wilderness and courage in the blood of their children.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

When It's Harvest Time in Peaceful Valley

Trailblazing,.....sort of

John Wayne is one of the few players in film history to have failed at his first big break and then succeed on the second time around. Of course everyone knows the second time was the classic Stagecoach with John Ford directing.

But we're here to talk about The Big Trail. John Ford's fellow director Raoul Walsh spotted this tall kid on the set of one of Ford's films and thought he had potential. He wanted to make him the lead in a big budget western that Fox was planning to do. The film as planned would be an homage to the famous classic silent western The Covered Wagon.

In watching The Big Trail I was struck by how similar Wayne's character of Breck Coleman here is to the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach. Both characters were likable young cowpokes, but both were also on a mission of vengeance. And of course both films were done on location and show the expense in making them. No studio product here with a backlot western set.

I also don't think that it was an accident that Wayne got this break at the beginning of the sound era. Raoul Walsh, I'm guessing looked around Hollywood and probably didn't think a whole lot of movie cowboys would have staying power in sound. That's something else Walsh spotted in Wayne.

According to what I've read The Big Trail flopped because after spending all that money to make the film in an early wide screen process, some genius at Fox realized that their theaters weren't equipped with the wide screen to show it. And when the Great Depression hit there would be no money to widen those screens at Fox movie houses. So The Big Trail got a limited release, even in what we would call a formatted version, and lost money big for Fox films.

Marguerite Churchill is fine as the crinoline heroine who Duke wins, loses and wins again from Ian Keith. Keith, Charles Stevens and F. Tyrone Power are the trio of villains Wayne has to deal with.

F. Tyrone Power is the father of the famous movie legend Tyrone Power. He was a big burly man with a grand background in classic roles on screen and on stage. I wouldn't be surprised if his son who would have been 15 at the time might not have been hanging around the set.

Also look for Ward Bond though you might have trouble spotting him under a big bushy beard.

Watching The Big Trail now it is interesting to speculate where John Wayne's career might have gone if The Big Trail had been a big hit.