Stagecoach is an American Western film produced & directed by John Ford. It was the breakthrough role for John Wayne into movie stardom.
The story is about an Overland stagecoach that sets out across the untamed Arizona Territory in 1880 with a mixed assortment of characters. Passengers include an infamous outlaw, a drunk doctor, a prostitute, a whiskey salesman, the wife of an Army officer, a gambler, a bank manager, the local Marshall and the driver; Animosities and petty differences, and unexpected friendships, surface. The journey is complicated by the fact that Geronimo & his Apache warriors are on the warpath, and the stagecoach is not safe from their anger.
From Das Wiki:
"The film has long been recognized as an important work that transcends the Western genre. Philosopher Robert B. Pippin has observed that both the collection of characters and their journey "are archetypal rather than merely individual" and that the film is a "mythic representation of the American aspiration toward a form of politically meaningful equality."Screen play by Dudley Nichols. Run time: 1 Hr, 36 minutes.
In 1995, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry. Still, Stagecoach has not avoided controversy. Like most Westerns of the era, its depiction of Native Americans as simplistic savages has been criticized as clear evidence of racism."
Public domain; available on Youtub.