The Covered Wagon (1923)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

James Cruze

Writers:

Emerson Hough (novel)
Jack Cunningham (adaptation)

Release Date:

8 September 1924 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Indian Attacks, Prairie Fires, Fording of Swollen Streams, a Great Buffalo Hunt, Dramatic Situations Galore---All Go to Make Up "The Covered Wagon"

Plot:

Two wagon caravans converge at what is now Kansas City, and combine for the westward push to Oregon...

Plot Keywords:

Partially Lost Film | Ménage À Trois | Based On Novel

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

J. Warren Kerrigan	...	Will Banion
Lois Wilson	...	Molly Wingate
Alan Hale	...	Sam Woodhull
Ernest Torrence	...	William Jackson
Tully Marshall	...	Jim Bridger
Ethel Wales	...	Mrs. Wingate
Charles Ogle	...	Jesse Wingate
Guy Oliver	...	Kit Carson
Johnny Fox	...	Jed Wingate
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Cruze	...	Indian (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent | De Forest Phonofilm

Certification:

Portugal:17 (director's cut)

Filming Locations:

Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Company:

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation

Trivia:

Although there are scenes that show huge buffalo herds with what looks like thousands of animals, large buffalo herds didn't exist at the time this film was made (1923). The buffalo had been hunted almost to extinction during the late 19th century, with millions of them being slaughtered, and its numbers hadn't yet increased enough to comprise large herds. Cameraman Karl Brown used small lead castings of various sizes of buffalo, placed the larger ones toward the camera and used diminishing sizes in the background for depth. All the castings were mounted on a series of moving chains, those in the rear moving very slowly while the rows of chains moved increasingly faster as they neared the foreground. The castings were hinged so that they moved with an undulating motion, which made them appear to be actual buffalo running. The chains were placed out of view and the mechanical buffalo were placed in front of a painted background containing distant buffalo. The result was a scene of "thousands" of buffalo, when in reality most of them were basically statues.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Movie Memories (1935)

Circle the Wagons

The first great western epic, The Covered Wagon established many of the cliches that appear in many subsequent westerns, both "A" and "B" features alike.

Here for the first time, we have the wagon train of eastern settlers trekking west in search of a new land and a new start. We have the circling of the wagons in preparation for the Indian attack, the attack itself and the ride to the rescue of the besieged wagons.

Cruze captures the feel of what a real wagon train journey must have been like. The long lines of slow moving covered wagons, the dusty trails, life and death situations on the prairie, as well as the celebrations around the campfire.

The sub-plot of boy-girl-villain is "B" western calibre, however, the players carry it of admirably. J. Warren Kerrigan as the hero is adequate but not memorable. The lovely Lois Wilson as the heroine and a young Alan Hale as the villain are much better. It is curious that the Cruze portrayed legendary mountain man Jim Bridger (Tully Marshall) as an absent-minded, liquor swilling comedy relief.

The ending is strictly Hollywood. Boy gets girl of course and the villain is defeated, but I thought that the final shoot-out left a little to be desired.

Despite its apparent faults, The Covered Wagon remains today as powerful a film as it must have been in 1923.