The Covered Wagon (1923)

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:

A recording of the music for this film was made using the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. Some sources say the entire film was scored and recorded in this process, but other sources say only a couple of reels were recorded as an experiment. See also Bella Donna (1923).

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.