Wagon Master

For other uses, see Wagon Master (disambiguation).

Wagon Master
Color poster. The word "WAGON" sweeps across the middle of the poster, with the word "MASTER" below it; just above there is text in smaller font that reads "John Ford and Merian C. Cooper present". Several scenes from the film are painted around the text, including a woman affectionately looking down at a kneeling man, a shootout with one man standing, holding a pistol, and several men falling or lying on the ground, and two covered wagons being pulled by galloping and rearing horses. At the top left there is text reading "John Ford's lusty successor to 'Fort Apache' and 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'". The credit block at the bottom reads "Ben Johnson - Joanne Dru - Harry Carey, Jr. - Ward Bond", with "Directed by John Ford" in larger font at the right. In smaller lettering, nearer the bottom, the poster has another line of credits "and Charles Kemper - Alan Mowbray - Jane Darwell".
1950 theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Ford
Written byPatrick Ford
Frank S. Nugent
Produced byJohn Ford
Merian C. Cooper
Starring
CinematographyBert Glennon (director of photography)
Edited byJack Murray
Music byRichard Hageman
Production
company
Distributed byRKO-Radio Pictures Inc.
Release date
  • April 22, 1950 (1950-04-22) (US)[1]
Running time
86 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Navajo
Spanish

Wagon Master is a 1950 American Western film produced and directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond. The story follows a Mormon pioneer wagon train across treacherous desert to the San Juan River in Utah.[2][3] The film inspired the US television series Wagon Train (1957–1965), which starred Bond until his death in 1960.[4] The film was a personal favorite of Ford himself, who told Peter Bogdanovich in 1967 that "Along with The Fugitive and The Sun Shines Bright, Wagon Master came closest to being what I wanted to achieve."[5] While the critical and audience response to Wagon Master was lukewarm on its release, over the years numerous critics have come to view it as one of Ford's masterpieces.

  1. ^ "Wagon Master: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Franklin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dirks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jackson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bogdanovich was invoked but never defined (see the help page).