The Big Trail

The Big Trail
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRaoul Walsh
Screenplay byJack Peabody
Marie Boyle
Florence Postal
Fred Serser
Story byHal G. Evarts
Based onThe California and Oregon Trail
1849 book
by Francis Parkman, Jr.
Produced byRaoul Walsh
StarringJohn Wayne
Marguerite Churchill
El Brendel
CinematographyLucien Andriot
Arthur Edeson
Edited byJack Dennis
Music by(all uncredited)
R. H. Bassett
Peter Brunelli
Alfred Dalby
Arthur Kay
Jack Virgil
Production
company
Fox Film Corporation
Distributed byFox Film Corporation
Release date
  • November 1, 1930 (1930-11-01)
Running time
122 min. 70mm version
108 min. 35mm version
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,250,000[1]

The Big Trail is a 1930 American epic pre-Code Western early widescreen film shot on location across the American West starring 23-year-old John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh. It is the final completed film to feature Tyrone Power Sr. before his death in 1931, as well as his only sound role.

In 2006, the United States Library of Congress deemed this film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry, saying "the plot of a trek along the Oregon Trail is aided immensely by the majestic sweep provided by the experimental 70mm Grandeur wide-screen process used in filming".[2][3][4]

  1. ^ Motion Picture News, May 24, 1930
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2006NFR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Librarian of Congress Adds Home Movie, Silent Films and Hollywood Classics to Film Preservation List". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 19, 2020.