Wagon Master (1950)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Wagon Master (1950) – J. Ford

John Ford’s westerns focused on the benefits of bonding with a community vs. allowing people to exert their individuality when it comes to navigating the risks of the wilderness (although he also later implied that the constraints of civilisation could be burdensome and that something is lost when people subvert their will to the community).  Here, a wagon train of Mormons, led by Ward Bond’s Elder, needs to cross to their “promised land” in Utah – Monument Valley (or similar) is prominent.  The Mormons hire two young horse traders – Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. – to serve as wagon masters, guiding the expedition based on their knowledge of the terrain.  Along the way, they encounter a travelling medicine show, a gang of outlaws, and a group of Navajo.  To some degree, each of these encounters threatens the community but the challenges are all overcome, either by absorbing the newcomers into the existing community (Joanne Dru, Alan Mowbray and the medicine show), creating a (temporary) superordinate community (with the Navajo), or destroying the threat (Charles Kemper and his outlaw family).  Even the wagon masters themselves, who have been rugged individualists thus far, are eventually signed up for a commitment to family and community (if not necessarily to Mormonism).  Throughout the film, the spectacular landscapes do take centre stage and the film looks astonishing in beautiful black and white.  In comparison to other westerns of the time, Ford’s artistry shines through – a set of shots featuring portraits of the main players as they reach a long-sought-after river is simply glorious.