'STAGECOACH' (1966).........DON'T WAYNE ON THIS PARADE.......

Stagecoach (1966)  Cinema purists were quick to lob nuclear-powered insults at this one, crying "Sacrilege!" at the idea of re-making John Ford's classic 1939 western.........the film in which Ford forever established the western as a legitimate movie art form.......and made a star out of the young John Wayne, playing the heart-of-gold outlaw, The Ringo Kid.......

                  Okay, maybe it wasn't the best of ideas........but 20th Century Fox put this CinemaScope and Color re-do in the capable hands of that hard working jouneyman (and a BQ fave) Gordon Dougas, who started his career directing Laurel And Hardy and Little Rascals shorts...........

                   Remember, this is the guy who plowed ahead making Warner Brothers' "Them!" an immortal sci fi classic, even though studio sultan Jack L. Warner declared his disgust and hatred of the film.......(even after it became Warner Brothers top grossing titles of 1954)

                 So Douglas, ever the professional Hollywood workin' stiff, jumped right in and deftly handled a large cast with varying degrees of talent along with more than a few ambitiously brutal action sequences.......

                  We guess we're trying to say that we found a lot to like in this movie.......apart from its perceived blasphemy of re-making the John Ford.film, it's still a slickly crafted, entertaining adventure, the epitome of the Saturday Night Buttered Popcorn movies of it era.......

                   The good stuff includes.....

                   The Motley Crew Cast.........a stereotypical but oddly comforting collection of the movie western's most familiar 'characters'......the Crusty Sheriff (Van Heflin), the misunderstood outlaw (Alex Cord), the sweet whore (Ann-Margaret), the gentlemanly, lethal gambler (Mike Conners), the still virginal but somehow pregnant Cavalry bride (Stephanie Powers)the boozing disgraced doctor and his new best friend, the timid liquor salesman (Bing Crosby, Red Buttons)the nervous, cowardly embezzler (Robert Cummings) the boisterous stagecoach driver ( Slim Pickens) and waiting back in town, the ruthless villain (Keenen Wynn)accompanied by his equally murderous sons.....

                    Packed into the stagecoach or riding atop it, off they all go for a picturesque trip through some scenic midwest locations, interrupted by a howling , relentless group of bloodthirsty Indians. ...

                      And speaking of those Indians, early on, Gordon Douglas stages a vividly gory sequence where they massacre a U.S. Cavalry troupe.........(needless to say, through all the violence, some of our stagecoach passengers don't make it to the end of the film.......but not to worry, it's none of he ones we really come to root for......)

                     While "Stagecoach" is nowhere near the propulsive level of director Douglas's previous tough-as-nails western "Rio Conchos" (see our post on that one), it rolls along just fine.......and never misses a single corny, cliched  moment for each of its cast members.........this film was plainly designed for family viewing as opposed to the raw, rugged take-no-prisoners "Rio Conchos"....

                     The Jerry Goldsmith score.......no surprise here, it's brilliant, catchy, thrilling when required and as usual with Goldsmith scores, makes the movie seem much better than it actually is....

                     Norman Rockwell .......say what?  The beloved American illustrator-artist has something to do with this movie?  Sure does. He turns up in a bit role and whatever you do, don't miss the closing credits, which feature a gorgeous Rockwell portrait gallery of each of the cast members.....

                      As far as we're concerned it's another fine feather in the cap of Gordon Douglas, who spent a lifetime accepting big, daunting studio assignments and turning them into solid popcorn entertainment........Not the John Ford classic, but hugely enjoyable. 3 & 1/2 stars. (*** 1/2)