Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

JLRVancouver A couple of horse traders end up shepherding a group of Mormon homesteaders (and an errant "hoochie coochie show") across the desert to the San Juan River in Utah but trouble starts when they are joined by a gang of murderous bank robbers on the run from a posse. Unusual for a John Ford western, there is no 'big name star' (like Wayne or Fonda); the cast is primarily made of Ford's regular stock company. Ben Johnson is excellent as the affable and easy-going Travis Blue, as is Harry Carey, Jr. as Blue's younger, more emotive, sidekick Sandy Owens, and Ward Bond has fun with his role as a blustering but (barely) reformed sinner who has found Mormonism. The 'bad guys' are also excellent, with Charles Kemper as menacingly avuncular Shiloh Clegg and a hulking James Arness, Fred Libby and Mickey Simpson as his murderous nephews Floyd, Reese and Jesse. The fifth member of the gang, Luke, is played by Hank Worden as frighteningly 'off-kilter' and almost childlike (Wordon played the memorable "Mose" in Ford's masterpiece, "The Searchers", 1956). The film moves at a leisurely pace with more focus on the characters than on action and avoids (or disrupts) many of the standard Western elements, especially the pre-eminence of 'the gun'. The emphasis on pacifism (the Mormons are unarmed and neither of the 'heroes' are notable gunman) is unusual for the genre. Even the encounter with plains Indians is peaceful (the Navajo's preference for Mormons over 'white-men' in general is priceless). As always, Ford's Monument Valley cinematography is outstanding, and combined with a good story, excellent acting (especially by Johnson), fine horse work, and memorable characters, makes this one of Ford's best Westerns.

tieman64 An underrated western by John Ford, "Wagon Master" watches as a group of Mormons trek their way toward Utah. They're led by Travis Blue (Ben Johnson) and Sandy Owens (Harry Carey), a pair of horsemen who know the terrain well.As he does in "Drums Along the Mohawk", Ford sculpts "Master" into a giant statement on "what it means to be American". In this regard, Americans are portrayed as bands of ostracised folk who are "pushed out of town" and who must learn to "survive in the wilderness". Here a nation's endurance depends on ordinary folk learning to work together, reconcile disparate agendas, and deal tactfully with other cultures, groups and persons of an "unscrupulous disposition". For all its nods to consensus building, however, and despite its positive portrayal of American Indians (reversing the stance of Ford's "Mohawk"), the film ultimately defers to the law of the bullet; drift too far outside the community, and you will be shot.At its best, "Master" indulges in a number of beautifully relaxed, low-key sequences. These scenes watch as new communities are built, pioneering spirits mesh and different groups (Mormons, criminals, Indians, horse traders, lawmen, prostitutes and show-people) come together. As a jovial myth, the film works well, but there's something dubious about the way Ford's cohesiveness depends on "Wagon Master's" violent opening scene, in which the film's villains announce themselves as bloodthirsty bogeymen.7.5/10 - Worth one viewing.

Steffi_P The Western can be divided into many sub-genres. One of the broadest divisions is that between Town Westerns and Plains Westerns. Most Westerns are a mix of both, but at one end of the spectrum you have pictures like High Noon and Rio Bravo that take place almost entirely in a settlement, seldom venturing out into the real outdoors. At the other end you have ones like Wagon Master, where there is barely a homestead on view amid the wilderness.Director John Ford normally thrived on the "bit of both" Westerns, shooting the interiors with an emphasis on their being small and confined, and then contrasting this with the wide open exteriors, which appeared both exciting and dangerous. Wagon Master has a typical Frank Nugent script, with some interplay between seasoned oldsters and green youngsters, but still it presents Ford with some fresh challenges. In this picture, the dangers do not come from the harshness of the landscape, they come from within the group in the form of the Cleggses. What's more, the absence of real interior scenes means the outdoors could lose its impact over time.However, Ford was a real maestro when it came to manipulating space. He shoots scenes of the camp or the wagons so the frame is surrounded and we get that same sense of enclosure as we would in a genuine interior. Also, compared to his other Westerns, he does not in fact open out the space too much, having the wagon trail wend its way through canyons and passes rather than cross the stark and empty plains. One of the few moments where he does throw the landscape wide open is when the Indians are spotted and there is the possibility of a threat from outside.Wagon Master features some surprisingly effective moments of comic relief, and some great contributions from the quirky cast. Harry Carey Jr. was shaping up into a fine actor like his pa, and this is one of his better early roles. Joanne Dru was disappointing in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, but she appears more at ease as a character with a bit of sass, and is actually fairly good here. Jane Darwell, who won an Oscar in the John Ford-directed Grapes of Wrath a decade earlier, appears here with sole function of performing a running gag in which she sounds a feeble old horn. Still, with her great timing and movement she makes the piece work. Francis Ford, in one of the many mute drunkard roles he played in his little brother's pictures, is at his cheeky best.And now we come to lead man Ben Johnson. Although he was by no means a bad actor, he was never going to become a big star like John Wayne. And yet, with his effortless horsemanship and easygoing drawl, he was one of the most authentically "West" players around. And this brings me onto my final point. This was apparently one of Ford's personal favourites, despite it seeming fairly unassuming. Wagon Master has no grand theme or dramatic intensity, it is simply the genre playing itself out. I think this is what Ford loved about it. It's a picture for the Ben Johnsons and the Harry Carey Jrs, not the John Waynes or the Henry Fondas. Small in scope, but worthy in its class.

Martin Bradley This small John Ford western with no 'stars' but a cast of character actors is one of his masterpieces. It has a documentary-like feel to it as it traces the journey West of a party of Mormons and it may be the most authentic looking of all Ford's films, (it's on par with "The Sun Shines Bright" which he made a couple of years later).There is a plot of sorts, (a group of bank robbers join the wagon train at one point), but the film's dramatic highlights are almost incidental. The splendid performances of Ford's stock company, (Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr, Ward Bond, Jane Darwell etc), adds considerably to the film's authenticity while the nearest the film gets to a full-bodied star performance is Joanne Dru's Denver. Dru was a much finer actress than she was ever given credit for as were Bond and Johnson, who at least was finally awarded with the recognition of an Oscar for his work in "The Last Picture Show". As he said himself, 'It couldn't have happened to a nicer fella'. Add Bert Glennon's superb location photography and you have a genuine piece of Americana that couldn't have some from anyone other than Ford. This is a film that truly honors America's pioneers and is full of sentiment and feeling.