Stagecoach

(John Ford, US 1939, 96 min., 35mm)

War, Myth, Desire. In making this film—often considered the first “adult” western—John Ford tells a story some have labeled Grand Hotel on wheels. He also introduced two elements that would be of great significance in his work. First, he launched John Wayne into national consciousness. Second, he introduced us to Monument Valley, the stunning Navajo territory of sandstone buttes and towers that would become iconic in this and eight later Ford pictures.