Of Sitcoms and Dead Horses

Film: Stagecoach
Year: 1939
Where I Saw It: Netflix

If you're not a fan of Westerns, I'd still give this one a chance.  It's John Wayne's first major hit film and it's kind of neat to see a young version of him.  The story's about a stagecoach carrying a bunch of people from different backgrounds across Indian territory.  All the classic stereotypes are there, the greedy banker, the drunk, the hero with a slightly dirty past but still has a heart of gold, (guess which one John plays).  Throw in a pregnant girl and you've got one stagecoach packed with subplots (also you have one hell of an idea for a sitcom...  I'd call it Three's Company And Also There's A Pregnant Lady).

As I said, if you're not a fan of Westerns, after John Wayne's character is introduced, you should fast forward to the end if you're not intrigued and watch the last fight scene.  The stagecoach is barreling towards it's final destination and the Indians are all around trying to kill them.  This scene features some of the best horse rider stunt work I've ever seen.  One guy gets shot off one of the lead horses pulling the stagecoach and falls between the horses, allowing the rest of the horses to pass on either side of him and the stagecoach over him.  You can almost see him praying the stunt will work.

I've never understood though why the Indians don't just shoot the horses.  Seems like a no brainer to me.  Stagecoach can't go anywhere without horses pulling it.  Or even some of the horses.  There's a lot of people on that stagecoach.  They would only have to kill four out of ten horses.  Six horses carrying all those people plus four dead horses because they're tied in?  Pfft.  Forget about it.  Game over.  Roll credits.

One Last Point - Does anyone have ten horses?  I wanna try this out.

Thanks for reading! - Scott Scene