Stagecoach (1939) and Bend of the River (1952)

This past summer I watched two great westerns, both of them involving journeys through dangerous terrain.

First, Stagecoach from 1939. Numerous characters with various personalities and backgrounds are forced to travel together, including a prostitute (Claire Trevor) and John Wayne who loves her despite her background. Thomas Mitchell won the Oscar for Outstanding Supporting Actor as the drunken doctor. He's hilarious especially all his banter with Donald Meek who plays a whiskey salesman. Then there's Andy Devine as the stage driver; he has some of the funniest lines. And then there's a funny scene when the stagecoach makes a stop at the way station and Meek is startled by an Apache and screams "is that a savage?" The Mexican innkeeper says, "Yes, that's my wife. She's a little savage". LOL There have been a few other versions made after this one as well. Directed by John Ford.

Another blog review from Wide Screen World (June 2020):

Then I caught up with Bend of the River at a local revival screening. I always enjoy seeing a Jimmy Stewart film on screen. Set in the 1840s/Gold-Rush era, Jimmy plays a cowboy with a checkered past who's hired to lead a group of settlers (including Julie Adams) westbound. During the journey, the wagon train survives a harsh indian attack and we meet a friend of Jimmy's played by Arthur Kennedy, who romances Julie and steals her away from Jimmy (but not for too long!).  The movie starts to get a bit more complicated when the group stops in Portland and we meet a gambler played by Rock Hudson; the biggest laugh from the crowed in the theater came when Rock eschews the flirtations from a female admirer. In the second act of the film, the wagon train has to deliver loads of food to a new settlement for the winter, and few of the hired hands (including Harry Morgan) conspire to make off with the goods. It's an exciting movie, but not as much comedic relief as Stagecoach. The character providing the most comic relief comes from Stepin Fetchit who plays a riverboat assistant. In the end, Jimmy redeems himself in the eyes of anyone who found him untrustworthy, including Julie's dad, who disapproved of him until the very end. Shot on location in Oregon. Also starring Francis Bavier ("Aunt Bea"). Directed by Anthony Mann.

A blog post from Just Hit Play here

Spencer Tracy in Dante's Inferno (1935)

Henry B. Walthall is the moral center of the film; in the film, his character loves Dante's Inferno and creates a museum exhibit devoted to it.

Spencer Tracy, in a swell performance, plays a man who learns some important lessons in life from Dante's The Divine Comedy: INFERNO. The film is known for a 10-minute sequence showing a visual interpretation of hell, including people burning at the stake, falling off cliffs into a river of fire, and more. It's all in glorious black-and-white; combined with the haunting musical score, it's a very impressive and thrilling sequence worthy of an Oscar for Visual Effects - they are really impressive. Here's a video clip of the Hell sequence.

More on the film (some spoilers): The film begins with images of fire and smoke. Then the camera slowly pans out and we realize we are looking at burning coal. Tracy plays a sailor assigned to the boiler room on a luxury cruise liner. Some hoity-toity socialites look down at the men and start laughing. Carter looks up to a snickering woman and thinks to himself, "sister, one day I'm going to be up there laughing". 

He soon gets fired, and finds work in a carnival sideshow tent. He soon gets fired again, and is almost arrested when he is sitting at a beverage stand and cannot pay for his drink. A kindly old man (Henry B. Walthall, who was also in Birth of a Nation and Judge Priest) offers to pay for the drink. Carter is impressed and takes a liking to him, discovering that the old man (or "pop" as he's called) runs his own sideshow at the fair, which is sort of a run-down museum called "Dante's Inferno". Pop gives Carter a tour of the exhibit which features well known historical figures whose lives were doomed: Alexander the great, Cleopatra, etc. Carter likes the museum but notices no one is buying tickets. With a gift of gab, Carter steps up and "sells hell" (he says, "if there's one thing I know something about, it's hell!"). 

After assuming the role as master showman, the museum exhibit becomes a hit. He also falls in love with Claire Trevor, who plays Pop's daughter and employee of the exhibit. She and carter soon get married and have a baby. Then Carter expands the museum into a much bigger attraction with a live theatrical show, rides, and more. In one interesting sequence, someone tries to commits suicide in the exhibit by jumping off a ledge and everyone thinks it's part of the show; it then becomes an even bigger hit. In a montage sequence we learn that Carter builds an empire out of amusement parks all over the world. The adorable child actor who plays Carter's son is played by Scotty Beckett (1929-1968). 

One day an inspector comes to warn Carter that the exhibit is not stable and is in a dangerous condition; Carter bribes the inspector to keep quiet about it. Soon the entire structure falls apart and Pop is injured. (The inspector commits suicide.) 

Pop wakes up in a hospital room and asks for his favorite poem: Dante's Inferno. He shows it to Carter - this is when the 10-minute sequence of hell begins. Carter is warned, but when he and his wife are called to testify in court, both of them lie  - Carter to save himself, and his wife to save their child. 

The couple separates for awhile, and in the grand finale, Carter attends the maiden voyage of his luxury cruise, which becomes a disaster: the guests all get drunk, the substitute boiler room workers become drunk and rowdy, and Carter's little boy finds his way on the ship. A fire is started and soon spreads throughout the ship. The climax is a thrilling fight for survival, and Carter is back in the boiler room trying to save the ship. 

In the end he is reunited with Claire Trevor. Carter, now a business failure, says to his wife, "all I have to offer you is my love". She says, "that's all I ever wanted".

I highly recommend this film, but it is difficult to find. This film is not available on DVD yet but I hope one day it is. I saw it at a revival house on a couple of occasions. 

Directed by Harry Lachman.

Here are a few other reviews of the film:

Black Hole Reviews - Dante's Inferno

Movie Classics - Dante's Inferno

Mystery File - Dante's Inferno

Retro Vintage Photography

Dead End (1937)

Great cast and performances. Based on the play by Lillian Hellman, who also wrote the screenplay. Takes place in a slum neighborhood in New York. First, we're introduced to a gang of hoodlums. This group of actors appeared again in some other pictures, so they were dubbed, "The Dead End Kids". Silvia Sidney plays the sister of one of them; she's struggling to keep food on the table for herself and the kid. Her political activism and her brother's delinquency causes her endless stress. She vents to her friend Joel McCrea, a former gang member who is now a struggling architect, looking for work and waiting for his big break. In comes Humphrey Bogart, also a former "Dead End" kid, now wanted by the law. His character - Baby Face Martin - has plastic surgery and becomes unrecognizable. He hangs around the neighborhood and tries to reconcile with his mother (played by Marjorie Main) - who wants nothing to do with him - and his ex-girlfriend played by Claire Trevor, now a sick and broke prostitute. Ms. Trevor's one 5-minute scene with Bogart was so powerful and memorable with audiences that she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Feeling completely depressed and rejected, Bogart attempts to kidnap of the neighborhood rich kids for ransom, but is shot down at the end, which provides' the film moral lesson, which McCrea explains to one of the kids - stay off the streets. The Dead End Kids steal this movie with every scene they are in. Silvia Sidney is very powerful and moving as well, and also deserving of a nomination. Bogart is perfect as the gangster. Silvia Sidney gets top billing, though. Bogart had not yet made his mark. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by William Wyler. Ward Bond plays one of the cops.

Read More about the Dead End Kids from the blog FilmFiles.

Dawn has written a great review of this movie on her blog.