Grade: B
Synopsis: A scout (John Wayne) leads a huge wagon train west from the Mississippi River.
The Big Trail is notable as John Wayne’s first starring role. While he radiates charisma, Wayne performance unfortunately feels wooden. His character talks too much and acts too little, a far cry from the laconic persona he would refine over the next nine years and bring to bear in the superior Stagecoach (1939). Still, Wayne’s performance in many ways mirrors the entire production, full of potential, but ultimately uneven.
This is a film brimming with realism. The clothes, the equipment, everything is well researched. Throw in some jaw-dropping visuals, such as hundreds of settlers lowering their wagons by rope down the side of a cliff, or driving through a huge rushing river during a rain storm, and even Lawrence of Arabia (1962) can’t match The Big Trail’s level of epic filmmaking. What’s even more amazing is that, in order to ensure as many theaters as possible would be able to show the film, director Raoul Walsh shot in both 70mm and 35mm formats, thus requiring that every sequence be shot twice!
Unfortunately, the characters themselves seem to get lost amidst the spectacle. The cookie-cutter roles are almost universally forgettable, and the dialog comes across as awkward and stilted. While Wayne appears quite confident despite the size of the production and his relative inexperience, he’s not yet able to single-handedly carry a picture the way he could later in his career.
Bottom Line: The Big Trail, if only for the sheer spectacle of its ambition, is worth watching, as you’ll never see a film like it. Recommended.
