Tonight's Movie: The Big Trail (1930) at the Lone Pine Film Festival

There was a big crowd for THE BIG TRAIL (1930), the Friday evening "keynote film" at this year's Lone Pine Film Festival.

THE BIG TRAIL was directed by Raoul Walsh...

...and stars a very young John Wayne:

Wayne was 23 when this film was released in the fall of 1930.

THE BIG TRAIL is unique in that it was filmed in an early form of widescreen called Grandeur; add in that the film was made largely on location, in the early days of sound, and the movie is a technical marvel. The movie was filmed in several states including Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and California.

Unfortunately the widescreen version, filmed by Arthur Edeson, had a very limited release, as most theaters in the Depression era weren't technically equipped to show it; instead most theaters screened a 35mm version filmed simultaneously by Lucien Andriot.

I was fortunate enough to see the movie in its widescreen format at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as a teenager; a look into my "archives" provided the information that it was seen on my birthday in 1978, to be exact!

Some notes I made in 1978 indicated that while I was impressed with the movie from a technical perspective, I found the film creaky, especially the narrative cards, and wasn't impressed with Wayne's early performance.

Although I have the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD and have seen the featurettes, I hadn't ever rewatched the movie itself until last weekend, and what a difference 40 years makes! My perspective on the movie was entirely different, and I found it a major festival highlight.

This time around, having seen many more silent and early sound films in the intervening years, I was more used to the wording style for the narrative cards and found them "of the era" rather than hokey. What's more, Wayne's charisma jumped off the screen at me; he commands the eye in every scene he's in -- which, fortunately, is most of the movie.

Seeing it in 2018, my heart warmed to things like Ward Bond appearing onscreen in a small role as one of the pioneers, and I appreciated that leading lady Marguerite Churchill would in 1933 become the wife of an actor who's become a huge favorite of mine in recent years, George O'Brien. It was also great to have the opportunity to see Tyrone Power Sr.  playing a villain.

THE BIG TRAIL presents a very simple story in majestic fashion, told over the course of two hours and five minutes. Ruth Cameron (Churchill) and her younger siblings Dave (David Rollins) and "Honey Girl" (Helen Parrish) set out for Oregon in a large wagon train. Con artist Bill Thorpe (Ian Keith) tries to entice Ruth away from the wagon train by telling her he owns a large plantation, but fortunately she sticks to her plan to head west. Headstrong Ruth is frequently in conflict with equally determined guide Breck Coleman (Wayne), but their bickering hides a growing attraction for one another as they doggedly follow the trail west.

Watching the wagon train cross daunting locations, including rivers and cliffs, with massive numbers of extras and livestock, is as close as I suspect one could get to time traveling. Certainly, it's all staged for the cameras, but other than a couple of nicely done background plates, this is all very real and rugged, and one wonders if the cast and animals were in genuine danger at certain points; I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

Moreover, although 1930 was close to a century after the first pioneers on the Oregon Trail, it gives the modern viewer pause thinking how much closer in time this was made to the events depicted, as we inch toward being 200 years on from the early pioneers.

Individual scenes have great power, whether it's wagons being lowered down over cliffs by rope, while the pioneers slide down themselves; a river crossing which overturns wagons; or a simple scene with a dog lying down and not leaving a grave when the dead are buried after an Indian attack. (I found myself worrying that the dog never left and died there!)

Also in the cast: Tully Marshall, El Brendel, Frederick Burton, Charles Stevens, and a cast of hundreds!

Patrick Wayne had been scheduled to appear but was forced to withdraw due to illness. Hopefully he can appear at a future festival! In his place Westerns historian Rob Word (below at right) joined (left to right) Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies, Wayne biographer Scott Eyman, and film historian Ed Hulse to discuss the movie's history and its place in Wayne's career.

THE BIG TRAIL did not do well at the box office, and between that and John Ford being displeased that his protege Wayne had taken the role, Wayne spent most of the '30s in what some jokingly call his "purgatory years," working at Poverty Row studios.

It was discussed that these years were actually a net benefit to Wayne's career, as he worked very hard, not only learning his craft but the ins and outs of the filmmaking process and studio system. He was constantly on the lookout for ways to improve a script and was not shy about approaching the director with ideas to beef up his roles. By the time Ford decided to cast Wayne in STAGECOACH (1939) he was more than ready, and a true star was born.

It was also shared that it's believed Wayne and Churchill had an on-set romance, and for the rest of her life she would be "girlish" when around the Duke.

After a great evening it was time to head back to the Dow Villa Motel and rest up for Saturday.

Coming soon: A look at the four films seen on Saturday, plus meeting Robert Wagner!