Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Scott LeBrun Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. play Travis and Sandy, two amiable young horse traders who eventually agree to act as guides for a Mormon procession heading for San Juan. Along the way, they will encounter an outlaw gang, headed by Uncle Shiloh (Charles Kemper), a medicine show including the lovely "Denver" (Joanne Dru) and a dubious "doctor" (Alan Mowbray), and a tribe of Navajo Indians.There's also lots of enticing scenery in this John Ford Western, which benefits from its plethora of entertaining characters, story twists, and moral dilemmas. This is the earliest film so far in which this viewer has watched Johnson and Carey, and it's fun to see them looking so young. The two Western veterans display a natural chemistry and each show off an easygoing charm. They are also backed up by some great supporting players: Ward Bond as the Mormon elder who is more or less leading the procession, Jane Darwell as the upbeat Sister Ledyard, Ruth Clifford as Fleuretty, Russell Simpson as uptight elder Adam Perkins, James Arness and Hank Worden as members of Shilohs' gang, and the legendary Indian athlete Jim Thorpe as the leader of the Navajos.There a handful of songs crooned by the Sons of the Pioneers, and while some of them may indeed be a bit "schmaltzy", there's some truly catchy music as well. Bert Glennons' black & white cinematography is excellent, Fords' storytelling (the screenplay is by his son Patrick and Frank S. Nugent, based on his own story) is efficient and compelling, and the pacing just right throughout.Ford offers no preamble, diving in headfirst by showing the Uncle Shiloh gang in action, and keeps us involved through a modest but delightful film running a trim 86 minutes.Seven out of 10.

Michael_Elliott Wagon Master (1950)*** (out of 4) Drifters (Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr.) ride into a small town to sell their horses when they come across a group of Mormons being ran out of town. The Mormons are planning to head out West in hopes of finding their new living grounds and they ask the drifters to lead them. On their journey they will struggle to find water, come across Indians and come across a ruthless family out to do them harm. This certainly isn't your typical Ford Western but all the differences here really set it apart and make it rather refreshing when compared that what type of film Ford usually delivered. Both Johnson and Carey aren't brave men and they don't even drink, draw their guns or fight back. The Mormons aren't seen as some sort of fanatics but instead of good people out to do good with their lives. The Indians aren't shown to be drunken savages but instead kind people who are friendly with the Mormons because the two groups share hatred from "white" men. We even get a rather good soundtrack featuring some country songs by Sons of the Pioneers. If you showed someone this film and didn't tell them who the director was it's very doubtful many people would guess Ford even though some of his troop members are on hand. Both Johnson and Carey are very good in their roles as they both fit them quite nicely and they share some good chemistry together and their comic timing is also quite good together. Ford regular Ward Bond gets one of his best roles as the leader of the Mormon group. Bond was also given nice, small roles but the part here is very large and has so much to do and the actor doesn't let the opportunity slip by. He really comes across well as this leader just wanting his people to reach a better place. Joanne Dru is good as his daughter and even Jim Thorpe appears as one of the Indians. Charles Kemper steals the film as the villain, the father of a group of thugs who end up taking over the Mormon people for their own greedy needs. This guy is such a creep that I can't help but rank him right up there with some of the most memorable villains I've ever seen. Just the way he carries himself and that awfully sinister way he talks makes him one you can't help but hate. James Arness plays one of the sons. The film features some rather awkward comedy bits. Some of these work while others fall flat and seem out of place. The one that does work happens early on when Bond jokes about certain myths surrounding the Mormon faith. Another nice bit is a couple of the guys getting into a fight over what type of religion is correct. WAGON MASTER really isn't considered one of Ford's best films because it isn't. It is an entertaining and it stands out from the other Westerns the legendary director was making and if you're a fan then it's certainly worth checking out.

Steffi_P The Western can be divided into many sub-genres. One of the broadest divisions is that between Town Westerns and Plains Westerns. Most Westerns are a mix of both, but at one end of the spectrum you have pictures like High Noon and Rio Bravo that take place almost entirely in a settlement, seldom venturing out into the real outdoors. At the other end you have ones like Wagon Master, where there is barely a homestead on view amid the wilderness.Director John Ford normally thrived on the "bit of both" Westerns, shooting the interiors with an emphasis on their being small and confined, and then contrasting this with the wide open exteriors, which appeared both exciting and dangerous. Wagon Master has a typical Frank Nugent script, with some interplay between seasoned oldsters and green youngsters, but still it presents Ford with some fresh challenges. In this picture, the dangers do not come from the harshness of the landscape, they come from within the group in the form of the Cleggses. What's more, the absence of real interior scenes means the outdoors could lose its impact over time.However, Ford was a real maestro when it came to manipulating space. He shoots scenes of the camp or the wagons so the frame is surrounded and we get that same sense of enclosure as we would in a genuine interior. Also, compared to his other Westerns, he does not in fact open out the space too much, having the wagon trail wend its way through canyons and passes rather than cross the stark and empty plains. One of the few moments where he does throw the landscape wide open is when the Indians are spotted and there is the possibility of a threat from outside.Wagon Master features some surprisingly effective moments of comic relief, and some great contributions from the quirky cast. Harry Carey Jr. was shaping up into a fine actor like his pa, and this is one of his better early roles. Joanne Dru was disappointing in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, but she appears more at ease as a character with a bit of sass, and is actually fairly good here. Jane Darwell, who won an Oscar in the John Ford-directed Grapes of Wrath a decade earlier, appears here with sole function of performing a running gag in which she sounds a feeble old horn. Still, with her great timing and movement she makes the piece work. Francis Ford, in one of the many mute drunkard roles he played in his little brother's pictures, is at his cheeky best.And now we come to lead man Ben Johnson. Although he was by no means a bad actor, he was never going to become a big star like John Wayne. And yet, with his effortless horsemanship and easygoing drawl, he was one of the most authentically "West" players around. And this brings me onto my final point. This was apparently one of Ford's personal favourites, despite it seeming fairly unassuming. Wagon Master has no grand theme or dramatic intensity, it is simply the genre playing itself out. I think this is what Ford loved about it. It's a picture for the Ben Johnsons and the Harry Carey Jrs, not the John Waynes or the Henry Fondas. Small in scope, but worthy in its class.

rooster_davis I don't think I really have any spoilers in here but since I do describe a couple of funny scenes, I'll check the box saying 'might contain spoilers' just to be on the safe side. Now...I hardly know where to start. By now you know the basic outline of the story - horse traders Travis (Ben Johnson) and Sandy (Harry Carey Jr.) take the job of guiding a Mormon wagon train West to their 'promised land' and along the way encounter a variety of trials and interesting characters, most notably the outlaw Clegg family.Anyone can enjoy this movie. You don't have to be a fan of Westerns to like this one. For one thing, Johnson and Carey are two of the most quickly likable characters you'll see in any movie. Carey in particular is animated and outgoing, almost like a big kid - while Johnson is a little calmer and wiser, kind of like an older-brother figure. I get a kick out of the scene where they sell the sheriff one of their 'gentle horses' for ten dollars; then inform him that the horse has "some peculiarities - you might say failings"... Travis elbows Sandy who lets loose with a shrill whistle, sending the sheriff's new horse off on a wild bucking fit with him in the saddle. The look on his face as the horse finally dumps him and gallops away is priceless.Pay attention to the music... even if you never thought you'd be a fan of the Sons of the Pioneers, listen to "Shadows in the Dust" as the wagon train is shown in motion with some of the people walking along between the wagons. It's a truly beautiful song- too bad only half a minute or so of it is in the movie. I want to hear the whole thing sometime.One thing that impressed me greatly about this movie is that much of it must have been almost as hard to make as the real situation it portrays. Teams of six horses pulling wagons up steep mountain trails, straining to make the top - this was no simple and easy film. It must have been risky for the actors, the stunt people and the animals as well. Fording rivers too, this movie has plenty of authentic-looking action involving the movement of the wagon train. It should be mentioned that both Harry Carey Jr. and Ben Johnson were extremely competent riders, both with many years' experience riding, roping, and doing all manner of cowboy-type things. Carey grew up on a ranch where his family employed many Navaho Indians and in fact he learned to speak Navaho before he learned to speak English. No rhinestone cowboys in this movie - "Travis" and "Sandy" were the real thing through and through.Watch for the scene when Miss Denver throws out the pan of water from her wagon, hitting Travis's horse in the face... the horse starts bucking, eventually throwing him off it. Watch the look on Sandy's face when Denver tells Travis 'I'm sorry you fell off your horse.' Another favorite scene of mine is when Harry Carey Jr. (Sandy) gets into a bit of a tiff with one of the Mormons. They're working back to back getting their gear ready, and after Sandy gets disgusted with the other fellow, the two of them get into a rear-end bumping match that quickly turns into a rolling-around-on-the-ground fist fight. Even after the Elder (Ward Bond) stands them up and separates them, the two combatants continue trying to get at each other. The Mormon (named 'Jackson' in the film) gets one final kick in at Sandy so high it hits his shoulder. It's a really funny scene from start to finish. I don't know what else I can say about this movie other than that it has a good story, very engaging characters, beautiful scenery and plenty of action balanced with humor and a bit of drama. Oh, it has been colorized, at least in the version I saw; not the most beautiful color film you'll ever see but I think I prefer it to black and white. I give this one a ten and I don't give out many 10's. One of my favorite movies, without a doubt. And, judging by the other comments, I have plenty of company in that assessment.