Why did they hate Dallas
They never said why im thinking maybe she was a prostitute can somebody tell me.
share[deleted]
MovieChat Forums > Stagecoach (1939) Discussion > Why did they hate Dallas
I believe she was a prostitute.
sharethey hated her because she was a prostitute, they even ran her out of town!
shareNot getting into the morality of it or the wisdom of the screenwriter's choice or the big bad code, but did the Wayne character know that Dallas was a prostitute? It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I always wondered, not that it is particularly important.
(I just now (after making this post) looked up Stagecoach at this fine site: http://www.filmsite.org/momentsindx.html So now it looks like I can answer my own question: it seems that he didn't know she was a prostitute until he walked her, at the end of the movie, to her little brothel shack area in the red light district part of town. Supposedly then he knew, but didn't care. The thing that gets to me is that he showed no sign of recognition or a moment's thought about this; he just went on in the same tone as before that they should marry. Maybe because of the code and times and that it was a western, they gave no sign of realization. I love the movie, but it seems odd that throughout the movie many of the passengers were putting her down, and she was even putting herself down to Wayne, and he never questioned what they/she was talking about!!!??? Let this be my final thought: even with the code and times and all, if they hinted that she was a prostitute, they could be clever enough to throw in a hint that he realized that she was a prostitute instaed of him being oblivious throught the entire film. Oh, well.)
As a side note, when you see the movie, notice the great directing job near the end -- when he walks her to her home (or place she will be staying), notice how the background progressively changes as they leave the middle of the town (near the stage depot) and progress to the seamier red light district part of town.
It's the Production Code. The screenwriter can't actually say she's a prostitute, so it's all done by implication (costume, attitude, and the way people treat her). I think a 1930s audience would have been better trained at picking up the signals and wouldn't have been as confused as modern audiences can be, who expect everything to be spelled out.
shareI assumed he thought she might have been a prostitute but didn't know for sure (although I think he knows at the very end). Either way, his character was the type that took what was in front of him and didn't care about her past. So, it doesn't surprise me that he didn't flinch when they stop by the whorehouses.
Also, I like his determination towards her when she starts to walk off after saying something like 'that was nice dream' (and too bad it won't happen), when she thinks he's about to be killed and him probably knowing she was a whore. He's determined to get revenge and not get killed, and also to come back and marry her regardless of her past.
Hell, yeah. He knows, right off. He is a bit wary in his observations of her in the beginning, but he soon sees her treat other passengers with kindness, and when she lights up holding the baby, that clinches it for him: who cares about her past? It's what makes him one of the greatest characters in movie history--he judges her by her heart, not her past way of getting by (into which, it is revealed by dialogue, she was forced by circumstance, just as he was forced to avenge his family).
shareA lot of Ford's idea in this movie sets up "civilization" as a bunnch of prim, meddling people - who considered the banker as good, and Dallas and Ringo and Hatfield and the Doc as ne'er do wells. It was only when they were in the wild frontier, beyond the clutches of civilization, that we see what they are made of. And when they return to civilization, it's still confining. Ringo and Dallas can survive and have a real future only if they get outa town.
It's difficult to believe that Ringo doesn't realise she's a whore. He can't be that naive.
It's because he says nothing about it, going through the pretence that the reason the other passengers are sniffy is because he's a con or that they both belong to the wrong class.
'I guess you can't break out of jail and into society the same day' (more or less).
It ain't like it used to be. But it'll do.
Exactly...she was the town strumpet. Kid thought they were shunning him at the dinner table,cause he just broke outta the slam..Doc Boone was also ostracized because of drink and Hatfield was marked as a gambler/ shootist...They were a stagecoach full of outcasts.
Ironically,the most highbrow-turns out to be the biggest crook of them all...to the tune of 50k...during that time,50k would be closer to 2mill.
I love this film-imagine taking a journey via stagecoach
What disgusted me was the.gutless Sherriff running her out of town in the first place. The "ladies" of the Law and Order League couldn't vote so why didn't he just tell them to mind their own business?,She was a better person than any of them.
share