Your point is well taken. My first(unproducted) screenplay had much the same message: "Any job a man can do, a woman can do better." A history buff friend of mine said he knew of no such actual wagon trains as the one depicted here, but that there was a ship that sailed around the horn carrying women to California.
I agree that the women were the focus with Hope Emerson giving a standout performance as Patience who holds things together. Pairing her with George Chandler was a brilliant idea. I still remember her in Adam's Rib whete Katharine Hepburn uses her to prove women are stronger than men. Of course, her most famous role was in Caged for which she was nominated for an Oscar.
The emphasis is rightfully on the women going west, and except for Julie Bishop I'd never heard of most of those who received prominent billing. But one thing the movie does very well at the end is give actors such as Chubby Johnson, John Cason, George Chandler and Frankie Darro the opportunity to get the girl at the end of the movie.
One other point: I'm a man, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. If you are wondering about my screenplay, it's The Wages of Fear with women. Four women are hired to drive two truckloads of nitroglycerin to an oil well fire. Why? Because no man in his right wants to take the job. It's suicidal. Hence, any job a man can do, a woman can do better. I just can't convince my wife, who has CP, of that.
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summeriris
11 years ago
Considering when this film was made 1951, it is very feminist. It is also very advanced for it's time in the sexual politics of the film. Patience is a wonderful character but the two characters I remember the most are Maggie and Jean played by Lenore Lonergan and Marilyn Erskine. Their fist fight was what really struck me the most. I had never in my life seen two women square up and slug it out like that. There was also the fact that they could handle guns and horses as well as the men. But they never pretended to be men, they were women first and foremost. The other stand out scenes for me were...
1 The roll call of names after the Indian attack and how realisticly the dead women were filmed.
2. The women standing and simply looking out over the desert. How proud and undaunted they looked at the prospect of crossing it.
3. When the wagon with Julie falls into the flood the women don't go running for Robert Taylor. They get an axe and cut open the wagon themselves.
This film taught me a lot and one other thing it taught me was that the women got the husbands they wanted. The men got who picked them.
Your screenplay sounds interesting. I seem to remember a film a while back that was aout men driving nytro down a mountain.
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I am the Queen of Snark, TSopped said so.
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pete-293
11 years ago
I watched this film on TV last night. I've seen it many times and whenever it shows I watch it. There is a colorized version as well. I normally don't think much of colorizing black and white films but it really did come out nice. I liked the little jap. He was cool. I'll have to check to see if he did anything else.
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain (Isaac Asimov)
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summeriris
11 years ago
I don't think he did very much Pete. Afew bit parts is all, but he was very good in this film.
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I am the Queen of Snark, TSopped said so.
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pete-293
11 years ago
You're right he didn't do much. But he did play the engineer of the paddle wheel boat in "Blood Alley" with John Wayne. I remember him standing by his boilers with a big cigar in his mouth. They were being shot at and a bullet takes off the end of his cigar. He didn't flinch.
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain (Isaac Asimov)
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summeriris
11 years ago
I don't think I ever saw 'Blood Alley' all the way through. It's strange to think of how many 'parts'of some films I have seen.
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I am the Queen of Snark, TSopped said so.
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