"The Big Trail" is quite different from other westerns I have seen. It doesn't have the silver screen sheen of classics like "Stagecoach" or "Red River". It feels more like a documentary, and I was not surprised to find that the filmmakers intimately researched aspects of frontier life they depicted here.
It was the first starring role of John Wayne, perhaps before his swaggering "Duke" persona took hold. He seems much less certain of himself, and wet behind the ears. It fits the movie's realism. Tyrone Power Sr., in his only talking role, does however play a larger-than-life character, a bad guy who would have been the perfect foil for Duke, but sticks out here, as much as I enjoyed the characterisation.
This is not one of the best Westerns. The depth, both physically and figuratively, of the spectacle of wagons crossing the prairie dwarfs the negligible storyline of Wayne's heroic young trapper on the trail of Power Sr.'s hard-bitten murderer, and his clumsy attempts to woo a beautiful young society lady.
I still enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Hughes' movie "Hell's Angels": enjoyable for its grand spectacle but not as interesting on a character nor plot level.
It was the first starring role of John Wayne, perhaps before his swaggering "Duke" persona took hold. He seems much less certain of himself, and wet behind the ears. It fits the movie's realism. Tyrone Power Sr., in his only talking role, does however play a larger-than-life character, a bad guy who would have been the perfect foil for Duke, but sticks out here, as much as I enjoyed the characterisation.
This is not one of the best Westerns. The depth, both physically and figuratively, of the spectacle of wagons crossing the prairie dwarfs the negligible storyline of Wayne's heroic young trapper on the trail of Power Sr.'s hard-bitten murderer, and his clumsy attempts to woo a beautiful young society lady.
I still enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Hughes' movie "Hell's Angels": enjoyable for its grand spectacle but not as interesting on a character nor plot level.