February 22 1972

For years, The Big Trail has rather unjustly been regarded as something of a joke (in terms of a debut for John Wayne) and as a stupendous boxoffice flop. Designed for the then-current wide-screen craze, it was but sparsely shown in that version, and like King Vidor's Billy the Kid, which it preceded into release by about a month, was such an austere Western that it gained little popular support. Both of those very fine early sound Westerns thus had but limited exhibition outlets in their wide-screen versions, and were quickly dropped from distribution. Fox made a German-language version of The Big Trail simultaneously (Marion Lessing had the feminine lead, and El Brendel was the only major player to appear in both films) and interestingly enough, this was put into reissue distribution in Germany right after World War Two, when new product was sparse. It's odd that John Ford, who had made The Iron Horse and Three Bad Men wasn't selected to direct The Big Trail; it probably wouldn't have been a better film under his direction, but it would probably have been a better-organised one, and a more saleable one. Presumably Walsh, hardly a Western specialist, was given the assignment because of the staggering success of his In Old Arizona. In terms of production, the film was admittedly a fiasco: it ran incredibly over-schedule and over-budget, the unit hampered by the need to shoot much of it three times (wide-screen version, standard version, German version) and by the incredible logistics of handling such a huge cast, crew, livestock etc., over so many locations. Advance organisation was apparently nil, although at a time when the whole industry was in a state of turmoil due to the changeover to sound, such chaos was understandable, especially on such a major film. Many of its flaws have been turned by time into assets; occasional production crudities now merely enhance the realism, while John Wayne's inexperience, not as marked as has often been claimed, seems actually to fit his screen character quite nicely. Although long and leisurely paced, something is happening all the time, and what the film lacks in showmanship it more than makes up for in documentary values. It is a much better film than The Covered Wagon, and literally the definitive film of its type. Much of it is still quite breath-taking - especially the climb down the sheer cliffs with the roping of wagons and cattle - and the staged sequences, done with wind machines and specially constructed mud holes, seem not one whit less realistic and convincing than the rest of it. It's a superb piece of Americana, backed up by some really colorful playing (Tyrone Power in particular), an effectively unglamorous performance from Marguerite Churchill, and some surprising (for 1930) use of musical scoring for highlights. In later years, many of the film's Indian battle and other highlight scenes were sold for stock, and added production values to many Republic 'B' westerns and serials. Tonight's print is the longest version extant, and to my knowledge is missing only one scene - a quick shot of Indians racing at top speed down the side of a rolling hill en route to attacking the wagon train.

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Coming mid-way between Ford's Cameo Kirby and The Iron Horse, North of Hudson Bay is a handsome but unremarkable little actioner, a film that neither enhanced nor detracted from the careers of Ford and Mix - though Tom does seem a little restricted on snow-shoes, and the film is more serious than the majority of his frolics. There are some enjoyable comedy moments, but murder and the serious threat of death figure more prominently in the plot than was customary with Tom. Tonight's showing, alas, is somewhat academic: since the Tuesday screening clashes with my NYU class, I am unable to provide a score for the film and the print - with Czech titles and some hypo - is not always easy to watch. However, it was always a very short film, and much less is actually missing that the occasionally choppy continuity might suggest. Incidentally, according to his interview-book with Bogdanovich, Ford himself doubles for Frank Campeau in the climactic canoe chase. Slow in starting, and with a measured mystery element, the film does take in some quite rugged action in its later half. The film is fairly simply plotted, but in view of the Czech titles we are issuing a separate synopsis which we recommend reading before the screening, as one plot element could be quite confusing.

Wm. K. Everson     

NORTH OF HUDSON BAY

Brief guide synopsis

Tom Mix and Eugene Pallette are brothers; Pallette, the more adventurous one, has gone North and made a rich gold strike, while Tom has stayed at home to look after their mother. With news of the gold strike, Tom leaves home to join his brother. On the river boat, he meets Kathleen Key, niece of Frank Campeau, the villain. There is some amusing by-play as Tom uses a razor set to trade a hat away from an Indian squaw so that he can give it to Kathleen. (There is some interesting composition in this material, with an almost Bunuel-like use of two nuns with enormous collars, taking up the entire background).

Pallette meanwhile has been murdered by Campeau, via a tricky device in which the sun's rays, refracted through a bottle of liquid, set off the charge in a gun. Will Walling, a trapper, is with Pallette at the time, and is blamed for the murder. A curious (and hopefully unauthentic) kind of Northern justice sentences the apparent killer to death from exhaustion -- accompanied by a couple of Indian deputies, he is sent out into the wilds, and not allowed to eat, drink, or start a fire. (He is however, allowed to wear plenty of heavy furs, thus delaying the procedure somewhat). At one point, Walling gets ahead of his scouts and bursts into Mix's cabin looking for food. He is recaptured however, and sent out into the night once more - but the sympathetic Mix follows and tries to help.

Later there is a second killing by the same method, and this time Mix le blamed. He and the still surviving Walling are sent out together, the Indian scouts exercising particular vigilance this time and carefully stamping out the small fire that Tom is able to start with his last match.

Tom and Walling are pursued by wolves, but Tom fights them off. Meanwhile, the girl has overheard evidence establishing his innocence. Campeau and his minion, Fred Kohler, take to the trail to finish off Mix themselves. The girl arrives simultaneously, and there is a fight. Her canoe drifts away towards the rapids, and the villains try to make their getaway, with Tom in pursuit. This last portion of the film is the worst affected by cuts and hypo, but one does get the impression that the villains are drowned and Tom rescues the girl.