La caravane vers l'Ouest

THE COVERED WAGON is an ordinary programmer western dressed up with epic scenes of wagon trains and sudden ambushes. The spectacle is incredible, but it's barely enough to keep interest. The cast is at the very least enlivened by the presence of several wonderful character actors, like Tully Marshall and Ernest Torrance. I really love Torrance-- I wish he was the main character instead. They really make the movie. Otherwise, it's just very generic and it's hard to see what made it such a massive hit back in 1923. Maybe there was an ardent desire for footage of wagon trains moving back and forth?

The first great western epic, The Covered Wagon established many of the cliches that appear in many subsequent westerns, both "A" and "B" features alike.

Here for the first time, we have the wagon train of eastern settlers trekking west in search of a new land and a new start. We have the circling of the wagons in preparation for the Indian attack, the attack itself and the ride to the rescue of the besieged wagons.

Cruze captures the feel of what a real wagon train journey must have been like. The long lines of slow moving covered wagons, the dusty trails, life and death situations on the prairie, as well as the celebrations around the campfire.

The sub-plot of boy-girl-villain is "B" western calibre, however, the players carry it of admirably. J. Warren Kerrigan as the hero is adequate but not memorable. The lovely Lois Wilson as the heroine and a young Alan Hale as the villain are much better. It is curious that the Cruze portrayed legendary mountain man Jim Bridger (Tully Marshall) as an absent-minded, liquor swilling comedy relief.

The ending is strictly Hollywood. Boy gets girl of course and the villain is defeated, but I thought that the final shoot-out left a little to be desired.

Despite its apparent faults, The Covered Wagon remains today as powerful a film as it must have been in 1923.

But unfortunately not wide known because belonging to the silent era. This western could be compared to CIMARRON, both versions, Wesley Ruggles and Anthony Mann, about the depiction of conquest of the West. The true, genuine story of America. It is a western that you can't miss, if you are a western lover, and not only. It is awesome, brilliant, riveting, splendidly made, with great spectacular sequences, such as the unavoidable indian attack which is really spectacular, especially for this period. The copy I watched was awesome in quality. It is available on you tube, so don't miss this opportunity to see this western made jawdropping on locations.

THE COVERED WAGON was based on the novel of the same name by the now forgotten writer Emerson Hough and recounts the 1848 trek of a wagon train from Kansas City to Oregon. It remains a landmark film in many ways. Originally planned as just another Western programmer, it was expanded by director James Cruze into the TITANIC of its day. Like TITANIC, it cost a fortune to make and made a fortune at the box office.

Cruze, the son of Mormon parents, grew up in Utah and could still remember the Old West as it really was. He saw this film as the opportunity for him to advance beyond the programmers and Fatty Arbuckle features that he had been doing at Paramount up until then. He demanded total authenticity which included not only the original locations, but also a cast of 3000 (including real Native Americans) and over a hundred genuine Conestoga wagons. Despite the enormous expense and the prolonged shooting schedule, the film was one of the biggest successes of the Silent Era and Cruze was on his way to becoming one of the top directors of the 1920's (another of his epic films OLD IRONSIDES is also available on home video).

The acting is restrained by the standards of the time which helps the film to play well with modern audiences. J. Warren Kerrigan and Lois Wilson are OK as the lovers but the film belongs to character actors Alan Hale Sr.(the father of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND's Skipper), Tully Marshall, and Ernest Torrence. Watching the film is like having history come to life before your eyes. The print used for the DVD is of high quality with a colorful score by Gaylord Carter, one of the last great practitioners of silent film organ playing. Many thanks to Paramount for making this landmark epic along with several other silents available for home viewing and at a reasonable price too...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Good accuracy on most of the equipment and clothing. The leading characters' make-up was almost clown-like and over-acting was running rampant, but that was the norm of the time and cannot really be criticized. What cannot be excused is the pathetically weak and insipid story line.

Jim Bridger's only surviving child, Virginia K. Bridger Wachsman Hahn, reacted violently after viewing Tully Marshall's portrayal of her father in the then newly-released `The Covered Wagon' in 1923. She instituted a $1,000,000 libel action against the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, charging that they wrongfully depicted her father as a drunkard and a man of questionable morals, defaming his character and casting a stain upon her birth.

Judge Albert L. Reeves, of the federal court at Kansas City, sustained a demurrer filed by the defendants on the grounds no one could recover damages for defamation of the character of an ancestor, setting the precendent for Hollywood's dismal record of accuracy in its portrayal of historic personages.