The Big Trail

1930

2h 2m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

123

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Drama

Western

Young scout Breck Coleman leads a wagon train along the dangerous trail to Oregon as he tries to get the affection of the beautiful pioneer Ruth Cameron and plans his revenge on the harsh scoundrels who murdered a friend of his in the past.

Directors

Raoul Walsh

Writers

Hal G. Evarts(story by)

Marie Boyle(dialogue by)

Marie Boyle(screenplay by)

Stars

John Wayne

Marguerite Churchill

El Brendel

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Photos49

Top cast

Breck Coleman

Ruth Cameron

Gus

Zeke

Red Flack

Dave Cameron

Pa Bascom

Bill Thorpe

López

Gus' Mother-in-law

Wagon Train Man (uncredited)

Phyllis Bainbridge

Pioneer (uncredited)

Chief John Big Tree

Indian (uncredited)

Ward Bond

Sid Bascom (uncredited)

Nora Bush

Pioneer (uncredited)

Martin Cichy

Pioneer (uncredited)

Don Coleman

Wrangler (uncredited)

Nancy Crowley

Pioneer Child (uncredited)

Directors

Raoul Walsh

Writers

Hal G. Evarts(story by)

Marie Boyle(dialogue by)

Marie Boyle(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

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User reviews1

Review

Featured review

7/10

There is a scene very near the start of this film where John Wayne ("Breck") walks through a doorway, bedecked in his finely crafted suede leathers and you almost want to applaud - like it was the entrance of great actor onto a stage. There can been no doubt that Raoul Walsh and his bosses at Fox were determined to make a big star of their man - and have thrown pretty much everything at it. The story concerns pioneers on a long and dangerous wagon trail leaving the Mississippi heading west into the unknown, It's the epitome of an American adventure film - the travellers face perils both human and natural as they head for their promised land, and the scale of the production is of a high quality with beautiful and grand cinematography contributing really well to our sense of just how tough their task was. Wayne oozes charm, his smile explains a great deal about why Hollywood and the public at large fell in love with this decent, honourable young man. A competent Marguerite Campbell ("Ruth") provides his suitably feisty love interest and the rest of this slightly over-long tale is held together by a relatively small cast who keep the story interesting and focused. Sure, it isn't without it's idealism - the all American boy blazes a trail against the odds, gets the gal, makes friends wherever he goes (largely), but there are some more sincere touches - "Breck" isn't quite so good with his alcohol! At times this borders a little too much on the documentary, but that doesn't really impact detrimentally on the overall narrative - it further reinforces the scale of this unyoked land and to a considerable extent helps us to understand what drove these folks to suffer all the hardships this hostile environment could throw at them. As cinema goes, this is proper stuff - and seeing it on a big screen even now (90 years later) is still quite an experience.

Geronimo196713 Jun, 2022