The Big Trail details
| Format: | U DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Ward Bond, Charles Stevens, Tyrone Power, David Rollins, John Wayne, Helen Parrish, Marguerite Churchill, Tyrone Power Sr., Tully Marshall, El Brendel, Tyrone Pow, Tyrone Power Jr., Tyrone Power J |
| Director: | Raoul Walsh |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure - Westerns |
| Studio: | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Collections: | 100 Wild Westerns |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
The Big Trail |
U Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 56 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 30 Jun 2003 |
| Main languages: | English |
| Subtitles: | Dutch, French |
| Hearing impaired subtitles: | English |
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Most helpful review
The Not So Big Trail
By William Johnson from leamington spa , 08 Feb 2005[Highly rated reviewer]
This was the first major wide screen movie ever made. It used a 70mm. film in a process called ?Grandeur Film?. The studio spent so much on the equipment and processing that there was not enough money for big name stars hence John Wayne got his first big starring role. Because not many cinemas were equipped to take the new Grandeur process Fox made a shorter academy ratio version. Unfortunately this is the one they have chosen to put onto DVD. What a disappointment.
The movie was a box office failure and set the cause of widescreen back by over twenty years and it?s not hard to see why when you watch the movie. It?s a film about a wagon train going west along the Oregon Trail. On the way they have to cross deserts, mountains, rivers, scale cliffs, fight hostile Indians, struggle through snow, floods, everything bar volcanoes and earthquakes. All very predictable and very yawn making: even in 1930 it had all been done before.
But every good story needs human interest, in movie jargon, a fight between good and evil. Here it is provided by a very young John Wayne, dressed in white, ?cause he?s the goodie, and a bunch of really evil looking baddies who have killed his friends. This was Wayne?s first big movie so he seems curiously repressed like flat lemonade and the baddies who include Tyrone Power senior are more like cardboard cut-outs than real people.
One word of praise, the scenery is great and on a wide cinema screen the 70mm. version must have been breathtaking for those people who first saw it in 1930.
The DVD version is worth watching only as a curio. A word of warning, have a big pot of strong coffee by you so that you can stay awake.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(9)The Big Trail, a young John Wayne is in it.
By thecuckoo (107 reviews) , 12 Mar 2013An old film in black and white but great acting and plenty of action. Its about a wagon train and all they have to go through to get to their new land and life, Indian attacks, rivers to cross, heavy rains and mud slides, etc. One of the actors the wagon train boss is hard to understand as he grunts his words but it is part of his bear like character and does not spoil the film.- Was this review helpful to you?
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A good early one for the Duke.
By nobbyone (144 reviews) , 21 Aug 2011I liked it a lot. It maybe 80 years old but it is as good as new films, even better. Also the quality of it was good. Curly John Wayne in his early days, suppurted by good old actors.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Oldie but goldie
By stella1001 (2 reviews) from Lancaster UK , 11 May 2010A surprisingly good film. Yes, it's dated, but there are some stunning scenic shots.I really enjoyed it.- Was this review helpful to you?
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the big trail
By bluefox (126 reviews) from Newcastle upon Tyne , 10 Dec 2009the name of the film is right the big trail it trails off but it stars the young wayne in his early days as a star the film is historical being in black and white but not one i would go buy- Was this review helpful to you?
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John Wayne before superstardom
By LaurenceScotford (48 reviews) from Hove, England , 16 Feb 2009This film is not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it's worth watching for two reasons. One is a very young John Wayne, years before he established himself as a major star. The other are some quite spectacularly staged scenes, for example, the river crossing, where the pioneers try to get their horses and wagons across the dangerous currents.- Was this review helpful to you?
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