# Watching Stagecoach for the first time!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 25, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972 "2010-07-25T19:52:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/21 "2010-07-26T21:42:25Z")

</div>

Note the parallels between Yakima Canutt’s stuntwork on the moving horses, and the stuntwork on the moving truck in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/22 "2010-07-27T02:17:21Z")

</div>

[quote=“Chefguy, post:19, topic:547972”]

> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> > [@Siam\_Sam](#):
> >
> > Wasn’t the Mexican innkeeper’s Apache wife named “Yakima”?
> > 
> > (I’m not a serious Western fan but I love _Stagecoach_.)
> 
> Probably. Those Wayne movies always seem to have a woman named ‘Montana’ or ‘Iowa’ or ‘Cincinnati’, etc. It was almost a trademark.

This is the second time this week a quote is being attributed to me when someone else said it. What’s going on with these quote boxes? Is this some new glitch?

And looking at this in Preview, I see **Chefguy’s** quote is being attributed to **Bridget Burke**. What gives?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/23 "2010-07-27T14:26:22Z")

</div>

[quote=“Siam\_Sam, post:22, topic:547972”]

> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> > [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
> >
> > > [@Siam\_Sam](#):
> > >
> > > Wasn’t the Mexican innkeeper’s Apache wife named “Yakima”?
> > > 
> > > (I’m not a serious Western fan but I love _Stagecoach_.)
> > 
> > Probably. Those Wayne movies always seem to have a woman named ‘Montana’ or ‘Iowa’ or ‘Cincinnati’, etc. It was almost a trademark.
> 
> This is the second time this week a quote is being attributed to me when someone else said it. What’s going on with these quote boxes? Is this some new glitch?
> 
> And looking at this in Preview, I see **Chefguy’s** quote is being attributed to **Bridget Burke**. What gives?

How weird is that?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/24 "2010-07-27T14:47:58Z")

</div>

[quote=“Chefguy, post:23, topic:547972”]

> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> > [@Chefguy](#):
> >
> > > [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
> > >
> > > > [@Siam\_Sam](#):
> > > >
> > > > Wasn’t the Mexican innkeeper’s Apache wife named “Yakima”?
> > > > 
> > > > (I’m not a serious Western fan but I love _Stagecoach_.)
> > > 
> > > Probably. Those Wayne movies always seem to have a woman named ‘Montana’ or ‘Iowa’ or ‘Cincinnati’, etc. It was almost a trademark.
> > 
> > This is the second time this week a quote is being attributed to me when someone else said it. What’s going on with these quote boxes? Is this some new glitch?
> > 
> > And looking at this in Preview, I see **Chefguy’s** quote is being attributed to **Bridget Burke**. What gives?
> 
> How weird is that?

I think I can see the back of my head.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/25 "2010-07-27T23:02:55Z")

</div>

The OP asked about _They Died with Their Boots on_.

I will respond a bit to that. I think it holds up well in most respects. The battle scenes are good. The stunts are good. The love element is very well done. And the handling of the humor is wonderful. The use of music is fantastic. And Errol Flynn is wonderfully heroic. Actually, there lies the problem, at least for me. Custer comes off as a very heroic and noble person. If you can overlook that. You will enjoy the film.

Honestly, I can’t overlook that, and I still love the film.

If you want an Errol Flynn western without that stumbling block, you might try _Santa Fe_, great, great western, of course, then you’ve got the racial thing in it.

Another milestone for Wayne, probably his best job of acting,\* Red River\*.

If you want to try another actor in a John Ford Western, _My Darling Clementine_ with Henry Fonda.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/26 "2010-07-28T00:15:17Z")

</div>

> [@TV\_time](#):
>
> Custer comes off as a very heroic and noble person. If you can overlook that. You will enjoy the film.
> 
> Honestly, I can’t overlook that, and I still love the film.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen it all because of how Custer is portrayed.  
I remember his romancing the girl and talking about eating raw onions.  
But that’s about it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/27 "2010-07-28T01:17:51Z")

</div>

I don’t think we should fault They Died With Their Boots on specifically, for its portrayal of Custer. Custer was universally portrayed as a noble hero, up until (guessing, here…) Little Big Man (1970).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/28 "2010-07-28T01:20:22Z")

</div>

> [@jsc1953](#):
>
> I don’t think we should fault They Died With Their Boots on specifically, for its portrayal of Custer. Custer was universally portrayed as a noble hero, up until (guessing, here…) Little Big Man (1970).

Oh yes, I agree, but now we know Custer was Not a Nice Guy, and it colors our viewing of the film.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/29 "2010-07-28T02:56:36Z")

</div>

The Stagecoach blu ray is in my hands now. I’ll watch it tonight or tomorrow am and report back. I just about had a heart attack when I saw the runtime on the Netflix sleeve, 5 hours, 15 minutes!

According to IMDB, the runtime is only 96 minutes. Perhaps the Netflix runtime includes all the bonus features?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972/30 "2010-07-28T02:57:12Z")

</div>

From Roger Ebert’s Glossary of Movie Terms:

> [@](#):
>
> Ark Movie: Dependable genre in which a mixed bag of characters are trapped on a colorful mode of transportation. Examples: AIRPORT (airplane), THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (ocean liner), MAROONED (space satellite), THE CASSANDRA CROSSING (train), ALIENS (outer space), THE HINDENBURG (dirigible), THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (subway train), ABYSS (undersea station), and of course the best of them all, STAGECOACH.

Yes, boys and girls. Stagecoach was Alien’s grandpa.

It’s really a lot of fun to compare the structure and character archetypes used in Stagecoach to other ark movies. The moral hero, the good girl, the bad girl, the sleaze, the uptight guy…you get the picture.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-stagecoach-for-the-first-time/547972.md?page=1)
