The Big Trail

A production that could rival a military expedition. The first leading role of John Wayne. A film so massive in scale that it contributed to the downfall of a studio. The Big Trail is a mostly forgotten epic, but represents a unique era of America culture.Debuting in 1930 at the dawn of sound films, just before the Great Depression, this film tried to elevate Westerns from their b-movie status to something more prestigious. Unfortunately, its financial failure would scare-off any attempt at a 'prestige' Western for almost a decade.Director: Raoul WalshScreenplay: Jack Peabody, Marie Boyle, Florence Postal & Fred SerserBased on the Novel The Shaggy Legion by Hal G. EvartsCinematographers: Lucien Andriot & Arthur EdesonEditor: Jack DennisStarring: John Wayne, Marguertie Churchill, Tyrone Power, Sr, Ian Keith, Charles Stevens, Ward Bond, Tully Marshall, Ward BondSources:Simmon, Scott. The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half-Century. Cambridge University Press, 2003 .Nick Pinterton - "The Big Trail", 2013Fred Camper - "Wide West," Chicago Reader, 1988Mordaunt Hall - "A Grandeur Production," New York Times, 1930Walt Whitman - Pioneers! O Pioneers!, 1865Rudyard Kipling, The White Man's Burden. 1899Mark Twain - To the Person Sitting in Darkness, 1901William James - The Philippine Question, 1903