The Big Trail 1930

[movieman1957]

I must have missed the part of talking about the Southern general as that seems to have been the only reference to a time frame. Thanks.

[feaito]

I have just checked it on my DVDs: the 35 MM version runs 1 hour 48 minutes; the 70 MM (Grandeur) version runs 2 hours 2 minutes. Maybe you did not lose anything, because the runtimes are different and the Grandeur version is longer.

[movieman1957]

Oh, I got the shorter one. I thought it ran a bit short. I saw it years ago and thought it over two hours. I'll go and check to see if I can get the other. Thanks so much for the info.

[feaito]

Welcome pal. Please let us know your feelings after seeing the Grandeur version. It's certainly a Western that should be re-evaluated.

By the way, I must see "The Iron Horse" (1924) and "The Covered Wagon" (1923).

[rohanaka]

It's a very 'recently transformed to talkie' movie as many of the people think they are still doing the story by facial expression, and/or by talking very loudly and losing emotion in the process.

mrsl.... I saw this film about a year and a half or so ago and have not had the chance to see it since, but I DO recall absolutely loving it. And you are so right. One of the first things I thought of as I was watching was that it was a "talkie" that plays like a "silent". But that sort of makes it all the more endearing to me that way I guess.

The story is a good one, and the cast has some good and SOON to be better actors in it (as in: The Man Who Would be DUKE, ha. WHAT a pup he was back then, ha.).

The whole film was just a lot of fun to watch and I really got into the entire wagon train experience. One of the things I remember about this film was how much it deepened my appreciation for the struggles those folks must have faced way back when as they crossed the land like that. This was a movie that COULD have just been about the romance and the "hero gets the girl", but I like that it goes a bit deeper and shows the other aspects of the story as well.

Hope to get a chance to catch this one again sometime.

[JackFavell]

I loved it too... the visuals are spectacular, and I thought Wayne was actually quite good, considering how young he was. It to me is one of the most beautiful westerns around. I really wonder if there is land like that anymore.