Stagecoach (1939)

The 1080p AVC MPEG-4 transfer (maintaining the film's original 1.37:1 aspect ratio) is something of a marvel.

As the movie began I thought to myself, "Hmmm, this transfer doesn't look all that great." There was an occasional run in the film, and there were moments of heavy grain. Then, as I was going through the special features, I watched the original theatrical trailer and saw how bad this transfer could have been: washed out, faded, generally indecipherable. I watched the movie again at this point, and was positively gobsmacked. This may not look reference quality, but it could have looked a lot worse.

The booklet shares the following story: "The original negative for 'Stagecoach' has been considered lost for decades. For this edition, we evaluated several of the best surviving prints, both restored and original, before we found a 1942 nitrate duplicate negative that showed exceptional detail, gray scale, and clarity. We chose it as the primary source for this new high-definition digital transfer… because we believe it was the best surviving film material of 'Stagecoach.' For safety, a new 35 mm fine-grain positive was made from the negative as a preservation."

It continues, making note of certain things that could not be scrubbed clean: "Inevitably, certain defects remain. The picture suffered from thousands of instances of blended-in scratches and debris, especially around reel changes and in action sequences. In cases where the damage was not fixable without leaving traces of our restoration work (Like digital noise reduction and the like), we elected to leave the original damage. Through hundreds of hours of restoration work, we've manually removed the worst of the damage, along with dirt, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker…"

In other words, a whole lot of time was devoted to 'Stagecoach,' and it shows. The gray scale is impressive, for sure, with the blacks in this black-and-white movie looking particularly black. What's really striking is the amount of depth that's expressed with this image. Corridors seem to stretch on forever, ditto the picturesque landscapes. And despite the muddled nature of the action sequences, they still hop along vividly.

While I was expecting a lot more from this disc, it's not the disaster some are painting it to be. You have to weigh your options on this – would you rather the picture look better but be compromised by the muddy effects of digital clean-up? Do you want it to look like it did when it was presented theatrically in 1939 or how it should look in 2010, zipping through your high definition home theater system?

The debate will undoubtedly rage but I think this transfer is quite good, with my feelings magnified after watching how lousy the trailer is. Still, more work could have been done. Black-and-white tends to be more forgiving on Blu-ray.

All the extras presented here are also available on the DVD edition Criterion is releasing simultaneously. The only "exclusive" is the "Timeline" feature that has become a standard on Criterion's high definition releases.

• Commentary by Jim Kitses Jim Kitses is a film historian and western scholar and he has a pretty amazing Southern accent. (You'd expect him to be in a Tennessee Williams play or something.) Kitses is ridiculously informed and brings a level of scholarly discourse that wisely avoids ever being too egghead-ish. If there's one complaint I have with this track it's that his commentary is so thought out (and seemingly scripted) that it becomes a bit, well, dry. Or, if we want to use a western metaphor, dusty. A little bit more spontaneity wouldn't have hurt, but it's hard to find bad things to say about this overall exemplary track.
  
• Bucking Broadway (HD, 55) This is a silent film that John Ford directed in 1917. It's certainly worth watching, more as a companion to 'Stagecoach' more than anything else. (It's about a cowboy who gets cock-blocked by an urban sophisticate.) This features a new score by Donald Sosin and was recently restored. Worth watching, but more for die-hards than causal film fans.
  
• John Ford Interview (HD, 73:29) This interview, conducted by journalist Philip Jenkinson in 1968, is long and informative and very fun to watch (even if you're just a casual fan of Ford). Ford was a character for sure, and here we get to witness him in all his cantankerous old man glory. There are a whole host of issues that the presenter and his subject touch upon. This is highly recommended.
  
• Peter Bogdanovich (HD, 14:17) Speaking of cantankerous old men, Bogdanovich is getting there. This video interview, newly conducted by the Criterion Collection, has the writer and director sharing his personal stories of meeting with and talking to both John Ford and John Wayne, as well as him offering his critical perspective on the cinematic importance of 'Stagecoach.' He corrects, for instance, the long held myth that 'Citizen Kane' was the first film to show a ceiling, from a low angle. 'Stagecoach' did it a couple years before. (The commentary essentially makes the same claim.)
  
• Dreaming of Jeanie (HD, 21:50) This might be my favorite special feature on the whole disc (which is saying something). Created by writer Tag Gallagher (who has written a book on John Ford), he analyzes the visual style and emotional capacity of 'Stagecoach.' In one particularly virtuoso moment, he describes the different way that Hitchcock would have shot a sequence in 'Stagecoach.' It includes a diagram and everything. This is somewhat off kilter special feature material but you'll be very happy that it's included.
  
• John Ford Home Movies (HD, 7:13) Join Ford's grandson Dan Ford (who has also written a book about John Ford – is there anyone on this disc who hasn't written a book about the legendary director?) as he takes a trip down memory lane, sharing intimate home movies. Basically, what you get out of this is that John Ford was a miserable, occasionally cruel SOB and that these happy-go-lucky home movies don't really capture the man at all. Definitely worth a watch.
  
• True West (HD, 10:44) Pulitzer Prize-winning author Buzz Bissinger is on hand to talk about trading post operator Harry Goulding. Goulding was the one who brought the production to Monument Valley, which helped create the next great era of Hollywood westerns (which had previously been filmed just outside of Los Angeles). He also spoke with local Indian tribes about being in the shoot. It's pretty amazing. Highly recommended.
  
• Yakima Canutt (HD, 10) Besides having the greatest, most 'Star Wars'-ian name ever, Yakima Canutt was an ace stuntman who did a whole bunch of stellar work for 'Stagecoach.' The appreciation is done by Vic Armstrong, who was the stunt coordinator on 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' and talks about Canutt being so phenomenal because of his invention and ingenuity – it takes a lot to make a stunt happen, but it takes much more to come up with the stunt and see it through. Not so cool: Canutt came up with an ingenious but cruel way to trip horses.
  
• Screen Director's Playhouse (27:08) This is a shortened radio version of the movie, recorded a decade later, and featuring original stars John Wayne and Claire Trevor as well as grizzly director John Ford. This is definitely worth a listen.
  
• Trailer (HD, 3:29) Just watch this. It's so weird. It starts out talking about air travel before segueing to a seemingly unending series of scenes from the movie. And it looks so utterly awful that you'll be even more impressed with the transfer on this disc.
  
• "Taking the Stage" An original essay by David Cairne, an English writer and filmmaker, included in the booklet.
  
• "Stage to Lordsburg" This short story by Ernest Haycox, "one of America's most celebrated western authors," was published in 1937 and purchased shortly thereafter by Ford. It served as the basis for 'Stagecoach' and is included in the booklet.