An Introduction to Film

leaves them, the interior of the stagecoach is
cramped and uncomfortable, and there are no
fresh horses at the way station. In addition, there
are social divisions among the passengers (so-
called polite society versus the outcasts), Lucy
Mallory’s delivery of a baby, and, of course, the
Apaches’ attack. In addition to these, Ringo has his
own personal obstacles. Curly arrests him and
takes his gun. Dallas tries to stop him from con-
fronting the murderous Plummers, whom he must
face even though he has only three bullets left.
Ringo must convince Curly to give him ten minutes
to say goodbye to Dallas. He not only overcomes
these obstacles, but also sets an example of
courage during the Apache attack with his willing-
ness to sacrifice himself for the good of the group in
successfully bringing the rampaging stagecoach
horses under control. Hero that he is, he also gets
lucky when the Cavalry arrives to bolster the gutsy
gunplay and determination he (and some others)
use to fend off the Apaches. The group’s crisis is
averted, and the stagecoach proceeds toward
Lordsburg. But Ringo’s crisis is his showdown with
the Plummers. He overcomes this seemingly insur-
mountable obstacle with guts and eagle-eye shoot-
ing. Doc Boone tries to help by relieving Luke
Plummer of his shotgun, but his girlfriend supplies
him with one just before the gunfight.
In the third act, with Ringo’s crisis solved, there
are several resolutions: Gatewood is arrested, Mrs.
Mallory implicitly asks Dallas’s forgiveness, Mr. Mal-
lory is all right, and Mr. Peacock has survived the
Apache attack. But Doc, Curly, and Ringo and Dallas,
especially, have another resolution. Doc stands up to
the Plummers, but doesn’t stop drinking; Ringo tells
Dallas that he doesn’t care about her past; Curly qui-
etly lets Ringo elude his obligation to return to jail;
and Ringo and Dallas ride off into the night.

Plot

The plot of Stagecoachcovers the two-day trip from
Tonto to Lordsburg and is developed in a strictly
chronological way without flashbacks or flash-
forwards. The events follow one another coher-
ently and logically, and their relations of cause and
effect are easy to discern. Balance, harmony, and

unity are the principal keys to understanding

the relationship between the story and the plot.

Indeed, the eminent French film theorist and critic

André Bazin notes that

Stagecoach(1939) is the ideal example of the matu-

rity of a style brought to classic perfection. John

Ford struck the ideal balance between social myth,

historical reconstruction, psychological truth, and

the traditional theme of the Western mise en scène.

None of these elements dominated any other. Stage-

coachis like a wheel, so perfectly made that it

remains in equilibrium on its axis in any position.^7

Order As already noted, Ford maintains strict

chronological order in using the journey to struc-

ture the story events. The journey provides both

chronological and geographical markers for divid-

ing the sequences. Furthermore, it reveals a clear

pattern of cause and effect created primarily by

each character’s desire to go to Lordsburg on this

particular day. That pattern proceeds to conflict

(created both by internal character interaction and

by the external Apache attack, which frustrates the

characters’ desires), reaches a turning point (the

victory over the Apaches), and concludes with a

resolution (Ringo’s revenge on the Plummers,

whose testimony had put him in prison, and his rid-

ing off a free man with the woman he loves). Other-

wise, the plot order is not manipulated in any way.

Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements The

diegetic elements are everything in the story

except the opening and closing titles and credits

and the background music, all of which are, of

course, nondiegetic. One very important formal ele-

ment in Stagecoachis American folk music, includ-

ing the song “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie,”

most often heard in connection with Buck and rep-

resenting his justifiable fears of dying on the range;

a honky-tonk piano in the bar; and a symphonic

score mixing many familiar folk tunes. The film’s

main theme is Stephen Foster’s classic ballad

(^7) André Bazin, “Evolution of the Western,” in What Is Cinema?
trans. Hugh Gray, 2 vols. (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1967–71), II, p. 149.
LOOKING AT NARRATIVE: JOHN FORD’S STAGECOACH 161