An Introduction to Film

Ringo’s willingness to risk his life to bring

the coach under control as the Apaches

attack [9].

the arrival of the cavalry soon after the

Apache attack has begun [10].

Marshal Wilcox’s decision to reward Ringo’s

bravery by allowing him ten minutes of free-

dom in which to confront the Plummers [11].

the marshal’s decision to set Ringo free [12].

The minor plot events that add texture and com-
plexity to characters and events but are not essen-
tial elements within the narrative include (in plot
order) the Apaches’ cutting of the telegraph wires;
Gatewood’s anxiety about getting to Lordsburg no
matter what happens along the route; Peacock’s
anxiety over Dr. Boone’s helping himself to his
stock of liquor; Buck’s wavering enthusiasm for
driving the stagecoach against the odds; Lucy’s,
Hatfield’s, and Gatewood’s demonstrations of their
self-perceived social superiority, especially at the
lunch table at Dry Fork; Hatfield’s attempt to
defend Lucy from Apache attack, which results in
his being shot; Marshal Wilcox’s distribution of
weapons to the travelers for their self-defense dur-
ing the Apache attack; Wilcox’s arrest of Gatewood
for embezzlement; and Ringo’s successful killing of
the three Plummer brothers.

Duration The story duration includes what we
know and what we infer from the total lives of all
the characters (e.g., Lucy’s privileged upbringing in
Virginia, marriage to a military officer, current
pregnancy, and the route of her trip out west up
until the moment the movie begins). The plot dura-
tion includes the time of those events within the
story that the film chooses to tell—here the two
days of the trip from Tonto to Lordsburg. The
screen duration, or running time, is 96 minutes.

Repetition Although no story events recur in
Stagecoach, character traits both recur (e.g., Gate-
wood’s insensitive desire to keep moving, no matter
what, puts in danger both individuals and the
group as a whole) and are transformed as a result
of the journey (e.g., Lucy tenderly acknowledges

Dallas’s invaluable assistance during childbirth:

“Dallas, if there’s ever anything I can do for.. .”).

Ford also repeats a three-part editing pattern some

dozen times in the movie: (shot 1) a long shotof the

stagecoach rolling along the plain; (shot 2) a two-

shotof Curly and Buck on the driver’s seat; (shot 3)

a middle shotor close-upof the passengers inside.

We could broadly consider the recurrences of this

series of shots as repetitions of familiar images.

Suspense

In this period, it took two days for a fast stagecoach

to make the trip from Tonto to Lordsburg, and the

plot follows this two-day trip chronologically. How-

ever, the pace also serves other functions. The fear

first expressed in the opening moments at mention

of the name Geronimo intensifies the suspense of

the imminent Indian attack, thus providing a deci-

sive crisis during which the characters respond to

the challenges and rigors of the trip and reveal their

true selves. Will Lucy stop acting like a spoiled rich

woman? Will Dr. Boone sober up in time to deliver

her child? Will Dallas accept Ringo’s proposal?

Because we know little of their origins, we must

trust in what we see of their current surroundings,

as well as their interactions with each other and

with the community (both the community of Tonto

and the “community” that develops on the journey).

Setting

The story takes place in settings constructed in

Hollywood—the interiors and exteriors of two

towns and the stagecoach—and on actual locations

in the spectacular Monument Valley of northern

Arizona. Beautiful and important as Monument

Valley and other exterior shots are to the film, the

shots made inside the stagecoach as it speeds

through the valley are essential to developing other

themes in the movie. As the war with the Apaches

signifies the territorial changes taking place out-

side, another drama is taking place among the pas-

sengers. In journeying through changing scenery,

they also change through their responses to the

dangers they face and their relations with, and

reactions to, one another. This may be a wilderness,

but the settlers have brought from the East and the

164 CHAPTER 4 ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE