Western starring Ben Johnson and Ward Bond. In 1879, a Mormon wagon train heads west to establish new settlements on the Utah-Arizona border. With two footloose young horse traders to guide them across the desert and mountains, they encounter travelling entertainers, fugitive gunfighters and Navajo Indians.
This is one of the greatest and most warmly human films in the series of westerns made by the master of the genre, John Ford. Its simple plot follows two young itinerant cowboys helping to lead a Mormon wagon train to Utah. As the youths, Harry Carey Jr and Ben Johnson reveal a callow expectancy of what life has in store and are profoundly moving as they play off each other when deciding to "fall in 'hind the wagon train". Many sequences are beautifully filmed, particularly a difficult river crossing, and it is interesting to see Ward Bond play a character not a million miles away from the leading role he would later play in Wagon Train, the successful television series inspired by the movie.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Travis | Ben Johnson (1) |
| Wiggs | Ward Bond |
| Denver | Joanne Dru |
| Sandy | Harry Carey Jr |
| Uncle Shiloh | Charles Kemper |
| Dr Locksley Hall | Alan Mowbray |
| Sister Ledeyard | Jane Darwell |
| Florrie | Ruth Clifford |
| Adam Perkins | Russell Simpson |
| Prudence Perkins | Kathleen O'Malley |
| Floyd Clegg | James Arness |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | John Ford |
