WAGON MASTER is a John Ford western that I didn't think much of. It's a 1950 film but being shot in black and white and on the cheap it looks much older, at least ten years older. The story is a simple one about a wagon train travelling cross country and the encounters with various folk, both good and bad (typically bad) en route.
The film features Ben Johnson in the lead role and he plays a Mormon. He's not a particularly sympathetic character here, but then I found the film under-written as a whole. The plot keeps moving on and the wealth of characters that come and go are interesting in themselves, but I felt the story was missing depth. A bunch of familiar faces play in support (James Arness, Ward Bond, the delightful Hank Worden) but in the end, WAGON MASTER is the kind of film that passes you by rather than truly entertains.
The film features Ben Johnson in the lead role and he plays a Mormon. He's not a particularly sympathetic character here, but then I found the film under-written as a whole. The plot keeps moving on and the wealth of characters that come and go are interesting in themselves, but I felt the story was missing depth. A bunch of familiar faces play in support (James Arness, Ward Bond, the delightful Hank Worden) but in the end, WAGON MASTER is the kind of film that passes you by rather than truly entertains.