... I just prefer the 1929 version - "Hell's Heroes" - to any of the other sound versions. Compared to the 1948 John Ford version it is not as slick, not as sentimental, and of course it is working with early sound technology and actors, but it captures the kind of grubby old west atmosphere which fell out of fashion in the early 1930s and didn't really come back till the days of Peckinpah and McCabe and Mrs Miller.
Being made almost twenty years later than "Hell's Heroes", naturally Ford's version is going to be more technologically slick. In fact it is visual poetry from beginning to end. Ford, with his cinematographer Winton Hoch, captures the harsh beauty of the desert in every frame. In addition, Ford's version is funny, sad, tender - ALL of the elements of a Ford film. The Ford stock Company of John Wayne, Ward Bond, Harry Carey Jr., Mildred Natwick ,Mae Marsh, etc. were all exceptional, with a fantastic score by Richard Hageman that hits all of the right notes in every scene.
The problem that I have with the Ford version, however, is with the sentimentality that is just poured on during some but not all of the segments. I also think that the ending of Ford's version is much less satisfying and geared more toward fulfilling that happy-ending impulse. Plus the religious imagery at points just gets ham fisted.
And one particular scene that almost seems like a Wayne delusion is when his character gets back to civilization with the baby. He lands in a saloon that seems to be exclusively employing senior citizens - bartender, saloon girls (????), everybody! And then the sheriff of the town (Ward Bond) that Wayne's trio robbed corners him there and says "Draw!"??? Uh, you are law enforcement, you are supposed to bring him in, not shoot him down! I don't know HOW that scene got in there and stayed there through editting!
I'd recommend it primarily for the fine John Wayne performance - he has to carry this film alone for a good portion of time and shows the big guy really could act not just posture.
Being made almost twenty years later than "Hell's Heroes", naturally Ford's version is going to be more technologically slick. In fact it is visual poetry from beginning to end. Ford, with his cinematographer Winton Hoch, captures the harsh beauty of the desert in every frame. In addition, Ford's version is funny, sad, tender - ALL of the elements of a Ford film. The Ford stock Company of John Wayne, Ward Bond, Harry Carey Jr., Mildred Natwick ,Mae Marsh, etc. were all exceptional, with a fantastic score by Richard Hageman that hits all of the right notes in every scene.
The problem that I have with the Ford version, however, is with the sentimentality that is just poured on during some but not all of the segments. I also think that the ending of Ford's version is much less satisfying and geared more toward fulfilling that happy-ending impulse. Plus the religious imagery at points just gets ham fisted.
And one particular scene that almost seems like a Wayne delusion is when his character gets back to civilization with the baby. He lands in a saloon that seems to be exclusively employing senior citizens - bartender, saloon girls (????), everybody! And then the sheriff of the town (Ward Bond) that Wayne's trio robbed corners him there and says "Draw!"??? Uh, you are law enforcement, you are supposed to bring him in, not shoot him down! I don't know HOW that scene got in there and stayed there through editting!
I'd recommend it primarily for the fine John Wayne performance - he has to carry this film alone for a good portion of time and shows the big guy really could act not just posture.