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www.cinescene.com - : In the early years of the sound era, when innovation was in the air, Fox decided to invest in a 70mm widescreen process called Grandeur Film. The first movie slated for this process was to be the biggest western ever made, and John Ford would direct. But Ford, unhappy with the script, passed it on to Walsh, along with his recommendation for the lead - a bit actor named John Wayne. (The studio's huge cash outlay on the film prohibited the additional expense of big-name stars.) The result was The Big Trail, a film whose failure at the box office halted the widescreen idea for two decades and prevented Wayne's emergence as a star until Ford's Stagecoach, nine years later. Although it is difficult to fully appreciate the film without seeing it on a big screen, its merits are evident enough on video to justify its reappraisal as one of the best westerns ever made. more...
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Critic Reviews
