The Big Trail (1930)

THE BIG TRAIL  (1930)  ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Raoul Walsh
    John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill, Tyrone Power,
    Tully Marshall, Ed Brendel, Ian Keith
A landmark western about a wagon train rolling over the plains and deserts and mountains from Missouri to what's now the state of Washington. The movie was actually shot twice, in the standard aspect ratio of the time, and in an early 70-mm process called Grandeur. It flopped commercially - Depression-era theaters that had just converted to sound weren't ready to accommodate wide-screen projection - but Raoul Walsh, who had lost an eye not long before he made this, knew instinctively what to do with all that extra canvas. Viewed in its original form today, it's still a breathtaking picture to look at. A tall, lean kid named John Wayne, 23 at the time and almost a decade away from "Stagecoach", shows remarkable presence in the lead role.