How sad is this?

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The Covered Wagon (1923) *** (out of 4)Highly entertaining and influential Western about a large wagon train that starts off in the Midwest and plans to head out West and up into Oregon. Along the way there are various internal battles as well as dangerous issues with Indians as well as other problems with their journey.One could watch THE COVERED WAGON today and say that it doesn't have anything original to it but they would be missing the point. This was a very original movie when it was originally released and it has been copied so many times since 1923 that some people might forget or just overlook the fact that the rules were formed here for all future Westerns. There are certainly some flaws in the film but at the same time there's no question that this is a highly entertaining movie and one that works on many levels.As I said, the film is basically about this large wagon train heading out West and we see the various problems that happen on the journey. This includes a love triangle between the three main characters. You've got the good guy Will (J. Warren Kerrigan), the bad guy Sam (Alan Hale) and then there's Molly (Lois Wilson) who both want. This leads to some very fun scenes including an extended fight sequence that was perfectly directed by James Cruze. You've also got some other great action including a river crossing, a buffalo hunt and a sequence where the wagons are attacked by Indians.There are some flaws with the film including Kerrigan not being that strong as the lead. I thought he gave a fine performance and I thought he was good to watch but at the same time I think the film would have benefited from a stronger lead. Hale was wonderful as the villain and Wilson was cute enough for what she was asked to do. The film featured some very good cinematography and I'd also argue that the editing itself was good. The locations were great and while the story itself wasn't the strongest, it was at least good enough to hold your attention throughout.THE COVERED WAGON is certainly a landmark Western and one that influenced everything that was to follow. The movie isn't perfect but it's about as entertaining as you can get.

Unfortunately time has not been particularly kind to this slow moving curiosity piece about a wagon train of pioneers headed to Oregon. The story is ordinary, the characters, not surprisingly, strictly archetypes, from the noble but modest hero (the incredibly dull J. Warren Kerrigan), to the wide eyed heroine (pretty but bland Lois Wilson), who never can seem to make up her mind who she prefers, Noble Hero (who has a rumored tarnished past) or conniving bad guy fiancée (Alan Hale, yes, I said Alan Hale, without a sign of a smile on his face). The audience is way ahead of the double minded lady as to whom she will finally choose.James Cruze directed the production and failed to enliven or distinguish any of the much needed action sequences, whether it be a big scene, an Indian attack on the wagon train, or a smaller one (a fist fight between Kerrigan and Hale).The film is noteworthy, however, for its photography, and in showing the far flung vistas on the horizon, does convey a sense of bigness. Also enlivening the film to a degree are the performances of Tully Marshall as a fur trapper and, in particular, Ernest Torrence as a grizzled wagon scout, stereotypes as they may be. Torrence and Marshall are entertaining enough that eight years later they would be reunited for essentially the same roles in a 1931 wagon train tale of negligible entertainment value, Fighting Caravans.The Covered Wagon might have been considered to be a big deal for the film world in 1923 but today this trip put west is, I'm sorry to say, is just not a standout. Maybe I just expected more because Paramount silent are so hard to find and, many times, they really are standouts.

The first great western epic, The Covered Wagon established many of the cliches that appear in many subsequent westerns, both "A" and "B" features alike.Here for the first time, we have the wagon train of eastern settlers trekking west in search of a new land and a new start. We have the circling of the wagons in preparation for the Indian attack, the attack itself and the ride to the rescue of the besieged wagons.Cruze captures the feel of what a real wagon train journey must have been like. The long lines of slow moving covered wagons, the dusty trails, life and death situations on the prairie, as well as the celebrations around the campfire. The sub-plot of boy-girl-villain is "B" western calibre, however, the players carry it of admirably. J. Warren Kerrigan as the hero is adequate but not memorable. The lovely Lois Wilson as the heroine and a young Alan Hale as the villain are much better. It is curious that the Cruze portrayed legendary mountain man Jim Bridger (Tully Marshall) as an absent-minded, liquor swilling comedy relief.The ending is strictly Hollywood. Boy gets girl of course and the villain is defeated, but I thought that the final shoot-out left a little to be desired.Despite its apparent faults, The Covered Wagon remains today as powerful a film as it must have been in 1923.

This film is a great classic, but it is not easy to see it, because it's silent, also the makeup of the male main character is overdone. But still it grabs you. The main star of the film is the covered wagon itself, presented in a way that makes it more real than in any other western that I've seen.