Some of the oddest, and worst, of the early sound films were made by New York theater directors whose camera remained mindlessly immobile in front of actors playing as if on a stage. It introduced a whole new theatrical element and major technological changes the early sound cameras were less mobile, for example. Few directors knew quite how to respond to sound at first. Wayne plays a trail guide, and there are three bad guys, some Indians, and the leading-lady love interest but we shift abruptly from one character to the next, and none is really developed.Īnother part of the film's oddness doubtless stems from Walsh's response to wide-screen and sound. Another part of the film's oddity results from the sparseness of the plot. The young John Wayne (in this film director Raoul Walsh gave him his first starring role) had not yet developed the ringingly self-certain personality for which he was later famous here he displays an almost awkward youthfulness that is somewhat endearing. One of Hollywood's first sound westerns, it focuses on the familiar story of a wagon train journeying west. To a viewer accustomed to Hollywood product of the last 40 years, it is likely to seem a very odd film even for 1930. But the wide-screen version has recently been restored, and although the sound track isn't always intelligible, the film's unique response to wide-screen makes its Chicago premiere June 18 and 19 at the Film Center well worth seeing. As it turned out, few theater owners bought into wide-screen, and The Big Trail was shown in Grandeur only in New York and Los Angeles. The Big Trail, one of the few Grandeur films, was shot in two versions, 35-millimeter as well as 70-millimeter, because Fox knew that not all theaters would be equipped for the new process. Fox introduced the Grandeur process, in which the image was photographed on 70-millimeter film rather than the standard 35-millimeter. The CinemaScope of the 1950s was not Hollywood's first foray into wide-screen.Īt the beginning of the sound era, in 1930, several studios, seeing that theater owners were willing to reequip their movie houses for sound, reasoned that they might also buy wide-screen projection equipment of the studios' own design. Both the size and the shape of the screen were varied in some films the image became square, in others it grew wider. The one-reeler evolved into the feature both color tinting and early attempts at natural color were used different kinds of sound accompaniment were tried throughout the silent period. With John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill, El Brendel, Tully Marshall, and Tyrone Power Sr.Ĭonstant experimentation characterized the first three decades of American narrative filmmaking. Written by Jack Peabody, Mary Boyle, and Florence Postal This review of Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail first appeared in the Chicago Reader, JI've made a few minor linguistic changes. Other: ( Rants, Obits) Links About Contact The Big Trail, by Raoul Walsh, reviewed by Fred Camper, a movie review from the Chicago Reader Home Film My Art Art
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