The Covered Wagon

An impressive production which I frankly find more interesting to read about - including an old letter from Lois Wilson - than to watch. The set pieces were great, notably the way they lured in a buffalo herd with a mounted set for the cameras. Back in the day when killing animals while shooting a film was still acceptable. Best part of the film is by far Johnny Fox playing banjo. Other than that the characters, plot and makeup were over the top and silly. Time hasn't done well for the film.

The plot may be a rather tepidly delivered romantic rivalry as foreordained as the party's destination, but this does deliver the (exorbitantly expensive) grand spectacle of a big wagon train on the Oregon Trail, with all the subjects that theme evokes. And hey, fording a river a couple years before "Grass"; they really were pioneers!