Synopsis
The Big Trail (1930) is a classic Raoul Walsh western you can watch online on iFILM. This is the picture that launched John Wayne: Walsh pulled the 23-year-old prop hand out of the background and handed him his first lead. Wayne plays young scout Breck Coleman, guiding a settlers' wagon train along the Oregon Trail.
Coleman is after two things at once. He's fallen for pioneer Ruth Cameron, the daughter of one of the travelers, while also hunting the men who killed his trapper friend. The thousand-mile route tests the whole caravan to its limits: rivers, mountain passes, buffalo herds, downpours, and the resentment of those who'd rather turn the wagons around.
Made at the dawn of sound, the film stuns with its sheer scale. Walsh drove real wagons across real rivers and canyons, and some prints went out in the rare wide Grandeur 70mm format. It flopped at the box office, yet it's now prized as one of the most ambitious early westerns and the starting point of the Wayne legend. A must for fans of old Hollywood. Stream The Big Trail (1930) online on iFILM.
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