Screenplay Laurence Stallings, Frank S Nugent, from a story by Peter Kyne.
In a great opening, three would-be bank robbers start inadvertently chatting to the town's Marshal, who then pursues them across the Mojave Desert, Arizona (remind me not to go to Arizona). Then, they find his daughter, who gives birth. There's a lengthy and gruelling (and tragic) desert crossing section. The neighbouring towns, if you can believe it, are Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem, the latter giving it a weird Christmas slant.
The bandits are John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Harry Carey, Jr. whose father died the year before and who the film's dedicated to (Ford directed many of his westerns in the twenties). The Marshal's Ward Bond and his wife Mae Marsh, who puts eggshells in her coffee to keep the grounds down, like Carey's mom.
There's a scene early on when the Marshal is giving instructions to his deputies and one of them smiles ironically and its very much reminiscent of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon where something similar happens (Ben Johnson is in both films). There's lots of humour, as you'd expect, some of it concerning stubborn mules, and the difficulties faced by three men and a baby in the desert. It's stunningly shot by Winnie Hoch.
Also in the cast: Charles Halton, Mildred Natwick, Jane Darwell, Guy Kibbee (judge), Dorothy Ford (6' 2" and no relation).
I was actually speechless by the end.
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| The dedication to Harry Carey |
The baby - uncredited - is apparently Amelia Yelda, who never appeared in anything else.
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