The Big Trail (1930)

Directed by

Raoul Walsh

Genre

Western film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 05m

Rated

G

Rating

6.7 of 10 from 132 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young scout leads a wagon train of settlers traveling the Oregon Trail. The group faces harsh landscapes and dangers as they push westward.

epicgrandadventurouspioneeringvisually sweepingearneststatelynostalgic

What happens

The Big Trail is a 1930 American epic pre-Code Western early widescreen film shot on location across the American West starring 23-year-old John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh. It is the final completed film to feature Tyrone Power Sr. before his death in 1931, as well as his only sound role. In 2006, the United States Library of Congress deemed this film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry, saying "the plot of a trek along the Oregon Trail is aided immensely by the majestic sweep provided by the experimental 70mm Grandeur wide-screen process used in filming". Fox officials told Walsh that its opening scenes were the greatest filmed in Hollywood to that point. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• The Oregon Trail (1959)
• The Oregon Trail (1939)
• The Old Oregon Trail (1928)
• The Big Trail (1931)
• Bend of the River (1952)
• The Santa Fe Trail (1930)
• Fighting Caravans (1931)
• Along the Oregon Trail (1947)