Day 19: Blogging From A to Z Challenge

Day “S”.

Nineteen days and no end in sight. When will this blogging challenge end?

Soon.

Seriously?

Sure.

One of my favorite movies is Stagecoach. From 1939 and featuring John Wayne in his first starring role, it’s one of the best, most influential, Westerns ever made. If you’ve never seen it and watch it now you’ll probably wonder what I’m talking about because, you’ll say, you’ve seen the same thing dozens of times before. The reason for that is simple and the best person to explain it is the late Roger Ebert who said this:

“Seen today, “Stagecoach” may not seem very original. That’s because it influenced countless later movies in which a mixed bag of characters are thrown together by chance and forced to survive an ordeal. The genre is sometimes called the Ark Movie. The film at times plays like an anthology of timeless clichés. You will see a woman going into labor as a doctor orders, “Boil water! Hot water! And lots of it!” You will meet a prostitute with a heart of gold, and an evil banker, and a shifty gambler, and a pure-hearted heroine, and murderous Apaches, and a sultry Indian wife, and a meek little traveling man, and a chase scene with a stagecoach driver going hell for leather. You will see saloons, corrals, vast landscape, camp fires, and the U. S. Cavalry–which sounds the charge before riding to the rescue.” – Roger Ebert

And in addition to that it has one of the coolest scenes in movie history.

And now say the words “stagecoach stops” three times fast. Not the best but not a bad tongue twister. Or since today is “S” day, not a bad speech scrambler.

That’s it. I’m spent.

Somewhere, a slim silver snake smiled, slowly slithering south.