The Big Trail
Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:56 am
I happened to see this movie again the other morning. It was filmed in the early '30's. It's a story about a wagon train during the westward expansion.
The thing I find so interesting about this movie is the "special effects". What would be special effects today, actually had to be done for real then. One scene shows them lowering conestoga wagons down cliffs and they were actually lowering wagons down those cliffs. When they crossed big nasty rivers, they actually had to do it. There was no way to fake that stuff in those days.
The conestoga wagons were the real prairie schooner type, some with trailers. John Wayne played a scout, rode a cavalry saddle, and got the girl in the end.
John
"A good horse rides best for a good horseman"
The thing I find so interesting about this movie is the "special effects". What would be special effects today, actually had to be done for real then. One scene shows them lowering conestoga wagons down cliffs and they were actually lowering wagons down those cliffs. When they crossed big nasty rivers, they actually had to do it. There was no way to fake that stuff in those days.
The conestoga wagons were the real prairie schooner type, some with trailers. John Wayne played a scout, rode a cavalry saddle, and got the girl in the end.
John
"A good horse rides best for a good horseman"