The iconic Wayne's The Big Trail set his career back a decade, despite marking his first leading role.

This 1930 Western was an expensive bomb, and Wayne spent years making Western B-movies in the aftermath. It was his collaborations with John Ford and Howard Hawks that transformed his career, and there was a time when Wayne appearing in a film all but guaranteed its success. John Ford and John Wayne Westerns are considered some of the most important of the genre, with The Searchers often cited as the best Western ever made.

Stagecoach Proved John Wayne Was A Western Hero & Movie Star

Wayne Credits Stagecoach With Launching His Entire Career

Another landmark John Ford Western was Stagecoach, which follows a disparate group of people riding a stagecoach together and avoiding Apache attacks. This 1939 classic is technically an ensemble, but while the cast all do great work, there's only one true star. John Wayne plays the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach, an escaped convict who s the stagecoach while it's already underway. The moment Wayne's Ringo Kid enters the story, he essentially takes it over from there.

Ford was the first director to capture what made Wayne such a star, and Stagecoach was the film that finally broke Wayne through to audiences after years of cheapie Westerns. He had such a natural, commanding screen presence that he outshined the very capable ensemble around him, with Ringo Kid being a perfect anti-hero role.

John Wayne's Entrance In Stagecoach Is An All-Time Great Character Introduction

Ringo Kid's Introduction Practically Announces John Wayne's Stardom

Wayne was an actor who understood the importance of a grand entrance, from his wordless intro in Rio Bravo right through to the titular character's arrival in 1971's Big Jake. Wayne never beat Ringo Kid's introduction in Stagecoach, where he yells "Hold it!" while cocking his Winchester one-handed in midair, all while the camera zooms right in on his face. It's a mystic introduction and all but announces the arrival of the next big movie star. It helped, of course, that the rest of his performance was pretty cool too.

Wayne always underlined the importance of the Ford film to his career, stating on The Phil Donahue Show in 1976 that "I love Stagecoach naturally because I stepped on that stagecoach and it carried me a long ways." Both Ringo Kid and Wayne literally stop Stagecoach in its tracks so he can take the lead, which he did for the next 30 years of his career.

Key Background

• Stagecoach has been remade twice, with Alex Cord playing the Ringo Kid in the 1966 film version while Kris Kristofferson inherited the role for a 1986 TV movie.
• John Wayne made his official film debut in Words and Music (1929). Before that, he made an appearance in around 21 movies over three years, but his name was uncredited.

Source: The Phil Donahue Show/YouTube