Monumental in scope and mamouth in nature, March 1923's "The Covered Wagon" has been acknowledged as the first epic movie Western. One TV personality, Joe Franklin, even called this "the first American epic not directed by Griffith."
What makes "The Covered Wagon" such a pioneering work is not because it was the highest production budget for a Western film yet, over $750,000, and was the number one box office draw for 1923. The movie established iconic scenes future Westerns films would copy. The motion picture was the first to show realistic views of the pioneering frontier, which included a convey of authentic covered wagons from California's first settlers that had been lovingly preserved. In addition, the trials the wagoners went through during their journey, such as river crossings, Indian attacks, severe weather, even quicksand, are all seen in one complete package. Lastly, a buffalo hunt, although minuscule in comparison to more impressive modern day episodes in today's films, is undertaken. The number of buffalos back in 1923 was a fraction of today's amount, so the producers gathered what small number of the animals living back then for the hunting sequence.
During the river-crossing scene where horses were hauling the wagons across a deep ford, actress Lois Wilson was so traumatized witnessing two horses drowning she returned to her tent and didn't work the rest of day.
"The Covered Wagon" was the final of many Lois Wilson and J. Warren Kerrigan movies where they paired up as a romantic couple. The irony of the matrimony roles they played through that span, neither one actually married in real life. Wilson, appearing in over 150 movies, made the transition to sound, but retired in 1941 over the type of roles she was offered. She wrapped up her acting career in three network soap operas, including 'The Guiding Light' and 'The Secret Storm.' Actor Kerrigan's career was sinking like a rock when he receive the romantic lead in "The Covered Wagon." A rising star in the mid-1910's, he made an insensitive comment when the United States entered the Great War in 1917, stating actors, musicians, great writers and other artists shouldn't be sacrificed on the battle front. "I think that first they should take the great mass of men who aren't good for anything else, or are only good for the lower grades of work," he callously said. That statement and the fact he was living with his mother as well as a partner, actor James Vincent, in the same house, sunk his standing in Hollywood. His friendship with director James Cruz got him the lead role in "The Covered Wagon." The movie was President Warren G. Harding's favorite film as well as the creator of Godzilla, Japanese producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. "The Covered Wagon" was also nominated for American Film Institute's '100 Most Thrilling Film Ever Made' category.
During the river-crossing scene where horses were hauling the wagons across a deep ford, actress Lois Wilson was so traumatized witnessing two horses drowning she returned to her tent and didn't work the rest of day.
"The Covered Wagon" was the final of many Lois Wilson and J. Warren Kerrigan movies where they paired up as a romantic couple. The irony of the matrimony roles they played through that span, neither one actually married in real life. Wilson, appearing in over 150 movies, made the transition to sound, but retired in 1941 over the type of roles she was offered. She wrapped up her acting career in three network soap operas, including 'The Guiding Light' and 'The Secret Storm.' Actor Kerrigan's career was sinking like a rock when he receive the romantic lead in "The Covered Wagon." A rising star in the mid-1910's, he made an insensitive comment when the United States entered the Great War in 1917, stating actors, musicians, great writers and other artists shouldn't be sacrificed on the battle front. "I think that first they should take the great mass of men who aren't good for anything else, or are only good for the lower grades of work," he callously said. That statement and the fact he was living with his mother as well as a partner, actor James Vincent, in the same house, sunk his standing in Hollywood. His friendship with director James Cruz got him the lead role in "The Covered Wagon." The movie was President Warren G. Harding's favorite film as well as the creator of Godzilla, Japanese producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. "The Covered Wagon" was also nominated for American Film Institute's '100 Most Thrilling Film Ever Made' category.