---
title: 'Wagon Master (1950)'
type: 'film'
director: 'John Ford'
released: '1950-01-01'
runtime_minutes: 86
genres:
  - 'Western'
countries:
  - 'United States'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/wagon-master-1950'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043117/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Wagon Master (1950)

1950 · 86 min · Western · United States


## Synopsis

Wagon Master is a 1950 American Western film produced and directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond. The story follows a Mormon pioneer wagon train across treacherous desert to the San Juan River in Utah. The film inspired the American television series Wagon Train (1957–1965), which starred Bond until his death in 1960. The film was a personal favorite of Ford himself, who told Peter Bogdanovich in 1967 that "Along with The Fugitive and The Sun Shines Bright, Wagon Master came closest to being what I wanted to achieve." While the critical and audience response to Wagon Master was lukewarm on its release, over the years numerous critics have come to view it as one of Ford's masterpieces.

## Credits

- **Director:** [John Ford](https://cinepixo.com/people/john-ford)
- **Screenplay:** [John Ford](https://cinepixo.com/people/john-ford), [Frank S. Nugent](https://cinepixo.com/people/frank-s-nugent)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Richard Hageman](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-hageman)
- **Producer:** [Merian C. Cooper](https://cinepixo.com/people/merian-c-cooper)
- **Director of Photography:** [Bert Glennon](https://cinepixo.com/people/bert-glennon)
- **Editor:** [Jack Murray](https://cinepixo.com/people/jack-murray)

## Cast

- [Movita Castaneda](https://cinepixo.com/people/movita-castaneda)
- [Charles Kemper](https://cinepixo.com/people/charles-kemper)
- [James Arness](https://cinepixo.com/people/james-arness)
- [Francis Ford](https://cinepixo.com/people/francis-ford)
- [Jane Darwell](https://cinepixo.com/people/jane-darwell)
- [Ruth Clifford](https://cinepixo.com/people/ruth-clifford)
- [Jim Thorpe](https://cinepixo.com/people/jim-thorpe)
- [Hank Worden](https://cinepixo.com/people/hank-worden)
- [Harry Carey](https://cinepixo.com/people/harry-carey)
- [Joanne Dru](https://cinepixo.com/people/joanne-dru)
- [Russell Simpson](https://cinepixo.com/people/russell-simpson)
- [Alan Mowbray](https://cinepixo.com/people/alan-mowbray)
- [Ben Johnson](https://cinepixo.com/people/ben-johnson)
- [Ward Bond](https://cinepixo.com/people/ward-bond)
- [Kathleen O'Malley](https://cinepixo.com/people/kathleen-o-malley)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/wagon-master-1950
Film facts: Wikidata (Q977899); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.