The Big Trail (1930) is a little remembered Western masterpiece directed by Raoul Walsh (The Roaring Twenties, White Heat, The Enforcer (1951)). Filmed entirely on location and featuring stunts that have never been duplicated or topped, the movie was the first starring role for John Wayne. Most moviegoers only saw the 35 mm print of the film, but the screenshots below come from the seldom seen, 70 mm Fox Grandeur version, which was the first but short-lived widescreen movie format in America. The two versions differ in story, script, direction, and stunts, with the 35 mm print vastly inferior to the 70 mm version. The film also starred Marguerite Churchill, El Brendel, Tully Marshall, and Tyrone Power Sr. (as Tyrone Power). An honest scout (Wayne) keeps a close eye on a trio of thugs, who lead a wagon train across canyons, rivers, deserts, blizzards, and Indian land to California in the 1850s.
The following weapons were used in the film The Big Trail:
Throughout the film, Breck (John Wayne) carries a Remington 1858 New Army revolver. While billed as being a percussion revolver in the film, in reality the gun is an original nickel plated Remington New Model Army cartridge conversion that was altered to fire .38 S&W blanks. The use of cartridge conversions in place of actual percussion revolvers was a common practice in Hollywood throughout the 20th century, due to the ease of using blank cartridges as opposed to loading blank charges in a percussion firearm. For more info on this gun, click here.
