It's a long time since I've seen the movie but I recall that I thought it was't particularly entertaining but Bing acted well.

Belated thanks, Malcolm. A very nice copy. 
I purchased this edition quite recently and agree with Graham and Stepo. Bing's character performance was pitch-perfect but Alex Cord was indeed rather wooden in the lead. I suppose who else could have held a candle to John Wayne in one of his signature roles and the one which made him a star? 
I heard Mr Cord talking on the radio a few years ago and he told of his mother being a huge fan of Bing's, so he asked Bing at the time of the filming if he would mind taking her out to dinner, which he so graciously did. 
I very much enjoyed (and subsequently bought on CD) Jerry Goldsmith's score (would it have unbalanced things if a theme song could have been written for Bing to have sung over the titles?) but when all said and done, could John Ford's original have ever been bettered? .

I must seek both of those Douglas westerns out. Both appear to also have solid casts. I agree, trying to remake Ford's classic "Stagecoach" was a rather pointless affair but as I'm obviously biased, I'm just pleased it was a film that gave Bing a worthy, later supporting role. I do wish, though that he'd agreed to star as Ben Rumson (Lee Marvin's eventual part) in "Paint Your Wagon". Now that would have been a terrific musical swansong for him. 

Last edited by Ian Kerstein (06/9/2026 9:57 pm)

Yes, I think it could have been a wonderfully late musical career bloom for Bing. I imagine his older, mellow voice backed by the film's wonderful orchestrations and robust chorus arrangements being worth the price of admission, alone. Lovely that he was offered the part, though. I believe the film was released the year I was born, so I have no memory of the chart success of Marvin's "Wanderin' Star" rendition but he and the music makers made it sound so interesting that it remains a fond favourite of mine as a non-singer having an effective hit record or score. A little like Robert Preston in The Music Man/Mack & Mabel, Richard Harris or Rex Harrison in "My Fair Lady".

Good grief! That was some heavy chart blocking from Mr Marvin and company. Those were the days when so called novelty/comedy records or unexpected contrasting singles could occupy the pop charts.I can think of examples from that decade of The Simon Park Orchestra's "Eye Level"  (light music theme tune to the UK detective series "Van der Valk"), The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band's "The Floral Dance", Laurel & Hardy - and course Bing himself.
I've always had a weak spot for Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water". I think Tony Bennett called it the last great American song (or some such).