Stagecoach (1966 film)

Stagecoach is a 1966 American film, directed by Gordon Douglas as a remake of the John Ford classic blackandwhite western Stagecoach, which won two Academy Awards and received five other nominations, including placement among 1939s ten Academy Award for Best Picture contenders, a rare distinction for a western. Taking a differently focused casting approach from the then27yearold original version which listed its ten leading players in order of importance, the storys ten central characters were portrayed in 1966 by major stars billed in alphabetical order.

Sixthplaced Bob Cummings plays the embezzling banker Gatewood, a role assigned in 1939 to 9thbilled Berton Churchill, while seventh in line Van Heflin is the marshal, Curley, played in the original by 7thbilled George Bancroft. The eighth alphabetical position is taken by Slim Pickens as the coach driver, Buck, initially portrayed by thirdbilled Andy Devine, while ninth place falls to Stefanie Powers as the pregnant Army wife, Lucy Mallory, played in 1939 by the 6thbilled Louise Platt. At the end of the alphabetical cast, Keenan Wynn, in tenth place, is Luke Plummer, the patriarch of a family of killers, portrayed in 1939 by western star Tom Tyler, billed 11th in the end credits. Finally, 12thbilled supporting player Joseph Hoover portrays the Lieutenant, a character originated by Tim Holt, who was listed 10th in the 1939 credits.Also in the cast, playing their sole credited film roles, were two artists, 15thbilled David Humphreys Miller, a 47yearold western historian who specialized in the culture of the northern Plains Indians and created, among his works, 72 portraits of the survivors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and 20thbilled Norman Rockwell, 71 years old, who was engaged to be on the set in order to paint the portraits of the stars and assigned the small role of a town poker player nicknamed Busted Flush. The films closingcredits sequence features the fullscreen inscription, THE CAST AS PAINTED BY NORMAN ROCKWELL, followed by images of each of the ten cast members in the same order as in the opening credits. The portraits were also used in the poster for the film. ........

Source: Wikipedia