Reel Old Movies

"The Covered Wagon" is not as well known today as some classic movies, but the silent movie is considered the first big budget epic Western, or as Variety said at its 1923 release: "It is the biggest thing since Griffith made 'The Birth of a Nation.'" The movie was one of the era's top box office hits, premiering in New York on March 16, 1923. Even Warren G. Harding, president at the time, screened it at the White House and sent an endorsement. It was also ground-breaking in the ambitious scale in its production of the tale of the pioneers heading West across the United States in the 1840s.  The plot of "The Covered Wagon" covers ground that will be well-trod in later Westerns: A wagon train sets out in 1848 for Oregon territory and encounters treacherous river crossings, internal power struggles, prairie fires, Indian attacks, an action-packed buffalo hunt, gold fever and more.  J. Warren Kerrigan and Lois Wilson J. Warren Kerrigan plays Will,