Wagons East
| Wagons East! | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Peter Markle |
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| Written by | Matthew Carlson |
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| Music by | Michael Small |
| Cinematography | Frank Tidy |
| Edited by | Scott Conrad |
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107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4.4 million |
Wagons East! (stylised onscreen as Wagons East) is a 1994 American Western adventure comedy film directed by Peter Markle. The film stars John Candy and Richard Lewis. The film was released in the United States on August 26, 1994.
During the film's production in Durango, Mexico, John Candy died of heart attack, six days before the film was completed. Script re-writes, a stand-in and special effects were used to complete his remaining scenes and it was released five months after his death. The film marked one of John Candy's last film appearances although it was not his last film release. His last film, Canadian Bacon, which he had completed before Wagons East!, had a delayed release in 1995.
In the 1860s Wild West, a group of misfit settlers including ex-doctor Phil Taylor (Lewis), prostitute Belle (Ellen Greene), and homosexual bookseller Julian (John C. McGinley) decide they cannot live in their current situation in the west, so they hire a grizzled alcoholic wagon master by the name of James Harlow (Candy) to take them on a journey back to their hometowns in the East.
Comedic exploits ensue as the drunken wagon master lets his horse choose the correct fork in the road, leads them to a dried out watering hole, and eventually guides them into Sioux territory where they are captured. The Chief however is sympathetic to the idea of 'white-men heading back east', and offers an escort off Sioux land. Meanwhile, they must also contend with (inept) hired gunslingers who have been sent by railroad magnates to stop the journey, as they fear the bad publicity it could create for the settlers about to commence a 'land-rush' into the west.
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