MovieChat Forums > Stagecoach (1939) Discussion > U think the doc 'paid some visits' to Da...

U think the doc 'paid some visits' to Dallas in the past?

posted 15 years ago by konam
10 replies | jump to latest

So, what you think? They seemed awfully close.

- He moves his lips when he reads. What does that tell you about him?

[–] aapc-2 15 years ago

The Doc was a bit of a reprobate... and a letch! Could have been a customer! I mean what non-professional woman wants to hang out with a stone drunk like the doc?

And the Doc was portrayed by the same fellow who played the local newspaper editor in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" Same drunk, different occupation. He was very good at playing drunk. Like Dean Martin was.

[–] ljspin 15 years ago

Actually, Thomas Mitchell, who played Doc Boone, was not in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." The newspaper editor was played by Edmund O'Brien.

I don't think that Doc Boone and Dallas had a relationship other than the rightious of the town. Doc Boone was a physcian, an honored profession, but his alcoholism dragged him down. And Dallas was at best a saloon girl, but most likely a prostitute. In a small town it is not unusual for everyone to know everyone, and, since Doc and Dallas are being run out of town, it is obvious they are both outcasts. I think that is from where their connection comes.

Of course, I could be wrong . . .

Spin

[–] scottsparks1 15 years ago

Speaking of the Doc being a reprobate, when the stage gets ready to leave the first town, he sticks his hand out the stagecoach window to bid the "Ladies of Law and Order" goodbye. The camera shows the ladies with a rather shocked reaction; do you suppose the Doc gave them "the finger?"

[–] PillowRock 14 years ago

Could have been any one of several "rude gestures". That is certainly one of the prime options.

[–] PillowRock 15 years ago

Maybe. Maybe not.

That is to say that it's certainly possible. However, it is not necessarily guaranteed.

Of course, Dallas figured to have had regular use for medical services (whether for drunken / passed out customers or for herself because of drunken customers), and Doc figures to be easier for her to deal with than whoever the town doctor was that the Women's League would approve of having around.

Also, since basically nobody else would talk to either of them in public, they likely would have tended to chat with each other whenever they happened to be in the same place ..... whether that was a local store or whatever. I'm not surprised that the two people being run out of town at the same time would be friendly with each other.

[–] bradford-1 15 years ago

One can also imagine Doc Boone had treated Dallas for certain (ahem) "illnesses" that she may have fallen prey to, considering the profession she may have been involved in.

[–] Cali7 13 years ago

Interesting question, but I don't think so. Of course, it might be possible, but in my opinion the Doctor and Dallas were just friends united by their status as the "town pariahs."

[–] GattiPL 13 years ago

I have been reading Lonesome Dove and it has given me more of an insight on the wild west

It seems like DEFINATELY he did. It was normal for every man who wasn't married to go get a "poke" above the saloon every once in awhile.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] Jes' Sayin' (6544) 5 years ago

Doubt it. His alcoholism would have worked against him there.