How the West Was Won
Directed by	John Ford Henry Hathaway George Marshall Richard Thorpe
Produced by	Bernard Smith
Written by	James R. Webb
Starring	Carroll Baker Lee J. Cobb Henry Fonda Carolyn Jones Karl Malden Gregory Peck George Peppard Robert Preston Debbie Reynolds James Stewart Eli Wallach John Wayne Richard Widmark Walter Brennan Andy Devine Raymond Massey Agnes Moorehead Thelma Ritter Spencer Tracy
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	November 1, 1962
Running time	162 min.
Language	English, Arapaho
IMDb profile

How the West Was Won is an epic 1962 western film which follows four generations of a family (starting as the Prescotts) as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean. The film is set between 1839 and 1889.

The all-star cast included Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, and Richard Widmark.

The movie consists of five segments, three directed by Henry Hathaway ("The Rivers", "The Plains" and "The Outlaws"), and one each by John Ford ("The Civil War") and George Marshall ("The Railroad"), with transitional sequences by the uncredited Richard Thorpe. The screenplay was written by John Gay (uncredited) and James R. Webb. Popular western author Louis L'Amour wrote a book based on the screenplay.^[1]

Plot summary

The Rivers (1830s)

Mountain man Linus Rawlings (James Stewart) is returning to civilization to trade his furs when he meets a group of settlers heading west, led by Zebulon Prescott (Karl Malden). His daughter Eve (Carroll Baker) is attracted to Linus, but he isn't ready to settle down and leaves.

Linus stops at an isolated trading post run by a clan headed by "Colonel" Hawkins (Walter Brennan). The frontiersman finds out too late that all is not what it seems; he is knocked unconscious, robbed and left for dead. Fortunately, he escapes and rescues the Prescott party from a similar fate. The bushwacking thieves are dispatched with rough frontier justice.

The settlers continue down the river, but their raft is caught in some rapids, and Zebulon and his wife Rebecca (Agnes Moorehead) drown. Linus, finding that he cannot live without Eve, reappears and marries her, even though she insists on homesteading at the spot where her parents died.

The Plains (1850s)

After the Mexican-American War, the Mexican territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México were ceded to the United States. California was admitted to the Union as a state in 1850.

Eve's sister Lily (Debbie Reynolds) chooses to go to St. Louis, where she finds work performing in a dance hall. She attracts the attention of professional gambler Cleve Van Valen (Gregory Peck). After overhearing that she has just inherited a California gold mine (and to avoid paying his debts), he joins the wagon train that will take her there. He and wagon train master Roger Morgan (Robert Preston) court her along the way, but she turns them both down, much to the dismay of her new friend and fellow traveler Agatha Clegg (Thelma Ritter).

Surviving an attack by the Cheyenne Indians, Lily and Cleve arrive at the mine, only to find that it is now worthless. Despite this, Cleve decides he wants to marry her anyway. They settle down in the rapidly growing San Francisco.

The Civil War (1861~1865)

Eve has already lost her husband to the American Civil War. Despite her wishes, their son Zeb (George Peppard) joins the Union army as well. The bloody Battle of Shiloh shows him that war is nothing like he imagined. He encounters a Confederate who is similarly disillusioned who suggests desertion, which Zeb considers.

By chance, they overhear a private conversation between Generals Ulysses S. Grant (Harry Morgan) and William Tecumseh Sherman (John Wayne). The rebel realizes he has the opportunity to rid the South of two of its greatest enemies and tries to shoot them, leaving Zeb no choice, but to kill him. Afterwards, Zeb rejoins his regiment.

With the end of the war, he returns home, only to find his mother has died. He gives his share of the family farm to his brother and leaves for a more active life.

The Railroad (1860s)

Following the daring riders from the Pony Express and the construction of the transcontinental telegraph line in the early 1860s, the two competing railroad lines, the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad, bring to the territory new settlers.

Zeb becomes a lieutenant in the U.S. cavalry, keeping peace with the Indians with the help of buffalo hunter Jethro Stuart (Henry Fonda), an old friend of Linus. When ruthless railroad man Mike King (Richard Widmark) violates a treaty by building on Indian territory, the Sioux Indians retaliate by stampeding buffalo through his camp. Disgusted, Zeb resigns and heads to Arizona.

The Outlaws (1880s)

In San Francisco, now-widowed Lily auctions off Cleve's estate (who had become a railroad tycoon) to pay the debts. She decides to move to Arizona, hoping that Zeb and his family will help her oversee her ranch there.

Zeb (now a marshal), his wife Julie (Carolyn Jones) and their children are visited by Lily. With the help of the city's marshal (Lee J. Cobb), he foils a robbery of a train by an old enemy, Charlie Gant (Eli Wallach), and his gang. Finally Lily and the Rawlings travel to their new home.

Cast

Awards and nominations

The movie won Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay — Written Directly for the Screen (James R. Webb). It was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Art Direction — Set Decoration, Color; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Music, Score — Substantially Original (Alfred Newman and Ken Darby); and Best Picture.

The film has also been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Production

A scene showing the visible joins resulting from the three-strip Cinerama process.

How the West was Won is one of only two feature films (the other being Grand Prix) made using the three-strip Cinerama process, and suffers from that process's technical shortcomings. When shown on television in a Cinemascope print made from the original three-strip version, the joins between the three frames are clearly and sometimes glaringly visible; when seen in letterbox format the actors' faces are nearly indistinguishable in long shots. There have been efforts to put the three parts of the image together in a better way, and to make the Cinerama image look better on a flat screen, led by HP^[2].

Stuntman Bob Morgan, husband of Yvonne De Carlo, was severely injured and lost a leg during an accident while filming.^[3]

References

1. ^ http://www.louislamour.com/novels/howthewest.htm
2. ^ http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2006/apr-jun/movie.html
3. ^ http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/westwon.htm

External links

• How the West Was Won at the Internet Movie Database
• How the West Was Won at the TCM Movie Database
• An Amateurs Making Of HTWWW

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