How the West Was Won
by George Marshall, Henry Hathaway, John Ford, Richard Thorpe
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Carroll Baker, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, John WayneDirector: George Marshall, Henry Hathaway, John Ford, Richard Thorpe
Producer: Aubrey Solomon
Producer: Bernard Smith
Writer: James R. Webb
Writer: John Gay
DVD: 2 Layers, Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Letterboxed, PAL, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 2.35:1
Running Time: 155 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-09-12
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of How the West Was Won
Movie Review: Historic Panorama
Summary: 4 Stars
These days, American history has been minimized in schools, under the guise of "cultural diversity." This film may not fully correct this, but it does provide an idea of what the United States' cultural roots have been.
The story begins tracing the story of a family migrating from the eastern states to the frontier of the time, and of a mountain man, a trapper who interacted with western American Indians well beyond the explored lands. The family meets tragedy, with one of the daughters and the mountain man falling in love, and the other daughter -- a free spirit of the time -- living a wilder life as a singer and entertainer.
From the post-revolutionary world through the Civil War and beyond, the stories of the two branches of the family are shown, covering the sweep of historic events until the close of the 19th Century, not counting a rapid epilog.
The film was sjot in Cinerama, using the original three-camera process, so thwere is a discernable jiggle at the two joins between the photos, and naturally, the scope of the original is literally minimized on the average video screen. Yet this is counterbalamced by really striking scenes of the untamed wiorld of the pioneers.
The film is also more honest than many is the dealings between the settlers and the American Indians, showing cases of how treaties were broken, and the natural reaction for such actions.
The film has formidible star power, with many of the top stars from the time it was shot present in significant roles.
Hardly a perfect film, but it does provide some perspective of how the nation developed.
Summary of How the West Was Won
The first feature film to be photographed and projected in the panoramic three-camera Cinerama process, this epic Western is almost as expansive as the West itself, chronicling a pioneering family's triumphs and tragedies in numerous episodes spanning three generations and a half century of westward movement. Divided into five segments directed by veteran Hollywood filmmakers Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and the legendary John Ford (and including uncredited sequences directed by Richard Thorpe), the film was one of the most ambitious ever made by the venerable MGM studio. Its stellar cast reads like a virtual who's who of Hollywood's biggest stars. Debbie Reynolds plays a sturdy survivor of many pioneering dangers, and the eventual widow of a gambler (Gregory Peck), who is later reunited with her nephew (George Peppard), a Civil War veteran and cavalryman who heads for San Francisco as the transcontinental railroad is being built. Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this epic film, which is dramatically uneven but totally engrossing with its stunning vistas and countless outdoor locations in Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Monument Valley in Arizona, California, Colorado, and elsewhere. --Jeff ShannonDrama DVD Video
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