How the West Was Won **** (1962, Carroll Baker, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, John Wayne, Lee J Cobb, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, Eli Wallach, Richard Widmark) – Classic Movie Review 10,005

Hollywood’s senior male stars Henry Fonda, James Stewart, John Wayne, Lee J Cobb, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, Eli Wallach and Richard Widmark do sterling service in this exciting, action-packed epic Western version of 50 years of American history, as seen through the lives of a single family, the Prescott family.

Directors Henry Hathaway, John Ford, George Marshall and Richard Thorpe’s 1962 How the West Was Won was made for the huge Cinerama screen – the first fiction feature in the process – causing problems for showings on TV. Ford’s brief contribution – about the bloody Civil War Battle of Shiloh and its tragic aftermath – is outstanding.

It is all neatly packaged and cropped into 162 minutes, thanks to a very effective and efficient screenplay by James R Webb, based on his story (suggested by the series How the West Was Won which appeared in LIFE magazine).

There were eight Academy Award nominations and it won three Oscars: for Best Story and Screenplay (James R Webb), Best Sound (Franklin E Milton) and Best Film Editing (Harold F Kress). The first-class Color Cinematography (Joseph LaShelle, Charles Lang, William H Daniels, Milton R Krasner) and Score (Alfred Newman and Ken Darby) were Oscar nominated. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Best Costume Design, Color.

The alphabetical order billing gives top billing to Carroll Baker as Eve Prescott.

The narrator is Spencer Tracy.

It advertises 24 great stars, but only gives 13 of them star billing on the poster, and in alphabetical order: 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.

Also in the cast are Andy Devine, Raymond Massey, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Morgan, Thelma Ritter, Russ Tamblyn, David Brian, Mickey Shaughnessy, Brigid Bazlen, Harry Dean Stanton, Carolyn Jones, Walter Brennan, Willis Bouchey, Mark Allen, Rodolfo Acosta, Paul Bryar, Walter Burke, Kim Charney, Ken Curtis, John Damler, Jay C. Flippen, Claude Johnson, Barry Harvey, Stanley Livingston, Boyd ‘Red’ Morgan, Cliff Osmond, Tudor Owen, Chuck Roberson, Jack Pennick, Bryan Russell, Clinton Sundberg, Karl Swenson, Lee Van Cleef, Carleton Young and William Wellman Jr.

DVD versions run 150 minutes, 162 minutes, or 165 minutes.

The directors’ segments are: Henry Hathaway (segments “The Rivers”, “The Plains”, “The Outlaws”), John Ford (segment “The Civil War”), George Marshall (segment “The Railroad”) and Richard Thorpe (transitional historical sequences, uncredited).

How the West Was Won is directed by Henry Hathaway, John Ford, George Marshall and Richard Thorpe, runs 162 minutes, is made by MGM and Cinerama Productions, is released by Cinerama Releasing Corporation (1962), MGM (1962) (UK), MGM (1963) (US) (theatrical) (35mm version) and MGM (1970) (US) (theatrical) (re-release), is written by James R Webb, is shot by Joseph LaShelle, Charles Lang, William H Daniels, Milton R Krasner and Harold Wellman (Metrocolor), is produced by Bernard Smith, is scored by Alfred Newman and Ken Darby, and designed by George W Davis, William Ferrari and Addison Hehr.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,005

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