grypnhmr I saw this in the theater when I was 8 years old, with my clearest memory being how long it was. As an adult rewatching it, I can say length isn't its problem. The screenplay, script, and casting, and more are subpar. The movie, unfortunately, comes across as a deliberate vehicle for Cinerama and Debbie Reynolds, who hogs the first half of the film and is pretty unbelievable as a mid 1800s woman. A few past-their-prime actors, James Steward, Robert Preston, and Gregory Peck (the latter two looking older than their years) are the romantic interests. Likewise, George Peppard is too old to be the son of Eva Prescott. You'd think there were no young talented actors yearning for work in 1961 when the film was made.In one scene in the film, Julie Rawlings, played by Carolyn Jones (who appeared the most authentic of all the women, with the exception of Agnes Moorehead as an early pioneer woman), cries at the prospect of her husband losing his life, but in barges Debbie Reynolds with her bad imitation of an old lady, ruining one of the few emotionally genuine bits of the whole movie.Besides the big name stars---Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, and John Wayne, to name a few of the biggest---there's some hefty historical name dropping: "Sherman..." says Sgt. Friday's sidekick to John Wayne, to which Wayne replies, "Grant...."This was an ambitious idea that ends up being squeezed into 2 hours and 45 minutes---actually less because surprisingly large segments of time are taken up with a static western scene and just music, and then there's the credits that also eat us some of that time. So, you are getting about 2 hours and 15 minutes of the supposed story of how the U.S. expanded its territory westward. It's pretty silly watching the California Gold Rush and the Civil War given such short shrift. My favorite scene was the buffalo stampede because a running herd of buffalo is awesome. I secretly wished it had gotten out of control of the animal handlers and destroyed the whole production company and put an end to this cinematic endeavor.

Michael_Elliott How the West Was Won (1962) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Epic and landmark Western has three directors telling the story of a group of travelers heading from the East and marking on a journey through the West. Throughout the decades we see them heading out West and then taking part in a variety of stories including those dealing with the railroad, The Civil War and a grand voyage down a dangerous river.An epic such as this could only be filmed in the then hyped up Cinerama and of course you needed epic directors like John Ford, Henry Hathaway and George Marshall to bring it to the screen. Throw in the all-star cast and you're really left with a film that has to be seen and, if you can, see it on as large as a screen as possible. Thankfully I got to view the film in the theater and it's certainly unlike many other adventures on the screen. I think a lot of the credit has to go to the Cinerama. Yes, you get two black lines down the screen and it's easy to see why this gimmick didn't last but at the same time, looking back at these films today, they're just something unique about such a wide image.There's no question that there are some flaws to be found in the film and this includes the actual stories. Even though we've got a running time of 166-minutes, that's still not long enough to really tell the history of the West so what we've got is small stories set during these historic events. The first two stories before the intermission deals with love stories, which might sound corny but it actually works quite well and just think how many years this was before TITANIC. The stories themselves are all "B" material but you're still highly entertained thanks to the director's work behind the scenes as well as the excellent cast members. You can look up the cast yourself and just see how many legends are on one screen. Some like John Wayne just make cameo appearances but there's still some very good work here by the likes of James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck, Carroll Baker and Richard Widmark.The Cinerama is something that's hotly debated by film buffs but I think the locations are beautifully captured here. The scenery just leaps off the screen and especially early on. The sequence dealing with the family moving down the river is full of adventure and excitement. Once the twist in the story happens and Stewart must seek revenge, there's no question that it packs a punch. The wagon trail sequence with Peck is also extremely entertaining and features some great action. I actually found Ford's stuff with The Civil War to be the weakest element of the picture but things pick up for the climax and a wonderful shoot out on a train.HOW THE WEST WAS WON certainly has a fair amount of flaws but there's still no question that it's one of the most beautiful films to look at and it features a terrific cast so there's no getting bored through the long running time. If you're going to see the film it's certainly best that you try to seek it out on as big as a screen as possible, the way it was meant to be seen.

grantss Good historic-drama. Incredibly ambitious, to incorporate the entire history of the United States' exploration and development of the west through a family history. However, the movie's reach exceeds its grasp. The linkages between the generations of characters and US history sometimes seems contrived and trite. With so much ground to cover, some events are skimmed over.The whole thing just doesn't gel as well as it should. Might have something to do with the fact that each set of characters is treated as a separate story, almost entirely different from the others, and has a different director (John Ford, George Marshall, Henry Hathaway)Probably the best reason to watch is for the all-star cast: James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, John Wayne (miscast as General Sherman), Debbie Reynolds, George Peppard, Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, with narration by Spencer Tracey.

SnoopyStyle This is an fashion western of a multi-generational Prescott family encompassing every stereotype as America settles the west. The Prescott family is heading west starting from the Eerie canal. They encounter pirates and a fur trader Linus Rawlings (James Stewart). It's a good start, but the leads keep changing.Instead of following Jimmy Stewart and Carroll Baker all the way through, it switches to Debbie Reynolds and Gregory Peck as they go to California. On the way, they have an old fashion settlers and Indians shoot out. Then we switch back to Carroll Baker and George Peppard as the Civil War gets started. And it keeps going with different lead actors until the closing flyover of a Californian freeway.There is something very superficial about all of this. It's like a high school history textbook being fitted into a western movie. There are big action scenes. There are big named actors. Maybe there are too many big names. The time span is too long, and the endeavor too grand. It tries to say so much that it ends up saying very little of value.