MUBI brings you a great new film every day.  Start your 7-day free trial today!
Watch a new film every day for $4.99.
Try MUBI for FREE.
 

Westward the Women

United States

1951

118 Min
Black and White
1.37:1
English, French, Japanese, Italian
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

   |   

DIR William A. Wellman

PROD Dore Schary

SCR Charles Schnee, Frank Capra

DP William C. Mellor

CAST Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson, John McIntire, Julie Bishop, Lenore Lonergan, Henry Nakamura, Marilyn Erskine, Beverly Dennis, Renata Vanni

ED James E. Newcom

PROD DES Daniel B. Cathcart, Cedric Gibbons, Ralph S. Hurst, Edwin B. Willis

MUSIC Jeff Alexander

Synopsis

Rugged pioneers. Indian fighters. Brave trailblazers. These are the WOMEN who tamed the Wild West. Based on historical record, this wagon train saga details a 2,000 mile journey from Chicago to California. Buck Wyatt (Robert Taylor) is a tough, experienced scout who leads a wagon train full of women, including two prostitutes (Denise Darcel and Julie Bishop), a hearty widow (character great Hope Emerson), and an Italian immigrant widow, with fifteen men acting as guides. When one of the men disobeys Buck’s orders not to fraternize with the ladies, Buck shoots him, causing the others to desert. Instead of turning back, the determined women insist on going on, learning to ride, shoot and drive mules. Although treacherous terrain and a deadly ambush lay ahead, these tough ladies are filled with the American frontier spirit and nothing will stop them! William Wellman directs this genre-busting western from a story by Frank Capra. —Warner Bros.

Director

Original

William A. Wellman

William A.Wellman, the Oscar-winning director-screenwriter producer, was nicknamed “Wild Bill” because his larger-than life personality was as dynamic and freewheeling as one of his movies. TCM’s salute to this film legend includes a revised version of Richard Schickel’s The Men Who Made the Movies: William Wellman,made in 1973 and now updated with new interview material, re-mastered footage and a new narration by director Sydney Pollack. Joining host Robert Osborne to introduce and discuss TCM’s lineup of films is the filmmaker’s son, actor-producer-author William Wellman Jr.

Wellman (1896-1975) was born in Brookline, Mass., and saw action in World War I as part of the famous Lafayette Flying Corps. Between 1920 and 1923 he rose from bit actor to director of Hollywood films and made his name as a major filmmaker by directing the 1927 Wings, which won the first Best Picture Oscar®. He went on to create a wide variety of movies, and our festival is divided into genres in which… read more

Wall

Displaying 1 wall posts.
Picture of krisjkondrad

krisjkondrad

7May12

Forget "True Grit", this is the western to remake!

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 12 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Daily Briefing. Film Comment, Jan/Feb 2012

By David Hudson on January 10, 2012

Also: The latest indefinite word on whether or not David Fincher will make The Girl Who Played with Fire.

read article

Lists

Displaying 5 of 8 lists.

Reviews

No reviews yet — Write the first

Forum

Displaying 0 discussion topics.