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Turbulent and mighty story about a family saga set against the background of wars and historical deeds ; covering several decades of Westward expansion in the nineteenth century--including the Gold Rush , the Civil War, , Pony Express , Telegraph , confrontation between cattlemen and homesteaders . And of course , the building of the railroads and career between Union Pacific and Central Pacific to arrive in Promontory Point ; among other epic events . As a family of Western settlers from the 1830s to the 1880s , beginning with their voyage on The Eerie Canal and going on to encompass a Civil War battle and other happenings .

The picture gets great action , expansive Western settings , shootouts , love stories , it is quite entertaining and there some some scenes still rate with the best of the West , including marvelous moments along the way . It efficiently describes an attractive panoramic view of the American Western focusing on the tribulations , trials and travels of three generations of a family . It's a big budget film with good actors , technicians, production values and pleasing results . Awesome as well as spectacular scenes such as an exciting white-water rafting sequence , a train robbery , a thundering buffalo stampede and Indian attacks . The Civil War is the shortest part and the weakest including a brief acting by John Wayne as General Sheridan and Harry Morgan as General Ulysses S Grant . Particularly supreme for its all-star cast list with some actors epitomising the spirit of the early West , at least as Hollywood saw it , including a Mountain man as James Stewart , a rogue card player , Gregory Peck , and Debbie Reynolds is notable here as a gorgeous dancer seeking fame and fortune . Not many of the players have a chance to register as a bearded Henry Fonda as a scout , Walter Brennan , Lee Van Cleef , Agnes Moorehead , Ken Curtis , Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln , Agnes Moorehead , Thelma Ritter , Mickey Shaughnessy , Russ Tamblyn and an interminable list ,

Impressive cinematography filmed in Cinerama, and photographed in splendorous Metrocolor , though it loses much of its breathtaking visual impact on TV but otherwise holds up pretty well . All four cinematographers were Oscar-winners such as William H. Daniels , Milton R. Krasner , Milton Krasner , Charles Lang Jr and Joseph LaShelle . Rousing musical score by the classical Alfred Newman , including an immortal leitmotif . The motion picture was spectacularly directed by three veteran filmmakers , they were enlisted by producer Bernard Smith to handle the multi-part frontier stories relating exciting exploits of an ordinary family . Of the five segments, Henry Hathaway directed "The Rivers", "The Plains" and "The Outlaws", John Ford directed "The Civil War" and George Marshall did "The Railroad". Some uncredited work was done by Richard Thorpe. The picture won Oscar 63 to Film editing , Sound , Story and Screenplay . Rating : Extraordinary film , essential and indispensable watching . It's a magnificent example of the kind of old-fashioned blockbuster just don't make anymore .

I have loved this movie since I saw its original theatrical release. The new (2009) DVD release finally does it justice. Digital stitching technology has made the 3-part Cinerama image almost literally seamless. In fact there is less distortion where the frames meet than there was in the original theatrical screening. And for the first time in a video release the full width of the Cinerama screen has been captured. About a third of each of the two side images was missing in previous video versions. This version is so wide that a wide-screen HDTV still requires black bars at top and bottom to fit the image on the screen.

Yes, there are moments we wish we could re-write, such as the narrator's reference to "primitive" people. This is balanced, however, by an unusually fair (for the time) treatment of the plight of the plains Indians. The movie holds up remarkably well, thanks to a well- written script and strong performances by a large A-list cast. With the exception of a scene in which Debbie Reynolds breaks into a song-and- dance number in a wagon-train encampment (the excuse being that her character is a singer) there is almost nothing that betrays the era when the film was made. Well, there is the fact that most of the cast members are long dead.

As a professional historian, I have to say that the almost complete absence of reference to specific historical events (except the battle of Shiloh) is part of the secret of the film's success. This is a movie that captures the myth of the American west, a myth that is still alive and powerful.

This movie was made for the biggest screen ever, prior to the Imax era. The absence of true close-up shots (a limitation of the Cinerama process) is more noticeable on a smaller screen. It deserves to be seen on the biggest wide-screen TV you can find. And it does deserve to be seen.

"How the West Was Won" is one of only two dramatic feature films made using Cinerama's three-strip process. Watching the film on home video represents a compromise but Warner's latest edition offers as good a presentation as you're likely to see outside of a Cinerama theatre.

The film, which was based on a series of 'Life' magazine articles, traces the fortunes of the Prescott family as they take part in the westward expansion in 19th century America. The story unfolds over several decades and touches on the Gold Rush, the Civil War and other periods in American history. James R. Webb's screenplay, while more entertaining than historically exhaustive, won him an Oscar.

The cast is about as star-studded a bunch as you're likely to see anywhere. Where else can you see Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda & John Wayne all in same film? Not to mention Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, Eli Wallach, Richard Widmark, Walter Brennan and others too numerous to mention. Needless to say, the acting is in good hands.

Technically, the film looks quite nice. The Oscar-nominated cinematography is breath-taking and Alfred Newman's score is top-notch. However, the filming process made for an overabundance of long shots and there are a few instances of rear projection that frankly look bad next to the rest of the picture. Also, while not a fault per se, there are geometric distortions inherent in displaying the curved picture on a flat screen.

Yet, despite its minor imperfections, "How the West Was Won" is an attractive and engaging epic Western. As a history lesson, it's somewhat superficial but the combination of fine acting and stunning visuals make it well worth your time. Just be sure to pick up the Special Edition or Blu-ray release.

In the early 1960s Hollywood found itself under attack by television so had to wheel out some big guns . THE LONGEST DAY and HOW THE WEST WAS WON were a couple of these howitzers . Film,s that lasted several hours full of episodic structure with big names playing the characters . Watching these type of movies years later you can see the thinking behind them but do seem overblown with hindsight and you can also see why film makers wanted to make more intense movies via New Hollywood in the 1970s

That said HTWWW is by no means a bad movie . If there's a problem with it it's the narrative problem of trying to squeeze 100 years of history in to three hours of cinema and to a large degree the film succeeds to a large extent . It also deserves some credit for using Debbie Reynolds and George Peppard - neither of whom were the biggest names in the movie - to play the main linking characters

And yet the problem of the narrative is impossible to overcome entirely successfully . The story remains episodic and has every cliché under the sun . Men are men and women are thankful . White men tend to be extremely good or extremely bad and the indigenous population are noble savages who become mere savages when white man speak with forked tongue . There's also the annoying production value of people standing in front of back projection which jars with the numerous establishing shots taken on location. It's also a conservative film with God frequently getting a name check

But for the most part it's an entertaining Western even for those of us who don't like the genre . Perhaps the reason it does work is because it's so traditional where the world is portrayed in black and white , a world that has never existed in the first place

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.

I still remember seeing How the West Was Won in Cinerama when it made it into general release back in 1962. A motion picture theater equipped for Cinerama is the only way this one should be seen. The formatted VHS copy I watched tonight can't come close to doing it justice.

James R. Webb's original screenplay for the screen won an Oscar in 1962 and it involves an episodic account of the Presscott family and their contribution to settling the American west in the 19th century. We first meet the Presscotts, Karl Malden and Agnes Moorehead going west on the Erie Canal and later by flatboat on the Ohio River. They have two daughters, dreamy romantic Carroll Baker and feisty Debbie Reynolds. The girls meet and marry mountain man James Stewart and gambler Gregory Peck eventually and their adventures and those of their children are what make up the plot of How the West Was Won.

Three of Hollywood's top directors did parts of this film although the lion's share by all accounts was done by Henry Hathaway. John Ford did the Civil War sequence and George Marshall the sequence about the railroad.

The Civil War piece featured John Wayne and Harry Morgan in a moment of reflection at the battlefield of Shiloh. Morgan did a first rate job as Grant in his brief cameo and Wayne was playing Sherman for the second time in his career. He'd previously played Sherman in an unbilled cameo on his friend Ward Bond's Wagon Train series. I'm surprised Wayne never did Sherman in a biographical film, he would have been good casting.

If any of the stars could be said to be THE star of the film it would have to be Debbie Reynolds. She's in the film almost through out and in the last sequence where as a widow she goes to live with her nephew George Peppard and his family she's made up as a gray haired old woman and does very well with the aging. Debbie also gets to do a couple of musical numbers, A Home in the Meadow and Raise A Ruckus both blend in well in the story. Debbie's performance in How the West Was Won must have been the reason she was cast in The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Cinerama was rarely as effectively employed as in How the West Was Won. I well remember feeling like you were right on the flatboat that the Presscott family was on as they got caught in the Ohio River rapids. The Indian attack and the buffalo stampede were also well done. But the climax involving that running gun battle between peace officers George Peppard and Lee J. Cobb with outlaw Eli Wallach and his gang on a moving train even on a formatted VHS is beyond thrilling.

There is a sequence that was removed and it had to do with Peppard going to live with buffalo hunter Henry Fonda and marrying Hope Lange who was Fonda's daughter. She dies and Peppard leaves the mountains and then marries Carolyn Jones. Lange's part was completely left on the cutting room floor. Hopefully there will be a restored version of How the West Was Won, we'll see Hope Lange and more of Henry Fonda.

And it should be restored. All those Hollywood legends in one exciting film. They really don't make them like this any more.

"How The West Was Won" was part epic part gimmick. The gimmick being one of the first non-documentary films made in Cinerama. I agree that a story about the opening of the frontier sounds like a terrific idea for this type of gimmick. But the screenplay, and even some of the acting is so ridiculous that the gimmick can't pay off.

Yes it's great to see all of these great actors on screen together. But what were they thinking when they decided to let Debbie Reynold's character be the thread that holds the stories together? She's not bad through most of the movie, but when she is an old woman, this is cartoon time.

She's not helped by the inane script. Unfortunately, I believe Richard Widmark has the worst of it, as a demanding railroad owner. And could someone please tell me what that scene between Henry Morgan (looking like a dwarf as Ulysees S. Grant) and John Wayne was about?

I did think that Karl Malden, as a Quaker from the waterfront, playing Carrol Baker's father was humorous. And James Stewart as her beau (must have been 30 years older than her)was hard to watch. But wonderful Thelma Ritter saved the day.

Beautiful scenery, great cast, lousy writing, uneven acting, different directing styles that don't mesh, and lines running up and down your screen because of the gimmick, add up to a movie that should be seen but not taken seriously.

6 out of 10

One of the last great epic movies to come out of MGM that was a roaring success, How the West Was Won still has enough quality about it to warrant high praise. The story that drives the film on was suggested by the series of the same name that featured in "Life" magazine 1959. Narrative is formed around one family, the Prescott's, who set out on a journey West in 1839. They and their offspring fill out five segments of film that are directed by three different men, "The Rivers", "The Plains" & "The Outlaws" is under the guidance of Henry Hathaway, and "The Civil War" by John Ford and "The Railroad" by George Marshall.

Filmed in the unique Cinerama format, which in a nutshell is three cameras filming at once to project a fully formed experience for the human eye, the production has an all star cast and four supreme cinematographers aiding the story. To name all the cast would take forever, but in the main all of the major parts were filled by stars who had already headlined a movie previously. The cinematographers are naturally key since such a sprawling story inevitably has sprawling vistas, they come up trumps with some truly special work: William H. Daniels, Milton Krasner, Charles Lang Jr. & Joseph LaShelle, four great names who help to make the film a poetic beauty.

As a whole it's undeniably far from flawless, complaints such as it running out of steam towards the end (the irony of it since a steam train features prominently), and the plot contrivances, are fair enough. However, when the film is good, it's real good: raft in the rapids, Cheyene attack, buffalo stampede and train robbery, each of them are good enough to be a highlight in separate movies. Even the songs are pleasant, particularly when they revolve around the effervescent Debbie Reynolds, while home format transfers are now finally up to a standard worthy of investment, time and cash wise.

Hard to dislike for a Western fan, and carrying enough about it to lure in the casual viewer, How the West Was Won really is a case of they don't make them like they used to. 8/10

I first saw this when a youngster in Cinerama, which then seemed awesome. I wasn't a particularly big fan of westerns, but they were still a big part of the film industry then and I saw whatever I could. I enjoyed this a lot and later remember seeing a botched version of this Cinerama process on TV and never looked at it again. Well, it's been restored and it is still pretty good entertainment if old fashioned westerns are your thing. This was pretty epic at the time and I recall being thrilled by the train sequence near the end. Obviously, the film's been greatly surpassed in terms of sheer excitement, but was fun to see again with its truly immense cavalcade of famous actors which some will be completely unknown to younger audiences and most are deceased, but that is part of the magic of film. They will be seen by new eyes forever. Despite its long length, this is sort of a Reader's Digest version of this part of American history beginning in 1830 through most of the 19th century. Despite all the famous names there is not one outstanding performance, which is peculiar, but this is a film, from three directors, that does not seem at all interested in actors other than moving pieces for a series of varied scenes throughout history. None are really bad, just routine, though the casting of Carroll Baker and George Peppard as mother and son takes some reality swallowing. The closest thing to a lead here is Debbie Reynolds, the only performer who appears in it throughout, but she, Baker & Peppard all suffer from some awful aging makeup. Reynolds gives it her all, sometimes too much of it, in what seems like an audition for her future Molly Brown. Again, this is fine, rousing old-fashioned entertainment. That Oscar for writing tells you volumes about the era in which this was made.

Underrated . This is one heck of an epic film . Loaded with many favorite stars James Stewart, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, George Peppard, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Widmark, Robert Preston, Eli Wallach, Brigid Bazlen, Walter Brennan, David Brian, Raymond Massey, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Morgan, Thelma Ritter, Mickey Shaughnessy, Russ Tamblyn, Spencer Tracy ...Narrated by (voice) Just rap your brain around these actors .

Filmed in panoramic Cinerama, this star-studded, epic Western adventure is a true cinematic classic. Three legendary directors (Henry Hathaway, John Ford and George Marshall) combine their skills to tell the story of three families and their travels from the Erie Canal to California between 1839 and 1889. Spencer Tracy narrates the film, which cost an estimated $15 million to complete. Westward expansion shows scenes of the Indian's sorrow, the white man's greed, river pirates, outlaws, lawmen, and life and death on the Western plains. Dozens of marquee names worked with over 12,000 extras, 630 horses, hundreds of horse drawn wagons, and a stampede of 2,000 buffalo. The human cost of the concept of Manifest Destiny is revealed in all its colorful and violent glory. How the West Was Won garnered three Oscars, for screenplay, film editing, and sound production.

A story as big, as brash, and as exciting as the west itself. You have to hand it to everyone involved, this is one mammoth viewing experience. This covers generations as well as historical events like no other movie has attempted to do. I think the wisest decision was having multiple directors so each time period has a different feeling and vision. There is no denying the spectacle, the adventure, and the romance in How the West Was Won. It really is true to say they don't make them like this any more.

Cinerama was the most ambitious flop in Movie history. From the beginning it was a slave to the format and therefore restricted close-ups and any natural movement. The upside was its ability to sprawl the image across a curved screen allowing a panoramic view of wide open spaces, mostly landscapes.

Seeing the Film in its original format in a specially equipped theater lent a certain thrill otherwise unavailable. In that environment it could overwhelm as spectacle and some of the more usually demanding devices of Movies could have been overlooked as the awe inspiring epics unfolded on the over-sized, oddly shaped, screen.

But as a Movie this is at best a lightweight affair with some corny story setups and relatively little else but the backgrounds. The musical numbers didn't help either. There are some undeniably exciting scenes and overall it ends up nothing more than a magnificently mounted experience, and aside from the thundering action scenes there is little else to be admired. in fact, some of it is downright cringe-worthy and awkward.

This is a product of a studio trying to make huge spectacle with MGM using the Cinerama process to create what Abel Gance did in 1927 with his Napoleon epic, essentially using a tryptic of full frames to create an ultra-wide view. It has three directors (including John Ford, the reason I'm watching this), a couple of dozen major actors, several of whom could have been considered real stars at the time of the release, and it purports to tell the story in the title, an expansive epic of a grand story. Well...it would have been nice if James Webb, the writer, had found a way to actually tell, you know, an epic story. Instead what we get are five interrelated stories over the course of decades that just happen to involve members of the same family with the gauzy idea of telling the audience how the west was won. It's a thin reed on which to hang all of this production design and action, and I don't think it really works.

What's really missing from the film is a grand sense of conflict. When characters go through one episode and start another, years, even decades, have passed and the conflict that determined the previous episode gets completely forgotten in favor of another. The initial trek Westward from New York, complete with a fight against some bad people who take advantage of travelers in the wilderness as well as some rapids on the river, gives way to a wagon train Westward with news of ownership of a gold mine, which gives way to a vignette at Shiloh during the Civil War, which gives way to a telling of the building of the Intercontinental Railroad (in particular the conflict with a local Arapahoe tribe), which gives way to the stopping of a train robbery from an antagonistic character introduced at the 140-minute mark. There's no strong element running through all of these things to tie them all together. The fact that members of the same family are seeing these things is simply not enough. There's no thematic idea beyond the barest of ideas that none of these individual episodes seem to want to take advantage of.

The first episode, centered around the Prescott family led by Zebulon (Karl Malden) leaving the East to find life in the West in 1839, feels like a middling to bad episode of a weekly Western television series. Full of action beats with little to no concern for anything like a story, it follows James Stewart's Linus Rawlings, a mountain man, who crosses paths with he Prescotts, falls in love with Eve (Carroll Baker), and then goes on his separate way up river while they go down river. He's attacked, survives, and then goes down river where...the same people who attacked him up river have gotten far enough down river to set up a new camp to entrap the Prescotts who are going down river. Then there's a big fight, they separate again, the Prescotts get into the rapids where the two eldest members of the family die, leaving Eve to reunite with Linus to start a farm where they buried Zeb. Eve's sister Lilith (Debbie Reynolds), vows to continue West to find life in a city where she can purchase fine things. The constant ups and downs with little character work make this probably the least of the five segments, helped not at all by Stewart being 30 years too old for the part.

The second episode follows Lilith, having set herself up in St. Louis as a cabaret dancer, who receives word that she has inherited a gold mine out in California. Into this comes Cleve Van Valen (Gregory Peck), a gambler who attaches himself to Lilith with the idea of taking half of her claim by marrying her. They all get in on a wagon train led by Roger Morgan (Robert Preston), and a bit of a love triangle develops with Debbie Reynolds getting her own musical number in the middle of a forest. There's a Cheyenne attack (probably the best use of movement and the hefty Cinerama camera in the film), and Lilith gets to California to discover that the mine is empty. She has nothing, so Cleve leaves her. Roger begs her to marry him, but she refuses because she hates the idea of a country life. And then...Lilith and Cleve meet again on a steamer and they instantly fall in love again and get married. Lilith falling again for Cleve was...odd, but that Cheyenne attack was something else. Spectacle is really where this movie is best.

The third segment follows Eve's son Zeb (George Peppard) who goes into the Union army to fight. This very much feels like a John Ford film, and it's no coincidence because it's the one segment he filmed. The nostalgia for a life left behind, particularly around Eve, followed by the clear-eyed view of the horrors of war represented by the aftermath on the first night at Shiloh, are all Ford. It really elevates when Zeb meets a Confederate deserter (Russ Tamblyn), and they bond over the idea that the war isn't their fight. It's made even better when they happen across Generals Grant (Harry Morgan) and Sherman (John Wayne) and the camaraderie falls apart as the deserter sees his chance to take out Grant, and Zeb must protect him. Then the piece goes too far, skipping ahead three years for Zeb to go back home to say goodbye once again before he heads further West. Without what amounts to an extended coda to the story at hand, it's a very good little piece of men in the fog of war. With it, it's just a bit too much.

The fourth segment, which recalls Ford's much better The Iron Horse, about the laying of a railroad through Arapahoe country. Zeb has signed up again with the army and is part of a cavalry detachment that is defending the railroad from any Indian attack. The representative of the railroad, Mike King (Richard Widmark), is a heavy-handed tyrant who decides to cut a couple of days off of his schedule by cutting into Arapahoe country in violation of the US treaty with the Indian nation. Zeb has to get the help of an old friend of his father's, Jethro Stuart (Henry Fonda), to help translate and keep the peace. The peace is, of course, not upheld, and the Indians attack with a buffalo stampede, creating the ending for Zeb's involvement before he heads further West.

The final segment ends up feeling almost like a joke as an ending to this picture. Lilith moves from San Francisco to Arizona after the death of her husband to meet up with her nephew Zeb and his family. Zeb is a marshal, and when he picks up Lilith, the noted outlaw Charlie Gant (Eli Wallach) gets off the same train. There's a bunch of personal history between Gant and Zeb that gets explained in great detail, and it's almost an insult that this is how our finale to our grand epic plays out. An epic's finale is a culmination of events, people, and ideas into something grand. Introducing a new character as the big bad feels like the final episode in a television series that thinks its coming back next season.

I just couldn't get into the film as a whole because it's simply too broken up. The fig leaf of characters being shared across the stories is simply not enough, especially when we have to get exposition dumps about what has happened to them since the last episode, effectively making them new characters. I think one large story, maybe having Gant be the grandson of the man who tried to kill the Prescotts in the first episode as a start, would have been a much better way to do this. The culmination of a generations' long conflict between two families that has spanned the breadth of America during its great expansion. Instead, we just get five episodes.

The overall strength of the film, though, is the spectacle. I do not want it to feel like I hated this movie. I was frustrated by it pretty consistently, but I also got a really good sequence about every half hour. From the rapids to the Cheyenne attack to the buffalo charge and finally to the train robbery, there are a handful of real standout sequences that make full advantage of the wide scope visuals. Those visuals work significantly less well inside, which is probably why so much of it is set outside.

Ford made the best overall segment in The Civil War, leaving more mundane work to be had between his co-directors Henry Hathaway (The Rivers, The Plains, The Outlaws) and George Marshall (The Railroad), though they get all of the spectacle while Ford reused footage from other movies for his battle sequences. Overall, though, How the West Was Won is a frustrating experience that simply cannot use its spectacle to elevate the actual story.

Watching a letterboxed version of "How the West Was Won," I noticed the dividing lines on the screen, and it was clear that much of the picture was still missing even in this format. But neither hindered my enjoyment of this sprawling epic, even if James R. Webb's Oscar winning screenplay left something to be desired. Alfred Newman's music score is terrific, and so is that all-star cast. Unlike those disaster flicks of the 70s like "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno" that claimed to be stuffed with stars but actually boasted "names" (usually familiar performers, primarily from TV, who rarely headlined a first class feature), "How the West Was Won" has the genuine article. John Wayne, James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Carroll Baker, and Debbie Reynolds may mean little at the ticket windows of the 90s (and many of them are dead, anyway), but all were above the title stars who carried their own films at the box-office in the early 60s.

Three directors helmed this project but I'd be hard pressed to distinguish whether John Ford, George Marshall or Henry Hathaway were behind the camera during any particular episode if the opening credits didn't identify each segment and its director. I suppose "How the West Was Won" is more quantity than quality, but it's entertaining overall.

'How the West Was Won' is an obvious example that a film can represent a giant leap forward in the technology of the cinema but prove something of a trial to sit through; although it certainly looks good and provides you with plenty of bang for your buck.

A major milestone in the development of Cinerama it proves as long as the screen is wide, but it possesses a strong narrative thread as staged by three Hollywood action veterans with the scenes of boats shooting rapids, wagons being chased by Indians, stampeding buffalos and a train derailment being balanced by quieter moments of which the most affecting probably comes in John Ford's Civil War interlude featuring John Wayne as General Sherman.

How the West Was Won (1962) is a movie that I recently watched on HBOMAX. The storyline follows a young married couple and their adventure to the west where they plan to settle and start a family. They encounter numerous challenges over time from actually settling, to the gold rush, the Civil War and ultimately the railroad coming through. We watch as the family evolves throughout the various circumstances.

This movie is codirected by John Ford (Stagecoach), Henry Hathaway (True Grit) and George Marshall (Dark Purpose) and stars James Stewart (Rope), John Wayne (True Grit), Gregory Peck (Roman Holiday), Henry Fonda (12 Angry Men), Carroll Baker (Baby Doll), Lee J. Cobb (On the Waterfront) and Carolyn Jones (The Addams Family).

The settings, props, attire and cast for this movie were well put together. The storyline is interesting with some fun circumstances. There is an entertaining rafting scene and magnificently shot cattle and Buffalo stampedes that were entertaining. The acting was inconsistent with some scenes being stiff and rigid causing them to feel less authentic than others; however, the cameos throughout the film were a lot of fun. The family dynamic was easy to root for and well delivered.

Overall, this is an entertaining addition to the western genre that's far from perfect but has some worthwhile elements. I would score this a solid 7/10 and strongly recommend it.

This isn't as spectacular as you might think after checking the cast credits, which are almost beyond description. However, it's still a pretty solid movie. For a western, I was shocked years later to view this on widescreen VHS and discover the number of songs in here, most by Debbie Reynolds. Early on, I wondered if I wasn't watching a musical rather than a western.

The real story of this movie, it would seem, is the cast. If you want to see a "Who's Who" of the time period, then you have to check this film out. Narrated by Spencer Tracy, it features - in alphabetical order - Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne and Richard Widmark and a bunch more. Are you kidding me???!!!!!

This was also one of the first Cinerama widescreen films put on a VHS tape, I think. I was anxious to see it in that format, but then disappointed there weren't more panoramic scenes. Outside of two - a buffalo stampede and a train robbery - the scenery was just fair.

Peppard had the best part of the film, in my opinion. He was featured in the final third. (The film seemed divided into three distinct segments.) Stewart was the key man in the first third and Peck in the middle. Baker and Reynolds provided the eye candy. I was surprised how small a role Wayne had in here.

The VHS box says the movie is 162 minutes long but it you eliminate three overtures (the eginning, the intermission and ending) you can chop off another 15 minutes of actual footage. In summary, the cast is the only thing special as the story and the songs are just so-so.

As a seven year old boy who adored history, I was brought by my mother to see this in Cinemascope on a huge screen. Anyone who has seen this can just imagine the impact.

There has always been a healthy dispute about what historical developments most influenced the outlook and behavior of Americans. Among the candidates are: i) the development of an entirely new world on distant shores - a world where the rules were there to be made as the Pilgrims/Puritans/Quakers and others determined, ii) the colonists' growing self-identity as Americans, the evolution of that separate identity, and these peoples' coordination and cooperation from 1607 to the Albany Union conference in 1759, the Stamp Act Congress in 1763 and the Second Continental Congress' decision to declare independence in 1776, iii) the workings of a multi-racial society due to the presence of aboriginal people and the importation of slaves, iv) the role of the frontier and settlement of a continually receding West, v) the enormity of immigration and their inter-action with the native-born from about the 1840s to the present, vi) the sheer size and diverse conditions of topography and climate, vii) the evolution of democracy over four centuries on a large scale, viii) the experience of modernization over the past century on a scale unknown to, and before, the rest of the world.

This movie in effect tells the fourth story - and tells it in a thrilling, colorful way -- from the 1840s when the frontier was still the Ohio Valley to about 1885 - not so long a time. (Contrast this with the 169 year colonial period).

The movie is stunning - beautifully cast - music you'll always remember - and many powerful and moving scenes. So many scenes live forever in my mind

• the return of the George Peppard character from the Civil War to his family's farmstead in Ohio,

-- the astonishing speech by the Richard Widmark character after the buffalo stampede has killed so many,

-- the wonderfully written emotional scenes whenever Debbie Reynolds was dealing with either Robert Preston's clumsy attempt at courtship ("why with hips like yours, having children would be as easy as rolling off a log") or her own love for the roguish Gregory Peck,

-- the George Peppard family (with the wonderful Carolyn Jones and Debbie Reynolds) singing Greensleaves as the movie nears its end,

-- and the astonishing scene of the West transformed into cloverleaf highways and overpasses after we've been watching a deserted West for several hours.

The pride in those who won the West is so evident throughout the movie - yet it's shown along with losses (the deep sadness of Henry Fonda's mountaineer at the continuing encroachment of civilization, the breach of the boundary set in an Indian treaty due to the railroad's need to set a straight course - and the resulting catastrophe).

Not too many years would pass before movie makers would be telling audiences that the settlement of the West was a triumph of vicious villains, charlatans, cynics and fast-buck artists in movies like McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Soldier Blue, Little Big Man, The Wild Bunch.

But I'm deeply grateful that I was old enough to see how the West was won in a movie like this.

Ford's most distinctive work has dealt with the white American's conquest of the wilderness... He has made films about most of the significant episodes in American history—early colonization of the West, the Civil War, the extermination of the Indians—and in so doing he has recounted the American saga in human terms and made it come alive...

Ford directed one of the episodes of "How the West Was Won," the Civil War... His brief but redeeming contribution effectively recounted the bloody Battle of Shiloh and its aftermath...

Hathaway's strong points were atmosphere, character and authentic locations... He directed, in the film, the episodes of 'The Rivers,' 'The Plains,' and 'The Outlaws.'

George Marshal—the most prolific and most versatile of all major Hollywood filmmakers—directed the episode of 'The Railroad.'

As seen through the eyes of four generations of a pioneer family of New England farmers as they made their way west in the l840s, the scope of "How the West Was Won" is enormous, with essays on the physiology of the West (pioneers, settlers, Indians, outlaws, and adventurers).

The film describes the hard life and times of the Prescott's family across the continent and their fortune to the western shore after years of hardship, loss, love, war, danger and romance...

Stewart appears in the first half hour as a trapper named Linus Rawlings, who marries the daughter (Carroll Baker) of a family migrating West…

The story touched all the bases: runaway wagon trains; Indians stampeding Buffalos; confused and erratic river rapids; the grandeur of Monument Valley, Utah; the rocky mountains; the Black Hills of South Dakota; the clamor of gold in St.Louis; the Cheyenne attack; the Pony Express; the overland telegraph; the coming of the steel roadway of the iron horse; the bloody battle between cattlemen and homesteaders; and some thrilling hand-to-hand fighting…

The result is a stupendous epic Western with 8 Academy Award Nominations including Best Picture and three Academy Awards including Best Original Story and Screenplay; Best Soundand Best Film Editing...

Narrated by Spencer Tracy, "How the West Was Won" enlists the services of such top stars as: Carroll Baker, the strong-minded woman; Gregory Peck, the luckiest gambler; Debbie Reynolds, the perplexing talented singer and dancer; Henry Fonda, the buffalo hunter with gray flowing hair and mustaches; George Peppard, the man with a star; Robert Preston, the decent character with moral flaws; Thelma Ritter, the character woman; Karl Malden, the patriarch; Agnes Moorehead, the unfortunate wife and mother; John Wayne, the major architect of modern warfare; Richard Widmark, the 'king' of the railroad; Russ Tamblyn the Confederate deserter; Andy Levine, the Corporal Ohio volunteer; Lee J. Cobb, the lawman; Carolyn Jones, the worried wife; Eli Wallach, the dangerous outlaw; Rodolfo Acosta, the train robber; Raymond Massey, the great Abraham Lincoln; Walter Brennan and Lee Van Cleef, the thieves to fear…

Alfred Newman and Ken Darby's majestic music takes the pioneers through every conceivable encounter in the West, achieving with conviction a whole constellation of magnificent spectacle...

The spectacular cinematography alone, including exciting episodes that involved the river raft, the buffalo stampede, and the train robbery near the end, was an impressive achievement in film making, especially for its time. Regardless of the "three camera Cinerama" technique, designed for a curved screen, I have no complaints about the quality of my viewing experience from tcm by way of my pc screen. While the intimacy of the close-up may have been sacrificed in the process, any emotional impact was never lacking from start to finish.

I had seen this film on the wide screen when it was first released in 1962. At the age of thirteen, I could not appreciate the significance of the multi-faceted story of our nation's development as I now do. Whether we like the eventual growth of cities and multi-level freeways or not, this is a story of the American West, and, as an easterner, I very much admire the tenacity and the determination of the pioneers and frontier people who dared to venture into the unknown. The conflict with the Native Americans who were already living there was never overlooked or whitewashed for a minute. These are the facts of our history as a nation, whether they are to our liking or not. Why should we deny them under any circumstances?

The work of all three directors, John Ford, Henry Hathaway, and George Marshall, the outstanding photography team of Krasner, Daniels, Lang, and LaShelle, and the wonderful musical score of Alfred Newman combined to create a very engaging film. Newman's outstanding score alone elevated the film to a higher level than it ordinarily would have been. In spite of the all-star cast, however, the acting was uneven, possibly because of poorly conceived, uninspired dialogue, which often fell flat. The scene with John Wayne and Harry Morgan during the Civil War segment, as one of several examples, seemed stilted and overly contrived to me. Debbie Reynolds was much better at song and dance than as a dramatic actor, especially during her weak portrayal of a senior citizen well before her time. In spite of weak points, thanks to the often spectacular camera work, Newman's memorable score, and most, but not all, of the direction and the acting, it is a film that I still enjoy after several viewings.

It was a good payoff; the print was as perfect as could be expected and the Pacific Cinerama theater is in top form. Seating was fine (it's reserved, so you know ahead where you'll be. Because you're looking at three separate 35mm projections, the sum total of the three result in a very large, clear and bright picture, just as good as a 70mm film, and perhaps better in some respects. The prints were vivid and sharp.

At the Dome, a theater executive came out to discuss the film and the theater history with the audience just prior to the start of the picture; he spoke for 10-15 minutes discussing the pros and cons of the process, why it wasn't practical to continue making films this way etc. One of the plus aspects is that with the small lenses they used, the focus was fixed and any object from 2 ft to infinity was always in focus (therefore, all the scenery was sharp except for certain single-camera and process shots). One of the downside aspects is that extreme closeups are not possible in Cinerama, and he said that the directors hated that. Then he tells inside trivia about the film, how it includes about a minute of footage from two other films (one was The Alamo) because the scenes fit perfectly in the storyline. He also mentioned that back in the 1960's it took 5 people to run the show: three projectors, the 35mm sound projector and one master projectionist - total of 5. The gentleman said that today, with all the modern technological improvements, they were now able to produce the identical result -- with just 5 projectionists! In other words, nothing had changed. Another reason the process could not survive. Got a big laugh. He then introduced each projectionist to the audience.

Anyway, the whole thing came off without a hitch and I had forgotten much of the film's vivid details and incredible scenery, so it was very much like seeing it for the first time. I had not seen it in Cinerama ever, and when I did see a blended 35mm print in a local Edwards theater back in '64, it was somewhat of a disappointment. The magnetic 6-track sound was on still another 35mm film strip, so 4 separate strips are actually required to comprise the presentation). The sound was fine - clear and sharp - with lots of separation in the six channels, but it was not as boomy as the sound we hear in today's pics. For anyone interested in what it might have been like to see a state-of-the-art presentation in the early 1960's, this presents a magnificent opportunity, and the film is a trip. --- DFR

Maybe I have an inner-ear problem, but I dare anybody to sit through this movie without get nauseated. I'm talking about the original Barf-O-Rama film version where three cameras shoot the action and the images are spliced together to give that curved effect. Maybe it worked in the movie theatre (or maybe it didn't because it was the only movie in history shot this way) but on TV it's unbearable.

Of course, maybe you're watching the pan-n-scan version that was show on the ABC Saturday Night At the Movies at least once a year. But even that might make you barf. Everybody is so ''jolly, jolly, ho and a hey, hey hey" that you still might need Gravol on standby.

The women are all made up like they stepped out of Vogue instead of being the toothless, constantly pregnant chattel they were in real life. In fact, we are asked to believe that a drop-dead gorgeous Carroll Baker is horned up for filthy old man Jimmy Stewart. What was the age difference here, 50 years, give or take? Karl Malden seems a little overly concerned about it, given that women back then would have been an enormous liability. I could see if Malden had been worried his son might run off with a ghey trapper. That's a loss to the family-grown workforce.

It goes on for another 4 or 5 days. I think. Each segment more earnest and dull than the one the came before it. Filled to the brim with name actors that wouldn't have careers once New American Cinema got rolling after Bonnie and Clyde. In that way, it's sort of a Hollywood time capsule of the early Technicolor era. If you're into that sort of thing.

I'm not a fan of westerns in particular, but this magnificent epic is an exception for me because it has all the wonderful elements of a sprawling historical epic that only Hollywood could do so wonderfully in the 50s and 60s. And yes, I embrace it for holding to a perspective that today's PC revisionists who see evil in everything associated with the rise of America as a great nation are always so quick to condemn. While this is by no means a flawless look at history, it is only those who dare to liken the American pioneers with "Nazis" as one reviewer did who end up "creating history" more than a film like this does.