O Poder da Mulher

"Westward the Women" may not be the greatest western ever made but it's certainly one of the most unusual and is, indeed, very fine and I'm amazed it isn't better known. The women in question are 140 brides being brought West for for the male townsfolk in a Californian valley on a wagon-train lead by Robert Taylor. The director of the picture was William Wellman and William C. Mellor shot it in crisp black-and-white and it has a fine screenplay by Charles Schnee from a story by none other than Frank Capra.

As wagon-train movies go, it's not only unusual but remarkably robust and full of incident and it deals with the male/female dynamic with a surprising degree of honesty and if you don't think so, remember this was 1951. It's certainly not sentimental and Wellman approaches his subject with much the same documentary-like realism that John Ford brought to "Wagonmaster". In a good supporting cast Denise Darcel and Hope Emerson stand out.

I've seen this film two or three times. I loved to see these courageous and valiant women fighting their way through the West (crossing mountains and deserts and fighting off hostile Indians). One of my favorite moments is the fight between two girls, after one has broken the other's glasses. No rolling on the floor screaming, scratching and pulling each others hair - no, THESE girls use their fists and give each other many a punch in the mouth. Hope Emerson does a great job, too. Oh yes, and Robert Taylor was also in it! O.K., that was a joke, Taylor is quite good as the Scout, who has to guide the women to California, but these women are the real stars of this film!

I thoroughly enjoyed this film about a group of women being led by Robert Taylor's character to their new town. They are a motley bunch but pull together when the men desert them to travel and start a new life with the men they have chosen to be their husbands. Robert Taylor is fantastic as the man being taken to take them through, even though he believes it to be an impossible task. There are some genuinely touching moments in this movie, I had to have my tissues handy in places, but it is well worth a watch. One of the best Westerns I have seen and even better because the women have the chance to take centre stage for a change.

This is a William Wellmann's tour de force!In spite of the conventional macho Taylor,everything rings true ,this film has a smell of authenticity¨.Performances are so good (all the actors and mainly actresses) and nobody overacts .Sometimes it looks like a Russian movie,where the masses are the main hero.The fact that outside of English,THREE other languages are used (Italian,French and Japanese) shows Wellmann's respect for his audience.It's something to hear Denise Darcel sing "auprès de ma blonde " -a song from the seventeenth century- in the middle of the desert !

Some sequences are absolutely admirable ,I will mention three of them:

-the "recruitment" , the two women who hit the bull's-eyes (here a sheriff's eyes on a poster),the Italian family who registers without knowing what terrible fate lies in store for them (if they made a remake,I wonder what the politically correct world of 2004 would make of the little boy)

-After the attack,the women ,like in an army tell all the names of the dead.An echo adds to the poignancy of the situation.

-And last but not least,the survivors,who are still women,show their coquetterie and demand new clothes to meet their men.

Actually,it's the whole film which is in turn tragic,funny ,poetic,and wonderful.The gauche attitude of the men when they meet their future wives is a delight.

SPOILER:The key to the film is the birth of a child ,under the blistering sun of the desert;after the awful death of the little Italian boy,it gives hope back to the women and (to the audience).It' s the promise for them all that new children will soon be born and carry on their mammoth task.

A Russian western describes this remarkable work.

NB:Although French,Denise Darcel never made a movie in her native country.

I've seen this movie several times on the late-late show and have enjoyed it each time. What a great portrayal of women and how they had the courage and fortitude to go where they perhaps had a chance for a new life. Hardships galore, inner strengths found, new love. The women (especially the older gal) were wonderful and showed us how difficult it must have been to take on such a dangerous trip across the country. Everything possible happened to them yet they still kept their determination alive to reach their destination. Proud and glorious movie.