IMDb > Westward the Women (1951)
Westward the Women
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Westward the Women (1951) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   847 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 12% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
William A. Wellman
Writers:
Charles Schnee (screenplay)
Frank Capra (story)
Contact:
View company contact information for Westward the Women on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
31 December 1951 (USA) more
Genre:
Western | Drama more
Plot:
In a time when "The West" pretty much ends in Texas and only California is slowly being populated by the white men... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
The most honest portrayal of a wagon train ever filmed. more (29 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Robert Taylor ... Buck Wyatt
Denise Darcel ... Fifi Danon
Hope Emerson ... Patience Hawley
John McIntire ... Roy E. Whitman
Julie Bishop ... Laurie Smith
Lenore Lonergan ... Maggie O'Malley
Henry Nakamura ... Ito
Marilyn Erskine ... Jean Johnson
Beverly Dennis ... Rose Meyers
Renata Vanni ... Mrs. Moroni
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Additional Details

Runtime:
118 min
Country:
USA
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
One of three known MGM films (along with The Next Voice You Hear... (1950) and Ben-Hur (1959)) where the company's symbol, Leo the Lion, did not roar in the opening credits. (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) uses the illustrated lion from MGM's record label, not a real lion, and so doesn't count.) more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: A couple of the dead women are still seen breathing heavily after the second Indian attack. more
Quotes:
Buck Wyatt: [to Patience, as she sits with the unconscious Mrs. Maroni] Talk to her, Patience.
Patience Hawley: Thanks...what'll I use for language?
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Challenge the Wilderness (1951) more
Soundtrack:
To The West! To The West! more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
15 out of 16 people found the following comment useful.
The most honest portrayal of a wagon train ever filmed., 12 September 2004
Author: Irie212 from New York City

The remarkable thing about this little-known Western is that it shows, in eye-opening detail, what hardships pioneers endured crossing thousands of miles of wilderness. And the reason it is so honest is that hardships of the trail are the whole point.

Robert Taylor is hired to drive a wagon train of potential brides--an interesting band of resolute widows, immigrants, and prostitutes, some quite familiar with guns-- to a newly formed community of farmers. At first he refuses, claiming women cannot withstand the demands of the weeks on the trail with only a few male escorts. And therefore the film presents those hardships.

At no point does the movie become predictable. Any of them could perish; several do. There's a rape scene, a murder, a flash flood, a runaway wagon, etc. You begin to hope for each woman's survival. Especially moving are the Italian woman and her young son, the unwed pregnant girl, the big-mama type (fabulous Hope Emerson), and Taylor's Chinese sidekick (their drunk scene is a treat). The movie misses being a truly great Western only becomes of its neatly wrapped up Hollywood ending. But this is a movie that will change your view of Pacific-bound pioneers forever, especially of pioneer women.

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