Westward the Women (1951)

A trail guide escorts a group of women from Chicago to California to marry men that have recently began settling there.

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Charles Schnee (screenplay), Frank Capra (story)

Stars:

Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson

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

Storyline

In a time when "The West" pretty much ends in Texas and only California is slowly being populated by the white men, there's a severe lack of women among the workers on Roy Whitman's farm in the California Valley. So he goes back east to Chicago to recruit 150 women willing to become wives for his employees. From the candidates he selects 138 who seem able to survive a months long journey across "The Great American Desert" and the Rocky Mountains.

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Plot Keywords:

california | rocky mountains | trail | west | desert | 

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Genres:

Western | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Japanese Italian

Release Date:

31 December 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pioneer Women

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of three known MGM films (along with The Next Voice You Hear... and Ben-Hur) where the company's symbol, Leo the Lion, did not roar in the opening credits. (2001: A Space Odyssey uses the illustrated lion from MGM's record label, not a real lion, and so doesn't count.)

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Goofs

At the very end, when the women are riding in the wagons going to meet their husbands, the Italian woman is seen in two different places on the same wagon.

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Quotes

Fifi Danon: [to Buck Wyatt] Do you ever... shave?
[he walks away from her]
Fifi Danon: You always look so dirty!

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Crazy Credits

The MGM lion, instead of roaring, is frozen in place.

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Connections

Referenced in Challenge the Wilderness (1951)

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Soundtracks

"To The West! To The West!"
By Henry Russell

User Reviews

Blood ,sweat and tears.

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.