IMDb > How the West Was Won (1962)
How the West Was Won
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How the West Was Won (1962) More at IMDbPro »

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How the West Was Won (1962) -- A family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the nineteenth century--including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.
How the West Was Won (1962) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   5,628 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writer:
James R. Webb (written by) (suggested by the series "How the West Was Won" in LIFE magazine)
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Contact:
View company contact information for How the West Was Won on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 February 1963 (USA) more
Tagline:
A FABULOUS ROMANTIC ADVENTURE more
Plot:
A family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the nineteenth century--including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
The Sunday Movie Quiz – The Answers
 (From HeyUGuys. 16 November 2009, 12:33 PM, PST)

The Sunday Movie Quiz
 (From HeyUGuys. 14 November 2009, 4:01 PM, PST)

User Comments:
More quantity than quality, but a truly all-star cast more (93 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
162 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor) (credited as Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.89 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) | Cinerama 7-Track (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Canada:G | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Approved (certificate #20143) | USA:G (re-rating) (1970) | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-16 | Norway:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) (cut) | UK:PG (video re-rating) (1995) (uncut) | UK:U (original rating)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The train station in the film at "Gold City" was shot at Perkinsville, Arizona, and is still standing, although in a state of disrepair. It is now the mid stopping point of the Verde Canyon Scenic Railroad. The train station, the town sign and several other smaller buildings still exist. more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Zebulon Prescott sees the rapids on the river, he says they must have taken the wrong fork. But they are are headed downstream. If you are headed downstream and come to a fork, you have no choice which fork to take; you take the one headed downstream. You can only make a choice of which fork to take if you head upstream at some point. In those rafts on that river, they could not have taken the wrong fork. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Narrator: [as the camera pans over the Rocky Mountains] This land has a name today, and is marked on maps. But, the names and the marks and the maps all had to be won, won from nature and from primitive man.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Fast Forward: (#3.6)" (1987) more
Soundtrack:
Wait For the Hoedown more

FAQ

How can I see How The West Was Won in CINERAMA?
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25 out of 33 people found the following comment useful.
More quantity than quality, but a truly all-star cast, 10 April 1999
Author: Brian W. Fairbanks (brianwfairbanks@yahoo.com) from Cleveland, Ohio

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.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for How the West Was Won (1962)
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The Theme Music TuskenRaiderBob
Logistical question: Carycomic
Marni Nixon/Hope Lange Welch57
Is the new DVD edition worth it? osurover
Jimmy Stewart was 53 years old when he made this film mitchflorida
Indians paul-mcginley
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