Westworld (1973)

Director:

Michael Crichton

Writer:

Michael Crichton (written by)

Release Date:

21 November 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Western

Tagline:

Westworld ...where robot men and women are programmed to serve you for ...Romance ...Violence ...Anything

Plot:

A robot malfunction creates havoc and terror for unsuspecting vacationers at a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park.

Plot Keywords:

Computer | Saloon | Brawl | Rattlesnake | Villain Played By Lead Actor

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Yul Brynner	...	Gunslinger
Richard Benjamin	...	Peter Martin
James Brolin	...	John Blane
Norman Bartold	...	Medieval Knight
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Chief Supervisor
Victoria Shaw	...	Medieval Queen
Dick Van Patten	...	Banker
Linda Gaye Scott	...	Arlette (as Linda Scott)
Steve Franken	...	Technician
Michael T. Mikler	...	Black Knight (as Michael Mikler)
Terry Wilson	...	Sheriff
Majel Barrett	...	Miss Carrie
Anne Randall	...	Servant Girl
Julie Marcus	...	Girl in Dungeon
Sharyn Wynters	...	Apache Girl
Anne Bellamy	...	Middle Aged Woman
Chris Holter	...	Stewardess
Charles Seel	...	Bellhop
Wade Crosby	...	Bartender
Nora Marlowe	...	Hostess
Lin Henson	...	Ticket Girl
Orville Sherman	...	Supervisor
C. Lindsay Workman	...	Supervisor (as Lindsay Workman)
Lauren Gilbert	...	Supervisor
Davis Roberts	...	Supervisor
Howard Platt	...	Supervisor
Richard Roat	...	Technician
Kenneth Washington	...	Technician
Jared Martin	...	Technician
Robert Patten	...	Technician
David M. Frank	...	Technician (as David Frank)
Kip King	...	Technician
David Man	...	Technician
Larry Delaney	...	Technician
Will J. White	...	Workman
Ben Young	...	Workman
Tom Falk	...	Workman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Barry Cahill	...	Third Male Interview (uncredited)
Robert Hogan	...	Interviewer of Delos Guests (uncredited)
Robert Nichols	...	First Male Interview (uncredited)
Ty Randolph	...	Girl in Saloon (uncredited)
Leoda Richards	...	White-Haired Woman on Elevator (uncredited)
Paul Sorensen	...	Second Male Interview (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Crichton

Writing credits
Michael Crichton		(written by)

Produced by
Paul Lazarus III	....	producer (as Paul N. Lazarus III)
Michael I. Rachmil	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Fred Karlin

Cinematography by
Gene Polito		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Bretherton

Casting by
Leonard Murphy

Art Direction by
Herman A. Blumenthal		(as Herman Blumenthal)

Set Decoration by
John P. Austin		(as John Austin)

Makeup Department
Frank Griffin	....	makeup artist
Irving Pringle	....	makeup artist
Dione Taylor	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Claude Binyon Jr.	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claude Binyon Jr.	....	assistant director
James F. Boyle	....	second assistant director (as James Boyle)
Craig Huston	....	dga trainee (uncredited)

Art Department
Arthur Friedrich	....	property master

Sound Department
Richard S. Church	....	sound (as Richard Church)
Harry W. Tetrick	....	sound
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Van Allen James	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Charles Schulthies	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Brent Sellstrom	....	visual effects coordinator
John Whitney Jr.	....	automated image processing
Matthew Yuricich	....	matte painter (uncredited)

Stunts
Bobby Bass	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tony Brubaker	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Bill Catching	....	stunts (uncredited)
Louie Elias	....	stunts (uncredited)
Mickey Gilbert	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Alan Oliney	....	stunts (uncredited)
Charlie Picerni	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dean Smith	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Ziker	....	fire gag stunt (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Joseph A. August Jr.	....	camera operator (as Joseph August)
Doug Byers	....	electrician (uncredited)
Owen Marsh	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Richard Bruno	....	wardrobe supervisor
Betsy Cox	....	wardrobe: women's

Music Department
Bill Campbell	....	musician: paino (uncredited)

Other crew
Dick Ziker	....	action scenes coordinator

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (as Metro Goldwyn Mayer)
• Cinema International Corporation (UK) (1974) (UK) (theatrical)
• Fox-MGM (1974) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• MGM-Fox (1974) (Finland) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1976) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Chapel Distribution (1999) (Australia) (theatrical) (New 35mm print - re-issue)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (????) (Germany) (theatrical)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Paragon (2012) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Vídeo Arte (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Information International (automated image processing by) (as Information International, Inc.)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1974) | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | France:-12 | UK:15 (tv rating) | Australia:PG | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) (1994) (2008) | UK:AA (original rating) (passed with cuts) | USA:PG | West Germany:16 (nf) | Singapore:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Harold Lloyd's Greenacres Estate - 1740 Green Acres Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Yul Brynner's character is known as The Gunslinger. Interestingly, the word "gunslinger" was only created in the 1950s and has no connection to the old West.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the robots are loaded onto the conveyor belt to be repaired at the end of the day, the first one, a man in an orange shirt, has his hat on his chest. In the next shot, it's on his head.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Interviewer of Delos Guests:[hosting a commercial] Hi. Ed Ramsey from Delos. If there's anyone who doesn't know what Delos is, well, as we've always said: Delos is the vacation of the future, today. At Delos, you get your choice of the vacation you want. There's Medieval World, Roman World and, of course, Westworld. Let's talk to some of the people who've been there.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Welcome to Eltingville (2002) (TV)

"Boy, have we got a vacation for you...where nothing can go wrong!"

"Boy, have we got a vacation for you...where nothing can go wrong!"

Well, as the old saying goes..."famous last words."

"Westworld" is supposed to be set in the future (as visualized back in 1973 when the film was made, apparently the computers of the future are really, really big, and the monitors are really, really small, lol), where pampered rich folk can go to a vacation resort named "Delos", where they choose one of three "worlds" to visit and interact in: Medieval World, Roman World, and Westworld. Our protagonists John Blaine and Peter Martin (played by James Brolin and Richard Benjamin, respectively) choose Westworld. John is a Westworld veteran, having visited many times. Peter is his friend and first-timer at the resort; uttering childlike statements such as "Do we get a real gun? Wow!" In the various "worlds", the guests interact with each other and with anatomically-correct, extremely realistic robots. They are able to *ahem* interact very closely with the female robots, and also shoot the mean robots for fun (the guns they are supplied with will not work on real people) as they wish. A real "cowboys and indians" scenario for the child in us all. Roman World is promoted as a big sex resort, and Medieval World is geared towards the romantic, it seems.

The film starts out with quite a lot of intentional comedy and satire, and frankly starts out very much like it could have been a 1970's TV "Movie of the Week", but once the robots start to go bad...what we have for the rest of the film is a truly creepy western/sci-fi film. It's a gunfight! Albeit a Sci-Fi one. The last half-hour of the film is essentially a silent movie, as Crichton said he wanted, save for the great soundtrack, which sounds something like a bow being drawn against piano strings, or a cello; anyway it has the same unsettling effect as the out-of-tune piano in another classic, "Wait Until Dark" (1967).

Movies with robots/androids...there have been many I have seen and loved. But for this review I will cite examples of what I consider to be scary robots in film, besides "Westworld": "The Stepford Wives" (1974), "Alien" (1979), "Blade Runner" (1982), "The Terminator" (1984), "Aliens", "The Companion" (1995).

But "Westworld" was the first scary robot film I ever saw. And even after the others that followed, nothing quite equals Yul Brynner in his role as the gunslinger robot gone bad in "Westworld." His performance is what really makes the movie. Brynner was a good actor, and even (aybe especially) playing a machine, his skill is used to great effect. His performance was anything but wooden (unlike the always wooden Ah-nold in "The Terminator", for instance).

When Brynner's robot gunslinger commands "Draw", with the slightest twist at the corner of his mouth, he is completely creepy and scary. Even the way he walks when hunting down Richard Benjamin's character has an element to it that I have never seen again.

What's also great about this film is the development of Benjamin's character of Peter Martin. He starts out as the inexperienced nerdy sidekick to Brolin's John Blaine, and ends up showing his true mettle as the going gets rough. The nerdy naive Martin quickly learns how to survive.

This was Sci-Fi writer/director Michael Crichton's first foray into big-screen film-making. Crichton has said he made the film in thirty days. I would expect that finding pre-made sets were easy at least; there was bound to be at least a western set sitting around the studio lots. And of course, back then there were fewer and less complicated special effects.

If you find a DVD of this to rent, and you've never seen the film before, I recommend that you do not watch the trailer first! It's a real spoiler.

Note: Look for Majel Barrett (of "Star Trek-Generations", and she is also Gene Roddenberrys' widow) as the whorehouse madam.

Brynner's part was a play on his role in the classic western film "The Magnificent Seven."