The Way West (1967)

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  • THE WAY WEST


    DIRECTED BY ANDREW V. McLAGLEN
    HAROLD-HECHT PRODUCTIONS
    UNITED ARTISTS



    INFORMATION FROM IMDb


    Plot Summary
    In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland
    in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock
    is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself
    as he is on those who have joined his wagon train.
    He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways.
    Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak
    and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.
    Written by garykmcd


    Cast
    Kirk Douglas ... Senator William J. Tadlock
    Robert Mitchum ... Dick Summers
    Richard Widmark ... Lije Evans
    Lola Albright ... Rebecca 'Becky' Evans
    Sally Field ... Mercy McBee
    Katherine Justice ... Amanda Mack
    Jack Elam ... Preacher Weatherby
    Stubby Kaye ... Sam Fairman
    Michael McGreevey ... Brownie Evans
    Harry Carey Jr. ... Mr. McBee (as Harry Carey)
    Connie Sawyer ... Mrs. McBee
    Michael Witney ... Johnnie Mack
    William Lundigan ... Michael Moynihan
    Elisabeth Fraser ... Mrs. Fairman (as Elizabeth Fraser)
    John Mitchum ... Little Henry
    Patric Knowles ... Captain Grant
    Hal Lynch ... Big Henry
    Timothy Scott ... Middle Henry
    Roy Glenn ... Saunders
    Paul Lukather ... Mr. Turley
    Stefan Arngrim Stefan Arngrim ...
    William J. Tadlock Jr.
    Roy Barcroft ... Mr. Masters
    Eve McVeagh ... Mrs. Masters
    Peggy Stewart ... Mrs. Turley
    Anne Barton ... Mrs. Moynihan
    Nick Cravat ... Calvelli
    Michael Keep ... Indian Brave
    Mike Lane ... Sioux Chief (as Michael Lane)
    and many more...


    Directed
    Andrew V. McLaglen


    Writing Credits
    Ben Maddow ... (screenplay) and
    Mitch Lindemann ... (screenplay) (as Mitchell Lindemann)
    A.B. Guthrie Jr. ... (novel)


    Produced
    Harold Hecht ... producer
    Mitch Lindemann ... associate producer (as Mitchell Lindemann)


    Music
    Bronislau Kaper ... (as Bronislaw Kaper)


    Cinematography
    William H. Clothier ... director of photography


    Trivia
    Film debut of Sally Field.


    In 1956 Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions announced plans to film "The Way West."
    It was to be adapted by Clifford Odets and was to star Burt Lancaster,
    James Stewart and, hopefully, Gary Cooper. That version was not made.


    Lola Albright nearly drowned during the river crossing scene.
    The wagon she was in tipped over and she was trapped underwater
    when the contents of the wagon fell on her and pinned her down.
    When they finally got her out she was semi-conscious and spent the night in hospital.
    A day later she returned to the set, but they used a stunt woman to re-film the river scene.
    In interviews she has said she was deeply traumatized by this near-death experience.


    Robert Mitchum and Richard Widmark reportedly did not get along with Kirk Douglas
    because of his tendency to usurp control of the project from the director.


    Shortly after the first River crossing scene, the wagon train passes
    a singular spire shaped rock formation.
    That is Chimney Rock, in the western part of Nebraska (Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska ).
    This location is approximately 600 miles from the wagon train"s
    starting point of Independence, Missouri, or about a third of the way
    into the journey of about 1,800 miles.
    At best, a wagon train might make 20 miles per day, with the troubles of river crossings,
    weather, and breakdowns of wagons.


    In his diaries, Charlton Heston states that he was seriously pursued for the Kirk Douglas role.


    This was first announced as a John Wayne starrer in 1951,
    two years after the source novel was first published.


    There was a minor helicopter crash on the set.


    Film debut of Katherine Justice.


    When the Indians capture Brownie you can see
    they are all wearing flesh colored underwear under their loincloth.


    Connie Sawyer (Mrs. McBee) and Kirk Douglas (Senator William J. Tadlock)
    both lived to see their 100th birthdays: Sawyer on November 27, 2012 and Douglas on December 9, 2016.


    Goofs
    Anachronisms
    Lola Albright is wearing a heavy pink lip gloss in some early scenes.


    Kirk Douglas' revolver was first made in 1860 or later.
    The time line of the period is 1843. He would have been using a
    percussion single Shot US Model 1842 or at best a civilian
    Patterson Colt with no trigger guard and especially, no side barrel extractor tube.


    A large tree that is felled during the raft building clearly has a large wedge
    cleanly cut out of it as from a chain saw.
    Even if a large two-man hand saw were being used, it is not shown,
    as every tree being cut that is shown, is being chopped down with an axe.


    Character error
    The Sioux chief's hair is not styled in the Sioux fashion.
    It more closely resembles that of the Pawnee, traditional Sioux enemies.


    Continuity
    During the river crossing several men in long "duster" coats
    appear on one side of the river and in the next shot, seconds later, are on the other side.
    They switch back and forth several times,


    Errors in geography
    The movie shows the wagon train in Oregon, moving East in the middle of the action.
    The mountains of Central Oregon, are shown clearly in the background,
    while all around the actors are surrounded by cinder rock formed by recent (within 500 year)
    volcanic activity. This isn't anything you'd see along the trail.


    Miscellaneous
    When the party reaches the river, and the obviously parched humans fall into the water
    to take a drink of it, the livestock and horses seem to be curiously disinterested in doing so.


    Revealing mistakes
    When the Irishman is lowered into the Grand Canyon as "the first man ever",
    one can clearly see a gravel road at the bottom.


    Memorable Quotes


    Filming Locations
    Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA
    Crooked River Gorge, Oregon, USA
    Mount Bachelor, Oregon, USA
    Bend, Oregon, USA
    Eugene, Oregon, USA
    Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
    Tucson, Arizona, USA


    Watch the Movie


    [extendedmedia]

    [/extendedmedia]

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited once, last by ethanedwards ().

  • The Way West is a 1967 American western film based on the
    Pulitzer Prize winning novel by A. B. Guthrie, Jr..
    The film stars Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark,
    and features Sally Field in her first major film role.
    The film was directed by veteran television director
    Andrew V. McLaglen and featured on-location cinematography by William H. Clothier.


    Production
    The film is notable for being the first big-budget western since
    1930's widescreen John Wayne spectacle The Big Trail,
    to show pioneers lowering a wagon train over a cliff with ropes.



    This was the first time that Mitchum and Douglas appeared
    in a film together since Out of the Past in 1947.


    Douglas had previously filmed another A.B. Guthrie novel, The Big Sky.


    The movie stars Duke's, 'Pals, Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark
    and also features Jack Elam, Harry Carey Jr.,John Mitchum
    Directed by 'Pal' Andrew V. McLaglen and cinematography by William H. Clothier



    User Review


    Wagon train western you can practically follow with a check-list...
    6 May 2009 | by moonspinner55 (las vegas, nv)

    In 1843 Missouri, hot-headed senator Kirk Douglas leads a large group of chosen people across rugged terrain to start "a new Jerusalem" in Oregon; he picks a half-blind pioneer scout (mourning the death of his Indian wife!) to help lead them, but immediately clashes with a family man over incidental matters; meanwhile, a sex-starved teenage girl has a fling with a married man, resulting in personal tragedy and an Indian attack (don't ask). A small pox outbreak is falsely reported, there's a wedding, a frigid woman goes insane, and the trail comes to an end at the Grand Canyon. A.B. Guthrie, Jr.'s book becomes somewhat besotted western epic with star-names, mixing vulgar jokes and inanities with ripe old clichés. A voice-over narration and a patriotic song come clean out of nowhere, while snarling Douglas blames himself for a death and asks a servant to whip him.


    It's cheap and low-brow all the way, but most viewers in the mood for a picture such as this probably won't be disappointed. There are some solid elements worth mentioning: William H. Clothier's outdoor cinematography is fine in the old-fashioned sense; and, although Bronislau Kaper whips up a dusty frenzy with his ridiculous score, the pacing is jaunty throughout and the wagons roll along at a fast clip. Douglas and Richard Widmark manage to retain their movie star allure, though Robert Mitchum was looking haggard by this time (and his performance is intentionally forgettable--he cancels out all his interest in the proceedings with one heavy sigh). Sally Field makes an inauspicious movie debut which I'm fairly certain she'd rather forget, but Lola Albright has a pleasing smile and Michael Witney does well as the handsome married man who can't get his wife to submit...but why does he shoot blindly into a rustling bush at night when it could have been his wife spying on him? Perhaps he was hoping it was! **1/2 from ****

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England