TCM is OUR FRIEND. They love John Wayne! They were selling John Wayne bobble-head dolls at the festival boutique too.
Now that's what I was really after ! A John Wayne bobble-head doll 
Seriously, Thank you so much for "filling us in" on the Classic Movie Channel,
and how to get affiliated with them.
Chester 
Paula,
Do they have these festivals every year? If so, how would one keep track, and possibly go next year?
Chester
These pictures make one want to drag out the movie, and watch it again !
Chester 
Not much in the way of anything to watch, but some sweeping music . . . you could open another tab and keep reading around with the music in the background.
From the epic How the West Was Won
[extendedmedia]
[/extendedmedia]. . . but is it good, bad, too long, stupid what?
It is a pretty good movie, it is definitely a long movie. If you watch it to see John Wayne, you will be disappointed, because as you can see, his part is just a very few minutes in a long movie. However, as Westerns go, and an interesting story of family through generations and different aspects of history, it is worth watching. Getting to see Duke in it is like an added treat. If you like many of the older stars (see Keith's original post for a listing of the full cast), this is a cornucopia of them in one film.
Chester
Arthur, I don't remember if I have read previously all you shared here, regarding Robert Morgan's accident, and also the pictures, but it made for fascinating reading this morning, and I wanted to thank you for enhancing an already great thread with your pictures and text.
Chester
We watched this movie recently, the first time for the Mrs. It was quite enjoyable, and to echo Mark's thoughts, it was quite a shock to see Walter Brennan as a bad guy!
I found some more posters, different from Keith's in the first post in this thread (though similar) and Arthur's. The first two highlight the all-star cast, and the third one is a 1970 reissue.
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Trivia
* No ordinary "single-camera" version was filmed simultaneously with the Cinerama version, resulting in two noticeable dividing lines on the non-Cinerama theater prints, video, TV, and DVD versions (indicating the three synchronized film strips originally used).
* The first non-documentary Cinerama film, it was also one of the last to use the old three-camera technique, resulting in two very visible, somewhat distracting, dividing lines in the non-Cinerama print and all TV and home video versions.
* Stuntman Bob Morgan was seriously injured, and almost died, while performing a stunt in this picture. Toward the end of the film, there is a gunfight on a moving train between the sheriff and a gang of train robbers. Morgan was one of the stuntmen playing a robber and was crouched next to a pile of logs on a flatcar. The chains holding the logs together snapped, and Morgan was crushed by the falling logs. He was so badly hurt it took him five years to recover to the point where he was able to move by himself and walk unaided.
Goofs
* Plot holes: When the Prescotts first see Linus Rawings, he's heading "upstream" and they are heading "downstream" so how do both end up at the Jeb Hawkin's place on the river (the Pirate's trading post)? This is never explained.
We watched this film tonight, a first for both the Mrs. and our number three son. It is a VHS copy, and we noticed the lines, but just assumed it was due to the age of the tape. Then we came on here and read that the lines are due to the Cinerama process.
That train ride and gunfight near the end, where the chains snap on the logs, is a real nail-biter, and now we read that one of the stuntmen was seriously injured in that scene.
Finally, we were all actually commenting on that little "goof" where the family was apparently headed in the opposite direction from Linus Rawlings, yet they both end up in the same place, so it's nice to know we were right up there "noticing" things.
It was an enjoyable epic film, with an all star cast, and while John Wayne's presence didn't add that much, it was a pleasant bonus to hear his voice in the midst of the whole story.
Debbie Reynolds did a great job (as usual) with her ability to inspire people with song, from the beginning to the very end of the movie.
On the whole, I do think the movie could have been done better. It seemed like there might have been too many cooks in the kitchen.
Chester
