Westward the Women

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Westward the Women
Westward the Women.jpg
Theatrical film poster
Directed byWilliam A. Wellman
Screenplay byCharles Schnee
Story byFrank Capra
Produced byDore Schary
StarringRobert Taylor
Denise Darcel
John McIntire
CinematographyWilliam C. Mellor
Edited byJames E. Newcom
Music byJeff Alexander
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
December 31, 1951
Running time
118 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,203,000[1]
Box office$3,996,000[1]

Westward the Women is a 1951 Western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel and John McIntire.

Plot[]

In 1851, Roy Whitman wants to bring respectable women west to California with the purpose of marrying the lonely men who settled in Whitman's Valley. Roy hires experienced, though skeptical, wagon master, Buck Wyatt, to lead a wagon train along the California Trail. In Chicago, Roy recruits 138 "good women", despite Buck saying that a third will not survive the journey. The women range from Patience, an older widow from New Bedford, to Rose Meyers, a pregnant, unmarried woman seeking a better future. The women choose prospective mates from daguerreotype pictures tacked to a display board. Two showgirls, Fifi Danon and Laurie Smith, hastily change their flashy clothing when other women like them are rejected. Whitman is not fooled, but is convinced they sincerely wish to reform, so he accepts them.

Roy and Buck take the women to St. Joseph, Missouri, where Conestoga wagons, horses, and mules await, along with the 15 trail hands Buck has hired. He also hires Ito, a Japanese man, as the cook. Before setting out, Buck warns the men and women to stay away from each other. Four experienced women teach the others how to harness draft animals and drive wagons. After a week's training, they head west.

During the journey, Buck executes a man who rapes Laurie. As a result, all but two trail hands desert during the night, with eight women going with them. This leaves only Buck, Roy, Ito, and Sid Cutler, who has fallen in love with Rose. Roy decides they must turn back, but as they are half-way to their destination, Buck believes the women can "do a man's job" and finish the difficult journey. He then trains them how to shoot to defend themselves. Young Tony Moroni, the only boy, is accidentally killed during firearms practice. When his distraught widowed mother (who only speaks Italian) refuses to leave her son's grave, Buck knocks her out and puts her in Patience and Rose's wagon.

The women persevere through hardships and dangers, including a stampede and a dangerous descent down a steep, rocky trail that kills one woman. An Indian attack claims the lives of Roy, Sid, and six women. When a rainstorm undercuts the river bank, Fifi and Laurie's wagon plunges into the water, trapping and drowning Laurie. Gradually, Fifi begins to thaw Buck's attitude towards women in general and her in particular.

On the edge of the desert, Buck orders the wagons to be lightened, leaving furniture and fancy clothing behind. As they proceed, Rose goes into labor and delivers a boy.

Eventually, they reach a small lake near Whitman's Valley. The women, their clothes reduced to rags, refuse to go further until Buck brings them decent apparel to look presentable. Buck rides on ahead and tells the men to find any material they can for the women to make new clothes. Back in proper dresses, the ladies drive into town. Patience warns that the women are doing the choosing as they pair off with the men whose pictures they already picked. Mrs. Moroni meets an Italian citrus farmer, and one man willingly accepts Rose and her infant son. As the men and women dance, some couples soon get into line to be wed by a preacher. Ito coaxes Fifi to swallow her pride and go to Buck, who pretends he is preparing to ride out, instead of waiting for him to come to her. Fifi and Buck unite, then join the line to be married.

Cast[]

Production[]

Frank Capra, who receives story credit, originally intended to do this film himself; he'd always wanted to make a western, hopefully with Gary Cooper, but Paramount wasn't interested. He mentioned the idea to Wellman, who asked if he could take a stab at it. Capra gave him his blessing, and Wellman pitched it to Dore Schary at MGM, who liked the concept and gave him the go-ahead.

A documentary included in the film's DVD states that it was filmed at various locations in Kane County, Utah.[2] Film locations also include Johnson Canyon, the Gap, Paria, and Surprise Valley in Utah.[3] The documentary also mentions that the actresses all had to learn how to drive a four horse team pulling a wagon.

Reception[]

According to MGM records the film earned $2,640,000 in the US and Canada and $1,356,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $266,000.[1]

Radio adaptation[]

Westward the Women was presented on Lux Radio Theatre December 29, 1952. Taylor and Darcel re-created their roles from the film in the one-hour adaptation.[4]

Caravans of women[]

In 1985, the Spanish village of Plan, Aragón made Spanish news because local bachelors organized a "caravan of women" after Westward the Women was aired on TV. At the time the plan was conceived, there were over 40 single men and just one single woman in the town, since most of the local women had emigrated. An advertisement in the press calling for "Women between 20 and 40 with marriage intentions for Pyrenees village" resulted in 33 marriages, revitalizing Plan.[5]

Since then, other Spanish villages have organized similar "caravans".[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "The Eddie Mannix Ledger". Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study. Los Angeles. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  2. ^ Documentary included with the DVD Westward the Women. ASIN B007RKFXQW.
  3. ^ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
  4. ^ Kirby, Walter (December 28, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 36. Retrieved June 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  5. ^ a b "Los hijos de la caravana, sin plan". El Mundo (in Spanish). January 16, 2005.

External links[]

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