Westward the Women

1951

1h 58m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

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Adventure

Drama

Western

There's a deficit of good, honest women in the West, and Roy Whitman wants to change that. His solution is to bring a caravan of over 100 mail-order brides from Chicago to California. It will be a long, difficult and dangerous journey for the women. So Whitman hires hardened, cynical Buck Wyatt to be their guide across the inhospitable frontier. But as disaster strikes on the trail, Buck just might discover that these women are stronger than he thinks.

Directors

William A. Wellman

Writers

Frank Capra(story by)

Charles Schnee(screenplay by)

Stars

Robert Taylor

Denise Darcel

Hope Emerson

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Videos1

Trailer
Watch Westward the Women (1951) Original Trailer [FHD]

Photos54

Top cast

Buck Wyatt

Fifi Danon

Patience Hawley

Roy E. Whitman

Laurie Smith

Maggie O'Malley

Ito

Jean Jackson

Rose Meyers

Mrs. Maroni

Jean's Awaiting Groom (uncredited)

(uncredited)

Gambler (uncredited)

Pioneer Woman

Outrider (uncredited)

Milicent Patrick

Flashy Woman (uncredited)

Ted Adams

Bartender (uncredited)

Raymond Bond

Pioneer Woman (uncredited)

Directors

William A. Wellman

Writers

Frank Capra(story by)

Charles Schnee(screenplay by)

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7/10

Caravan of graft, guile and stoicism. Westward the Women is directed by William Wellman and adapted to screen by Charles Schnee from a story written by Frank Capra. It stars Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, John McIntire, Hope Emerson, Julie Bishop and Henry Nakamura. Music is by Jeff Alexander and cinematography by William Mellor. A most important Western, one that demands to be seen by lovers of the genre. Plot finds Taylor tasked with escorting over 100 women from Chicago to California, their goal is to find marital harmony at Whitman Valley. They must overcome extreme conditions, from that of the natural terrain, hostile invasions, and inner fightings via passions and suspicions. This is a wagon train of some difference. The key issue here is that this MGM production puts up front and centre the fact that women played a key part in the shaping of the frontiers. It manages to have the expected cute and funny scenarios, but not at the expense of viable assertive drama, nothing denigrates how strong, brave and driven these women were. Some of the gender politics look a touch suspect today, and occasionally some of the framing devices for the women are over staged. There's also the irritant of stereotyping Nakamura's Asian character, but these are small quibbles all told. For this is a unique and fascinating Western, something of a banner movie for telling a side of the "West" we hardly have ever see on film. 7/10

John Chard02 Aug, 2018