Westward the Women (1951)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Charles Schnee (screenplay)
Frank Capra (story)

Release Date:

31 December 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Drama

Plot:

In a time when "The West" pretty much ends in Texas and only California is slowly being populated by the white men...

Plot Keywords:

California | Rocky Mountains | Gender Reassignment | Wagon Train | Native American Attack

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Buck Wyatt
Denise Darcel	...	Fifi Danon
Hope Emerson	...	Patience Hawley
John McIntire	...	Roy E. Whitman
Julie Bishop	...	Laurie Smith
Lenore Lonergan	...	Maggie O'Malley
Henry Nakamura	...	Ito
Marilyn Erskine	...	Jean Johnson
Beverly Dennis	...	Rose Meyers
Renata Vanni	...	Mrs. Moroni

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

French | English | Japanese | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Denise Darcel's French-language dialog includes a few words which prove that no one in the 1950's version of the Hays Office understood French. Some of the terms she used while angry at "Buck Wyatt" would never have gotten past the censors in English.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Laurie is seen grabbing a couple of the women's arms after they remove her dead body out of the wagon during the thunderstorm.

Quotes:

Fifi Danon: [to Buck Wyatt] Do you ever... shave?
[he walks away from her]
Fifi Danon: You always look so dirty!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Challenge the Wilderness (1951)

Soundtrack:

To The West! To The West!

Blood ,sweat and tears.

This is a William Wellmann's tour de force!In spite of the conventional macho Taylor,everything rings true ,this film has a smell of authenticity¨.Performances are so good (all the actors and mainly actresses) and nobody overacts .Sometimes it looks like a Russian movie,where the masses are the main hero.The fact that outside of English,THREE other languages are used (Italian,French and Japanese) shows Wellmann's respect for his audience.It's something to hear Denise Darcel sing "auprès de ma blonde " -a song from the seventeenth century- in the middle of the desert !

Some sequences are absolutely admirable ,I will mention three of them:

-the "recruitment" , the two women who hit the bull's-eyes (here a sheriff's eyes on a poster),the Italian family who registers without knowing what terrible fate lies in store for them (if they made a remake,I wonder what the politically correct of 2004 would make of the little boy)

-After the attack,the women ,like in an army tell all the names of the dead.An echo adds to the poignancy of the situation.

-And last but not least,the survivors,who are still women,show their coquetterie and demand new clothes to meet their men.

Actually,it's the whole film which is in turn tragic,funny ,poetic,and wonderful.The gauche attitude of the men when they meet their future wives is a delight.

SPOILER:The key to the film is the birth of a child ,under the blistering sun of the desert;after the awful death of the little Italian boy,it gives hope back to the women and (to the audience).It' s the promise for them all that new children will soon be born and carry on their mammoth task.

A Russian western describes this remarkable work.

NB:Although French,Denise Darcel never made a movie in her native country.