“The greatest cast of stars ever together in one picture.”
An epic tale of when the west shaped the country that was so big that a passel of Hollywood actors starred and it took three directors to helm it. Not only that, but it took three curved screens to contain it all in an amazing film designed to lure audiences away from their television sets.
Based on a series of articles in Life magazine, How the West was Won tells of how the Prescott family conquered the American West, narrated by Spencer Tracy. The Rivers (directed by Henry Hathaway) starts off the tale as farmer Zebulon Prescott (Karl Malden) moves his family West (young man).
The Plains (Hathaway again) continues as Lily Prescott (Debbie Reynolds), who ran away in the first section and is a saloon singer, inherits a gold mine and hitches onto a wagon train led by Roger Morgan (Robert Preston) and in the sights of gambler Cleve VanValen (Gregory Peck).
The Civil War (directed by John Ford) finds Zeb Rawlings (George Peppard), son of Eve Prescott (Carol Baker) and Linus Rawlings (James Stewart), joins the Union army and finds an assassination plot on Generals Ulysses S. Grant (Harry Morgan) and William Tecumseh Sherman (John Wayne).
The Railroad (directed by George Marshall) finds railroad man Mike King (Richard Widmark) plowing his tracks through the west with Zeb acting as a representative for the Army along with buffalo hunter Jethro Stuart (Henry Fonda).
The Outlaws (Hathaway once more) continues with Zeb and his wife Julie (Carolyn Jones) wanting to settle in some land in Arizona, but first he has to settle a score with notorious outlaw Charlie Gant (Eli Wallach).
The trailer is right when it says “greatest cast of stars.” Besides those detailed in the exceedingly short plot description we also get Lee J. Cobb, Walter Brennan, Agnes Moorehead, Thelma Ritter, Lee Van Cleef, Andy Devine, Raymond Massey (as Abe Lincoln!), and a cast of thousands. In the 1960s theater owners were sorely afraid of an idiot box called television as ticket sales were down as people sat at home for their entertainment.
They needed something to make going to the show more of an event and that invention was Cinerama. It used three cameras and a curved screen to put the audience in the middle of the action. It must’ve been truly awe inspiring to see this epic film in the process. On home video these three sections of projection would create seams and had a habit of bending the picture.
I can recall my first viewing of the DVD and when Zebulon and his kin push their raft into the river it “bends” as it passes across the borders created by the process. Some film purists might cry fowl, but this new release softens those lines and also presents the film in a beautiful remaster. Blu-ray fans get a better approximation of the process but more on that in a minute.
How the West was Won is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.89:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The film is spread across two discs with a commentary by filmmaker David Strohmaier, John Sitting (director of Cinerama, Inc.), film historian Rudy Behlmer, music historian Jon Burlingame, and stuntman Loren James. Disc one also has the 3-minute theatrical trailer.
Disc three features the excellent 97-minute “Cinerama Adventure” chronicling the invention and history of the process. Disc three is worth the price of admission alone. A cheaper release contains those three discs detailed above. The Ultimate Edition adds some physical swag, including a 36-Page Cinerama Souvenir Book Reproduction, 10 Collectible Color Photo Cards, 10 Black-and-White Photo Cards of Behind-the-Scenes Shots and a 20-Page Reproduction of the Original General Release Pressbook.
There’s also a coupon to send away and get a reproduction of the movie poster. In all honesty, I’ll have to say that this DVD “ultimate edition” looses a little luster when you read that the Blu-ray also contains the smilebox version of the film. That is the film’s letterbox window is curved on the top (smile) and bottom (frown?) to recreate the curve of the Cinerama screen.
It would’ve seemed more “ultimate” if that version was in the set and might make it worth the nearly double price, as compared to the separate three disc version. I’ll hazard to say that most folks can be satisfied purchasing the three-disc version. The booklets, etc. are nice but I don’t know if they make it worth the cost. I might’ve been more apt to say so if the smilebox version was in here too.
How the West was Won is an epic creation that looks better now on home video since not all homes can have a Cinerama theater. The Ultimate Edition is a bit pricey and most consumers can make due with the single release.
That release is still well worth it if not just for the grand documentary included. Purists may want to stick with the Blu-ray since it recreates the Cinerama experience. Whatever your taste you’ll get a fantastic film. Go west young man.
How the West Was Won (Ultimate Collector's Edition) is now available at Amazon . A Two-Disc version is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Sept. 29th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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