The Way West

5/24/19672h 2m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Cracking Like a Whip From Here to Excitement! ~

Overview:

In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself as he is on those who have joined his wagon train. He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways. Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

based on novel or book
settler
native american
19th century

Cast

Kirk Douglas

~ as ~

Sen. William J. Tadlock

Robert Mitchum

~ as ~

Dick Summers

Richard Widmark

~ as ~

Lije Evans

Lola Albright

~ as ~

Rebecca 'Becky' Evans

Jack Elam

~ as ~

Preacher Weatherby

Stubby Kaye

~ as ~

Sam Fairman

Michael McGreevey

~ as ~

Brownie Evans

Harry Carey, Jr.

~ as ~

Mr. McBee

Connie Sawyer

~ as ~

Mrs. McBee

Michael Witney

~ as ~

Johnnie Mack

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

Wuchak
Written 4 year(s) ago
6
The exploits of a wagon train on the Oregon Trail with Douglas, Mitchum and Widmark

The adventures of a wagon train in 1843 traveling from Independence, Missouri, to Willamette Valley, Oregon, are chronicled. Kirk Douglas plays the dictatorial leader, Robert Mitchum an aloof scout, Richard Widmark a fiery farmer, Lola Albright his wife and Jack Elam a stowaway Preacher.

"The Way West" (1967) was based on the wagon train tome by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. There are elements reminiscent of earlier such movies, such as “Bend of the River” (1952) and “How the West was Won” (1962), as well as later ones, like “Meek’s Cutoff” (2011). It’s generally realistic, but some viewers don’t appreciate the occasional Hee Haw-like caricatures thrown in for light amusement, e.g. Widmark’s Lije, Elam’s preacher and Sally Field’s flirty teen. But I didn’t mind; I just rolled with it.

What I didn’t appreciate was the use of extreme southern Arizona (Yuma & Tucson) as a substitute for locations along the Oregon Trail, which is geographically disingenuous. Thankfully, the bulk of the movie was shot in Oregon, including Crooked River Gorge shown at the end.

Sally Field was 19 during shooting and cute as ever. Meanwhile redhead Katherine Justice is stunning as the newlywed wife.

Overlooking the obvious flaws, “The Way West” is an entertaining enough mid-60’s Western, highlighted by the charismatic cast and the awesome locations, not to mention the realistic depictions of life on a wagon train. It just doesn’t rank with the greats of the genre.

The film runs 2 hours, 2 minutes.

GRADE: B-/C+