How the West Was Won

Starring:Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Brigid Bazlen, Walter Brennan, David Brian, Andy Devine, Raymond Massey, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Morgan
Director: Henry Hathaway, John Ford, George Marshall
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The first feature film to be photographed and projected in the panoramic three-camera Cinerama process, this epic Western is almost as expansive as the West itself, chronicling a pioneering family's triumphs and tragedies in numerous episodes spanning three generations and a half century of westward movement. Divided into five segments directed by veteran Hollywood filmmakers Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and the legendary John Ford (and including uncredited sequences directed by Richard Thorpe), the film was one of the most ambitious ever made by the venerable MGM studio. Its stellar cast reads like a virtual who's who of Hollywood's biggest stars. Debbie Reynolds plays a sturdy survivor of many pioneering dangers, and the eventual widow of a gambler (Gregory Peck), who is later reunited with her nephew (George Peppard), a Civil War veteran and cavalryman who heads for San Francisco as the transcontinental railroad is being built. Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this epic film, which is dramatically uneven but totally engrossing with its stunning vistas and countless outdoor locations in Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Monument Valley in Arizona, California, Colorado, and elsewhere. --Jeff Shannon

Description

From 1839 to 1889, this epic story follows four generations of a courageous New England farm family as they travel to the fertile Ohio Valley during America's westward expansion. This wondrous historical saga is set against the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War, buffalo hunters, the Pony Express and the first transcontinental railroad. How The West Was Won won three Academy Awards for Best Screenplay, Best Sound and Best Editing.

Customer Reviews:

What Has Happened to Warners?.......2007-06-05

I didn't buy this, thank goodness, because I was suspicious after being burned by another recent Warner release. The double feature disc of "Kelly's Heroes/Dirty Dozen" has a similar issue with "Dirty Dozen" being incorrectly labeled as being a 16x9 transfer and containing special features that are not actually on the disc. It is also an old master with the Turner logo at the beginning.

Poor Edition.......2007-06-02

This review is about the 2007 'John Wayne Collection' DVD edition of the film. New packaging, same sorry edition contained on other DVD (even Laserdisc) editions and further more the packaging claims "Enhanced for widescreen TVs" not true! The picture quality is terrible. Considering the DVD technology that exists today there is no reason the print couldn't have been cleaned up. Also, the two lines that appear in the middle of the screen (from being filmed in the Cinerama process) could have been eliminated. This is a great classic film that deserves a deluxe DVD edition. I expect more from WB with their long line of quality product not this horrible DVD transfer repackaged for an unsuspecting public! Avoid this until a better DVD edition comes along.

Deceptive Advertising.......2007-05-26

If you have been anxiously awaiting the release of HTWWW in anamorphic wide screen - as I have been - the wait continues. The box for this latest (5/07) release claims the film is "Enhanced for widescreen TV's". Not true!! False advertising. In fact it's merely "letterboxed", and better yet, it's the same transfer used for the Laserdisc version years ago - including the old "Turner Home Video" tag when Turner controlled the MGM library. I'm returning my copy to Amazon for a refund!

Deceptive Cover: Not Enhanced for Widescreen TVs.......2007-05-25

I took a chance on buying this DVD because it said it was enhanced for widescreen TVs, in other words, it was supposed to be anamorphic. It definitely is not. It is non-anamorphic, letterboxed on all 4 sides if you have an HDTV. It is also a very poor print. I took it back to Best Buy, arguing that the advertising on the box is a lie, and they gave me my money back with no questions asked - as if they had heard this story before. A shame, a real classic like this and it receives, once again, shoddy treatment.

A pot-boiler: then and now.......2004-04-11

"How the West Was Won": an incorrigible pot-boiler. Like other "epics" of the 1960s (eg the Alamo) this movie is a product of Hollywood culture. This is an entertainment genre unto itself. As an example of Hollywood's looking-in-on-itself as a source of material, this movie has charm (but not in the way intended). But if you are looking for any trace of history or American culture, look elesewhere. If you are into Rat-pack era (Sinatra, Monro, Kennedy) pseudo-culture, this is a classic.

Average customer rating:

How the West Was Won
how the west was won
The West! The Movie! The Music! The Cinerama!
story of the wild west
History Teacher's Recommendation

How the West Was Won
Starring: Carroll Baker , Lee J. Cobb , Henry Fonda , Carolyn Jones , and Karl Malden
Director: Henry Hathaway , Richard Thorpe , and George Marshall
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004RFEX
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

How the West Was Won.......2007-05-07

Still a classic bit of history-telling. It's full of spectacle and even has a fictional family saga to give it a plot, but that story is secondary to the fine narrative of the concquering of the American west.

After a few minutes you tend to not notice the two faint lines running down the screen throughout, leftovers from the Cinemascope process for which this was produced in the early 60s.

There's even a great musical score and folksy narration from the legendary Spencer Tracy. Add to that a spot-the-stars cast of screen legends and a really interesting "making-of" documentary, and all in all, it's a great package.

how the west was won.......2007-05-06

great movie. great cast. great action scene's. great music. wonderful tale of the shaping of america's heritage. it's a movie you hate to see end.

The West! The Movie! The Music! The Cinerama!.......2007-04-15

How The West Was Won is an impressive, multi-star, Cinerama spectacular, almost three hour epic, western movie.

The movie brilliantly depicts three generations of various members of the American pioneering Prescott family, as they begin traveling westward from New York, via the Erie Canal down some rather rough waters on the Ohio River, across the old western frontier and on to California.

Shown are everything from fur trappers, like the great Jimmy Stewart, to the gold rush era, buffalo stampeding as though they are going to crash through the screen.

The U.S. Civil War is strikingly demonstrated with John Wayne as rugged General Sherman, leading the Union to victory at the ferocious, blood stained battle of Shiloh. Narrator, Spencer Tracy: [speaking about the Civil War] "After Shiloh, the South never smiled."

The monumental undertaking of building the transcontinental railroad is a sight to see, coupled with the dusty wagon trains and hostile Indians, plus a few scenes of lousy treatment the American Indians received at the hands of unscrupulousness, ruthless land grabbing rouges and many of the railroad men. One railroad builder, Richard Widmark, always great in westerns, plays Mike King, who although a hard man of the West, finally sees the light in one respect, and says the Indians are getting "railroaded."

This diverse western drama also includes riverboat men, high rolling gamblers, and of course quick draw gunmen plus low life outlaws like Eli Wallach.

Each evolving adventure, spanning from the 1830's through the 1890's, is shown as tragedy separates the Prescott's in stunning, sweeping panoramic history lessons, of how America's wild West was eventually explored and settled, while always focusing on the trials and tribulations of the separated members of the Prescott family.

When this motion picture was released on February 20th, 1963, it was distributed only to Cinerama movie theaters (semi-wrap-around wide screen), thus drawing very large crowds due to the edge-of-your-seat, roller-coaster-ride feeling the amazed audience got while watching big budget pictures filmed in the then, state-of-the-art tri-projection Cinerama process.

The crisp, big screen photography vistas seen in this western masterpiece are simply breathtaking.

The other paramount reason the public flocked to see this picture was the all star cast of very famous actors and actresses: John Wayne, James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Raymond Massey, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Eli Wallach, Carroll Baker, Andy Devine, Walter Brennan, Debbie Reynolds, Jay C. Flippen, and even Lee Van Cleef who played a cold blooded as always, uncredited, river pirate.

This epic film offered something for everyone's movie going preference in leading men and ladies of the early 1960's.

A motion picture living legend narrated this fine film, Mr. Spencer Tracy. "The West, it had to be won from nature and from primitive man."

Mr. Alfred Newman. one of Hollywood's greatest musical conductor's beginning was chosen to produce triumphant thundering score. Mr. Newman won more Oscars for musical scoring of movies than any other composer in the history of the Academy Awards, a total of (9)! MGM picked the right man.

A historical sample of over 250 orchestral suites Mr. Newman either directed or conducted, placed him at the top of his profession.

Here is a very short listing: The Grapes of Wrath (1940), I Cover the Waterfront (1933), Wuthering Heights (1939), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939),The Song of Bernadette (1943), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Call Northside 777 (1948), Twelve O'Clock High (1949), The Robe (1953), The King and I (1956), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Firecreek (1968) and Mr. Newman last movie score being Airport (1970).

How The West Was Won is massive screen pure Americana. If possible always best viewed in the breathtaking original format of Cinerama. Reportedly there are two remaining Cinerama theaters in America. One is listed as being in Hollywood and the other Dayton, Ohio.

How The West Was Won recalls the regrettable ending of an happier moving going era, in the busy heart of downtown, as a family, was always a grand, exciting experience, from the lavish lobby entrance to the double and sometimes triple elegant looking balconies with their plush seating, while you anticipated those long, red velvet movie screen curtain slowly draws open, for the magnificent, Oscar awarded motion picture which has just been reviewed.

story of the wild west.......2007-03-19

This is a beautiful dvd with five separate stories who tell us the hard conquest of the wild frontiers of the wild west.
Great dvd and great cast.

History Teacher's Recommendation.......2007-03-14

This is a great film portraying an important period of U.S. History--for young and old alike. the music is especially good and authentic to the period and place. Lots of old time favorite stars, who evidently wanted to
get into the Cinerama phenonenom---too bad it didn't last. Television, I assume--which killed the movie houses for awhile---and large houses were needed for it.

American Experience - The Way West: How the West Was Lost & Won, 1845-1893

Average customer rating:

The Most Moving Documentary I've Ever Seen
Powerful and moving documentary
SOME FICTION, SOME FANTASY, SOME GREAT PARTS
One Star Is Too Many
big picture

American Experience - The Way West: How the West Was Lost & Won, 1845-1893
Starring: Ian Frazier , Sam Elliott , Christopher Murney , Thomas McGuane , and Alvin M. Josephy
Director: Ric Burns
Manufacturer: PBS Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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American Experience - Transcontinental Railroad
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ASIN: B000CNESNK
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Product Description

Between 1845 and 1893, the American West was lost and won - wound with ribbons of iron and wire and brought within the dominion of the United States - while, along the way, the lives of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans were violently disrupted and all but destroyed. This mesmerizing six-hour documentary series from acclaimed filmmaker Ric Burns (The Civil War, Coney Island, New York), chronicles the final astonishing decades of the American frontier from the time of the Gold Rush until after the last gasp of the Indian wars at Wounded Knee.

Customer Reviews:

The Most Moving Documentary I've Ever Seen.......2007-06-13

As movies and TV (except HBO) become so stupid and banal as to be unwatchable, I find myself watching more and more documentaries, and this is the best I've ever seen.

Unlike Ric Burns "The West" (which covers everything from the Conquistidors in Mexico to the Indians of the Northwest), this focuses almost entirely on the unending battle for the great plains between native americans and the whites. The photography, the narration, the actors readings, and especially the music are first rate, all lending to a sense of inevitable tragedy.

To me this seemed very balanced in presenting both sides of the story. It documents the breaking of treaties and the atrocities committed by Indians every bit as much as those committed by whites. There are several very graphic photos of white men mutilated by Indians. (This is NOT for children.)

I'm at a loss to understand the previous reviews saying this portrays "all white Christian men" as evil and all Indians as victims. Over an hour is dedicated to just the Battle of the Little Big Horn. How does that portray Indians as helpless victims?
The fact that these reviewers feel this is an attack on all white Christian men tells us much more about those reviewers than it does about this incredibly moving documentary.

Powerful and moving documentary.......2007-04-27

I don't know what ax the previous two reviewers had to grind. The documentary gives balanced views from both sides of a very complex story. There are amazing images. This is one of the best documentary series ever produced. I am a college professor and I regularly show episodes to my Introduction to America Studies class. The students say it teaches them things they never learned in American history classes before.

SOME FICTION, SOME FANTASY, SOME GREAT PARTS.......2007-02-14

WELL, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON THIS JUNK. MY WIFE IS A DESCENDANT OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS. SO I AM BIASED TOWARDS THE PROTECTION OF MINORITIES. BUT, THAT BEING SAID. I WANT THE TRUTH. I WANT A BALANCED, HONEST, ACCURATE DOCUMENTARY TO WATCH. I DON'T WANT SOME OF THE FACTS WHILE IGNORING MOST OF THE IMPORTANT FACTS. THIS IS NOT AN HONEST PRODUCTION. SHAME ON YOU MR DISHONESTY FOR CREATING THIS KIND OF JUNK. THAT BEING SAID, THERE IS SOME REALY GOOD INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE. I MEAN SOME REALLY INTERESTING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING MOMENTS. BUT, WHEN THEY ATTEMPT TO BLAME ALL CHRISTIANS FOR THE GENOCIDE OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS THEY LOOSE A LOT OF CREDIBILITY. BE FORWARNED, THIS PRODUCTION IS A GREAT INSULT TO ALL CHRISTIANS. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT THE RESPONSE WOULD BE IF THEY ATTEMPTED TO INSULT ALL MUSLIMS BECAUSE OF THOSE WHO PERPETRATED THE 911 TERRORISM AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. WELL, I HAVE TRAVELED TO TURKEY. THERE ARE A LOT OF VERY KIND HEARTED AND GENEROUS MUSLIMS IN THE WORLD WHO WANT NOTHING BUT TO BE LEFT ALONE SO THEY CAN ENJOY THEIR FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND LIFE IN GENERAL. WATCH 500 NATIONS AND KEN BURN'S PRESENTS THE WEST WITH THIS PRODUCTION. THEN YOU WILL GET A GOOD OVERVIEW.

One Star Is Too Many.......2007-02-06

One sided "politically correct" view that all white men (particularly Christian white men) are evil, greedy, murderous slugs. Whereas, all native Americans are noble, nurturing victims.

The Way West is not so much a "documentary" as it is a diatribe against Western Culture. Watch it for yourself and decide. But while you do may I say suggest you think about the fact that all men are created equal which not only relates to the rule of law but also in our nature as well. In short, all of us are capable of good and bad.

On a completely different note, the documentary makes much ado about property rights. Specifically, that the "White Man" because of his "Judeo Christian "creation legend"" believes in "conguering the land" and private property rights. While the "native American" (itself a misnomer ) believed that the earth is our "mother" and it belongs to all. I find this ironic because this documentaries primary argument is that the White Man stole the Indian's land but how could that be if the Indian did not own the land. Taking this point one step further it could be argued that the Native American's viewpoint is that that they "own" all the land that they ever passed through.

big picture.......2007-01-05

A riveting overview of the western experience. Especially toppy on the Indian wars on the Great Plains.

Jeremiah Johnson & How the West Was Won (2pc)

Average customer rating:

Jeremiah Johnson & How the West Was Won (2pc)
Starring: Robert Redford , Will Geer , Delle Bolton , Josh Albee , and Joaquín Martínez
Director: Sydney Pollack , Henry Hathaway , and Richard Thorpe
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( J ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0007VY4CW
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Amazon.com

After they first worked together on the 1966 film This Property Is Condemned, director Sydney Pollack and Robert Redford continued their long-lasting collaboration with Jeremiah Johnson, a 1972 drama set during the mid-1800s, about one man's rugged effort to shed the burden of civilization and learn to survive in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains. Will Geer is perfectly cast as the seasoned trapper who teaches Jeremiah Johnson (Redford) how to survive against harsh winters, close encounters with grizzly bears, and hostile Crow Indians. In the course of his adventure, Johnson marries the daughter of a Flathead Indian chief, forms a makeshift family, and ultimately assumes a mythic place in Rocky Mountain folklore. Shot entirely on location in Utah, the film boasts an abundance of breathtaking widescreen scenery, and the story (despite a PG rating) doesn't flinch from the brutality of the wilderness. --Jeff Shannon

The first feature film to be photographed and projected in the panoramic three-camera Cinerama process, the epic Western How the West Was Won is almost as expansive as the West itself, chronicling a pioneering family's triumphs and tragedies in numerous episodes spanning three generations and a half century of westward movement. Divided into five segments directed by veteran Hollywood filmmakers Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and the legendary John Ford (and including uncredited sequences directed by Richard Thorpe), the film was one of the most ambitious ever made by the venerable MGM studio. Its stellar cast reads like a virtual who's who of Hollywood's biggest stars. Debbie Reynolds plays a sturdy survivor of many pioneering dangers, and the eventual widow of a gambler (Gregory Peck), who is later reunited with her nephew (George Peppard), a Civil War veteran and cavalryman who heads for San Francisco as the transcontinental railroad is being built. Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this epic film, which is dramatically uneven but totally engrossing with its stunning vistas and countless outdoor locations in Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Monument Valley in Arizona, California, Colorado, and elsewhere. --Jeff Shannon

The Way West: How the West Was Lost & Won 1845-1893
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The Way West: How the West Was Lost & Won 1845-1893
Starring: Way West
Manufacturer: PBS Home Video
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Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000CSUNBQ
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Description

Written and directed by Ric Burns and narrated by Russell Baker, The Way West chronicles the extraordinary story of how the American West was lost and won from the time of the Gold Rush until the final major battle of the Indian Wars at Wounded Knee.

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How the West Was Won: The Movie
Starring: Luni Coleone & I-Rocc
Manufacturer: R.N.L.G. Llc
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Binding: DVD

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Average customer rating:

How the West Was Won
how the west was won
The West! The Movie! The Music! The Cinerama!
story of the wild west
History Teacher's Recommendation

How the West Was Won
Starring: Carroll Baker , Lee J. Cobb , Henry Fonda , Carolyn Jones , and Karl Malden
Director: Henry Hathaway , John Ford , and George Marshall
Manufacturer: MGM (Warner)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Epic | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Civil War | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

All Titles | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

1960s | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Horse Soldiers
The Big Country
Hondo (Special Collector's Edition)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
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ASIN: 0792839072
Release Date: 1998-07-28

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Customer Reviews:

How the West Was Won.......2007-05-07

how the west was won.......2007-05-06

great movie. great cast. great action scene's. great music. wonderful tale of the shaping of america's heritage. it's a movie you hate to see end.

The West! The Movie! The Music! The Cinerama!.......2007-04-15

story of the wild west.......2007-03-19

This is a beautiful dvd with five separate stories who tell us the hard conquest of the wild frontiers of the wild west.
Great dvd and great cast.

History Teacher's Recommendation.......2007-03-14

Average customer rating:

How the West Was Won
Starring: Luni Coleone & Irocc
Manufacturer: Koch International
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000MKZ7F6
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Description

Check out the last five years of the careers of West Coast underground rap legend Luni Coleone and his protégé I-Rocc. Features music videos, ghettos, strippers, underground rap stars, concert footage and other behind the scenes footage. Features Mac Dre, Messy Marv, and more.

Luni Coleone and I-Rocc: How the West Was Won

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Luni Coleone and I-Rocc: How the West Was Won
Starring: Coleone , and I-Rocc
Manufacturer: Paid in Full Ent
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