The Way West (film)
Encyclopedia
The Way West is a 1967 American epic western
film based on the novel
by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
. The film stars Kirk Douglas
, Robert Mitchum
, and Richard Widmark
, and features Sally Field
in her first major film role. The film was directed by veteran television director Andrew V. McLaglen and featured on-location cinematography by William H. Clothier
. Though reviews were mixed, critics such as Roger Ebert
praised the film for its realistic portrayal of settlers and their motivations.
in 1843, heading west on the Oregon Trail
by wagon train. His son and slave come along, with Dick Summers as a hired guide.
Joining them on the expedition are farmer Lije Evans, his wife Rebecca and 16-year-old son Brownie. Among others there are also the newlyweds Johnnie and Amanda Mack, plus the Fairman and McBee families.
Shy young wife Amanda isn't satisfying his needs, so Johnnie gets drunk and strays with young Mercy McBee. He also shoots at what he drunkenly thinks is a wolf and ends up killing a Sioux
chief's son.
Tadlock knows that no other form of justice will do for the Indians if the wagon train is to be permitted to go on its way, so he hangs young Johnnie.
On the trail, it turns out Mercy is now pregnant as well. Brownie proposes marriage to her. Tadlock's son is killed in a stampede, causing the senator to be so distraught, he asks his slave to take a whip to his back.
Lije Evans has seen enough. The last straw comes when Tadlock fakes a smallpox scare to keep soldiers away from the wagons. Tadlock is attacked by Evans, who takes charge of the trek.
Nearly to the end, Rebecca Evans shows the others Tadlock's grand plan, just beyond a steep ravine. They treacherously lower possessions, animals and each other down the steep grade to reach their destination. Amanda Mack, however, emotionally destroyed by the loss of Johnnie, cuts a rope and causes Tadlock to plunge to his death.
John Wayne
spectacle The Big Trail
to show pioneers lowering a wagon train over a cliff with ropes.
This was the first time Mitchum and Douglas played major roles in the same film since Out of the Past
exactly two decades before, in which Douglas had played a supporting role as a villain.
Douglas had previously filmed another A.B. Guthrie novel, The Big Sky
.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film based on the novel
The Way West
The Way West is a 1949 western novel by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. . The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1950. The book became the basis for a film starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark....
by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
Alfred Bertram Guthrie, Jr. was an American novelist, screenwriter, historian, and literary historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1950 for his novel The Way West. The author called himself "Bud" because he felt that Alfred Bertram "was a sissy name."-Biography:A. B. Guthrie, Jr...
. The film stars Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
, and Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
, and features Sally Field
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
in her first major film role. The film was directed by veteran television director Andrew V. McLaglen and featured on-location cinematography by William H. Clothier
William H. Clothier
William H. Clothier, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer.Born in Decatur, Illinois, Clothier entered the film industry painting sets at Warner Bros., and at the end of the silent era began photographing such films as Wings and Ernst Lubitsch's The Patriot...
. Though reviews were mixed, critics such as Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
praised the film for its realistic portrayal of settlers and their motivations.
Plot
U.S. Senator William Tadlock is leaving his home in MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
in 1843, heading west on the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
by wagon train. His son and slave come along, with Dick Summers as a hired guide.
Joining them on the expedition are farmer Lije Evans, his wife Rebecca and 16-year-old son Brownie. Among others there are also the newlyweds Johnnie and Amanda Mack, plus the Fairman and McBee families.
Shy young wife Amanda isn't satisfying his needs, so Johnnie gets drunk and strays with young Mercy McBee. He also shoots at what he drunkenly thinks is a wolf and ends up killing a Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
chief's son.
Tadlock knows that no other form of justice will do for the Indians if the wagon train is to be permitted to go on its way, so he hangs young Johnnie.
On the trail, it turns out Mercy is now pregnant as well. Brownie proposes marriage to her. Tadlock's son is killed in a stampede, causing the senator to be so distraught, he asks his slave to take a whip to his back.
Lije Evans has seen enough. The last straw comes when Tadlock fakes a smallpox scare to keep soldiers away from the wagons. Tadlock is attacked by Evans, who takes charge of the trek.
Nearly to the end, Rebecca Evans shows the others Tadlock's grand plan, just beyond a steep ravine. They treacherously lower possessions, animals and each other down the steep grade to reach their destination. Amanda Mack, however, emotionally destroyed by the loss of Johnnie, cuts a rope and causes Tadlock to plunge to his death.
Production
The film is notable for being the first big-budget western since 1930's widescreenWidescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
spectacle The Big Trail
The Big Trail
The Big Trail is a lavish early widescreen movie shot on location across the American West starring John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh....
to show pioneers lowering a wagon train over a cliff with ropes.
This was the first time Mitchum and Douglas played major roles in the same film since Out of the Past
Out of the Past
Out of the Past is a 1947 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring , with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M...
exactly two decades before, in which Douglas had played a supporting role as a villain.
Douglas had previously filmed another A.B. Guthrie novel, The Big Sky
The Big Sky (film)
The Big Sky is a 1952 Western film directed by Howard Hawks, based on the novel of the same name. The cast includes Kirk Douglas, Arthur Hunnicutt, Dewey Martin and Elizabeth Threatt....
.
Cast
- Kirk DouglasKirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
as Sen. William J. Tadlock - Robert MitchumRobert MitchumRobert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
as Dick Summers - Richard WidmarkRichard WidmarkRichard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
as Lije Evans - Lola AlbrightLola AlbrightLola Jean Albright is an American singer and actress.Albright worked as a model before moving to Hollywood. She began her motion picture career with a bit part in the 1948 film The Pirate, and followed it with an important role in the acclaimed 1949 hit Champion...
as Rebecca Evans - Jack ElamJack ElamWilliam Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies .-Early life:...
as Preacher Weatherby - Mike Witney as Johnnie Mack
- Sally FieldSally FieldSally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
as Mercy McBee - Stubby KayeStubby KayeStubby Kaye was an American comic actor. He was born Bernard Kotzin in New York City on the last day of the First World War, at West 114th Street in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan to first generation Jewish-Americans originally from Russia and Austria...
as Sam Fairman - Katherine JusticeKatherine JusticeKatherine Justice is an American actress with several television credits to her name.-Selected credits:*Separate Ways*The Way West *5 Card Stud*Limbo *Columbo*The Big Valley...
as Amanda Mack - Michael McGreevey as Brownie Evans
- Connie Sawyer as Mrs. McBee
- Harry Carey, Jr.Harry Carey, Jr.Harry Carey, Jr. is an American film actor. He appeared in over 90 films. He is mostly remembered for appearing in Western films — notably those by his friend John Ford — and in television programs.-Early life:...
as Mr. McBee - Paul LukatherPaul Lukather-Television appearances:* Cheers* Cagney & Lacey* Starsky and Hutch* Cannon* Adam-12* Mannix* The Mod Squad* Mission: Impossible* Twelve O'Clock High* Perry Mason* Get Smart* The Fugitive...
as Mr. Turley - Eve McVeaghEve McVeaghEve McVeagh, born Eva Elizabeth McVeagh, was an American actress of film, television, stage, and radio. Born in Ohio, McVeagh moved to Los Angeles in 1923, where she started acting in theater in her teens. Her career spanned 52 years from her first stage role through her last stage appearance...
as Mrs. Masters