The Way West 1967

     This film is based on a novel by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.  The setting of this film is the mid nineteenth century.  Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland to start a new settlement in the Western US.  Their destination is the Oregon Territory.  Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster.  He is as hard on himself as he is on the wagon train members.  He clashes with Lije Evans, one of the new settlers.  Lije doesn’t appreciate Tadlock’s ways.  Along the way, families face death and heartbreak plus a sampling of frontier justice.  One of the travelers accidentally kills a young Indian boy.

      I really wonder if some of the women would be wearing false eyelashes and heavy pink lip-gloss in this time period?  The wagon train and the people speed up to cross the river first on their journey.  I don’t think it would be wise to stress the people and the animals so severely in the beginning of this long trip?  When the party reaches the river, the settlers are drinking and very thirsty.  The horses and other livestock are not drinking at all?  When the Irishman is lowered into the Grand Canyon as the first man ever, a gravel road is clearly seen at the bottom?  It just seems like a LOT of aspects of this film are probably not true?  3* (This movie is OK)

122 min, Adventure directed by Andrew V. McLaglen with Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark, Lola Albright, Jack Elam, Stubby Kaye, Michael McGreevey, Harry Carey Jr., Connie Sawyer, Michael Witney, William Lundigan, Elisabeth Fraser, John Mitchum, Patric Knowles, Hal Lynch. 

Note:  Imdb 6.2 out of 10, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, Rotten Tomatoes 39% critic, Metacritic 42 out of 100 with 5 reviews (1 positive, 2 mixed, 2 negative), Amazon 3.7* out of 5 stars with 82 reviews, Letterboxd average 3* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Tucson, Yuma, Arizona; Crooked River Gorge, Mount Bachelor, Bend, Eugene, Willamette Valley, Oregon.  This is the first film for Sally Field in the role of Mercy McBee.  Robert Mitchum and Richard Widmark reportedly did not get along with Kirk Douglas.  Kirk had a tendency to usurp control of the project from Director McLaglen.  Lola Albright in the role of Rebecca Evans nearly drowned during the river-crossing scene.  Her wagon was tipped over and she was trapped underwater.  The contents of the wagon fell on her and pinned her down.  She was in a hospital overnight, a stunt woman did the re-film scene and Rebecca was deeply traumatized by the near death experience.  Originally, Burt Lancaster, James Stewart and Gary Cooper were to star.  There is a mistake in the distance the wagon train covered on their journey.  Since this is fictional, it doesn’t really matter that they could not cover more than 20 miles a day.