How the West Was Won (1962)

VHS CASE/SIDE

Length of film:  165 Minutes

Rated: G

Genre: Western

Director: John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall

Starring: Carroll Baker, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, John Wayne

IMDB Rank: 7.1/10

Part 1 Time: 85 Minutes

Part 2 Time: 80 Minutes

Where does the first part end? On a riverboat, Cleve Van Valen speaks to Lillith Prescott after her performance.

Final line of dialogue on the first part: “With a wagon or a rowboat, with the help of the devil, I bet we’ll make it!” Cleve to Lillith.

First line of dialogue on the second part:  “Young America was not only a Union of East and West.”- Narrator Spencer Tracy speaks as President Lincoln looks out a window.

How jarring is it when the first part ends? None, the film is technically a combination of five acts (The Rivers, The Plains, The Civil War, The Railroad, and the Outlaws). Each act is woven together through four generations of Prescott and Rawling family members. Each act is its own story, but some characters reappear throughout. The first part ends at the end on the Plains story.

Which part is better? Part one focuses on life before the onset of the American railroad with frontiersman exploring land rarely explored by colonists. Part two documents the Civil War, the creation of the American railroad and the outlaws. Due to the amount of action and excitement of the Wild West part two outshines part one.

Academy Awards: Best Writing-Story/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Picture (Nominated), Best Cinematography-Colour (Nominated), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Colour (Nominated), Best Costume Design-Colour (Nominated), Best Music Score- Substantially Original (Nominated).

National Film Registry: 1997