How the West Was Won (1962) - Western star cascade is a visual feast

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An overwhelming number of stars and an incredible amount of epic sequences are teased on this yellow-toned poster for Henry Hathaway, John Ford, Richard Thorpe and George Marshall's How the West Was Won

From the frontier men and women on rafts down the river, in the American Civil War, through the Indian Wars, the revolution of the railway system and the arrival of law and order: - This is how the west was won!

 

How the West Was Won is written by James R. Webb (Kings of the Sun (1963)) and John Gay (Final Notice (1989, TV movie)) and directed by great Californian filmmaker Henry Hathaway (Heritage of the Desert (1932)), Mainer master filmmaker John Ford (Straight Shooting (1917)), George Marshall (Love's Lariat (1916)) and Richard Thorpe (Rough Ridin' (1924)).

Variegated and (putting it squarely) shapeless anthology type largesse western epic: Starts by treating the West more or less as an enjoyable amusement park; later becomes more thrilling, - especially in the railroad section and towards the end, featuring outlaws. Stars replace stars as if delivered to us on a conveyor belt, where none of them have time to form whole characters that develop, and some of them simply chew up the scenery.

But How the West Was Won is worth watching as a photographic spectacle due to its laborious Cinerama three-strip film process, originally theatrically projected onto a curved screen. (The only other film made this way is The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962).) Enjoy it for its enormously wide, crystal clear, beautiful images, which are incredible to look at, when for instance grand vistas, buffaloes and dramas on the river come to life in extraordinary detail, so that you nearly feel that you're there. (Cinematography by William H. Daniels (The Prize (1963)), Milton R. Krasner (The Singing Nun (1966)), Charles Lang (Hotel (1967)) and Joseph LaShelle (The Outsider (1961)).)

Outstanding stunts and production design and popping colors also work magic. The West is almost entirely kept in positive turns in this nationalistic, fly-over work, which captivates visually.

 

Related posts:

John Ford: Fort Apache (1948) - Wayne and Fonda clash in Ford's solid western of a massacre of Indians 

Top 10: Best Twentieth Century Fox titles 

The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Ford's Steinbeck adaptation is a cinematic crown jewel 
Henry Hathaway: Airport (1970) or, A Genre Is Born (uncredited director of winter outdoor scenes)  
Circus World/The Magnificent Showman (1964) - Hathaway and Bronston's grand, ill-fated curio 

The Dark Corner (1946) - Hathaway's great film noir

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 14.483 mil. $

Box office: 50 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.45 times its cost)

[How the West Was Won premiered 1 November (London) and runs 164 minutes. The film was originally intended to be charitable for St. Johns Hospital, but the hospital later sued to get its profits. Shooting took place from May 1961 - January 1962 in Kentucky, Arizona, Illinois and Colorado. During production the budget ballooned from 8 mil. $. Hathaway later said about the making of the film: (it was) "goddam trouble. They had an idiot for a producer and Sol Siegel was drunk most of the time. We spent so much money on the picture they almost decided not to do the last part. We had a meeting, and I said, 'You can't quit. You've got to show how the West was won. The West was won when the law took over'." At the London Casino Cinerama where the film premiered, it went on to play for 123 weeks, ending its impressive reign in April 1965. The film made 20.9 mil. $ in North-American rentals, becoming the year's 2nd highest-grossing in rentals. Elsewhere it is put down for a 46.5 mil. $ North-American gross. With considerable foreign numbers, there is a discrepancy concerning the alleged 50 mil. $ world gross. In any case it was a success. It was also nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 3, for Best Screenplay, Sound and Editing. It lost Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color to Cleopatra, Cinematography, Color to Leon Shamroy for Cleopatra, Costume Design, Color to Cleopatra, Score (Alfred Newman (The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)), Ken Darby (Meet Me After the Show (1951))) to John Addison for Tom Jones and Picture also to Tom Jones. It also won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Through restorative efforts, the very visible three image lines have been mostly disguised on newer home video releases of the film. Hathaway returned with Circus World (1964); Ford with Donovan's Reef (1963); Marshall with Papa's Delicate Condition (1963); and Thorpe with Follow the Boys (1963). James Stewart (Rope (1948)) returned in My Three Sons (1963, TV-series) and theatrically in Take Her, She's Mine (1963); John Wayne (The War Wagon (1967)) in Donovan's Reef (1963). How the West Was Won is fresh at 87 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of How the West Was Won?

The Dark Corner (1946) - Hathaway's great film noir

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Sinister truths seem to await right around Henry Hathaway's The Dark Corner on this atmospheric, painted poster

QUICK REVIEW:

Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy (1951-57)) is engaging as secretary Kathleen, the dream woman for private detective Galt (Mark Stevens (Cry Vengeance (1954))), who gets framed and hunted for murder. A man in a white suit, an art collector and a hell of a lot of booze, cigarettes and coffee are some of the other ingredients in this romantic film noir.

- Who would have guessed SPOILER that the rich gallery owner (Clifton Webb (Laura (1944)) with a positively freezing British accent) was the coldblooded crook here?
In Dark Corner, we are allowed to wallow in shadows (cinematography by Joseph MacDonald (Pickup on South Street (1953))), suspense and intelligent dialog. The script is by Jay Dratler (Laura) and Bernard C. Shoenfeld (The Magic Sword (1962)) with story by Leo Rosten (The Velvet Touch (1948)) and uncredited work by Harry Kleiner (Red Heat (1988)) and Fred Kohlmar (Bye Bye Birdie (1963), producer). Henry Hathaway (True Grit (1969)) directed it, probably one of his best films, (though he directed more than 60, so it is hard to say for sure so far hence.)
The Dark Corner, in any case, is an exquisite pleasure.

Related reviews:

Henry Hathaway: Airport (1970) or, A Genre Is Born (uncredited director of winter outdoor scenes)  
Circus World/The Magnificent Showman (1964) - Hathaway and Bronston's grand, ill-fated curio 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[Dark Corner is recognized as an excellent low-budget noir; great film critic Leonard Maltin gives it the equivalent of 4 stars in our system (3 in his), and it holds a 100 % fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes, (based on 8 reviews.)]

What do you think of The Dark Corner?
Other great film noirs that you want to recommend?

Circus World/The Magnificent Showman (1964) - Hathaway and Bronston's grand, ill-fated curio

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This poster for Henry Hathaway's Circus World seems to promise John Wayne going through a flaming hell in the film

QUICK REVIEW:

An American circus director, who loves the circus and hates superstition, wants to transfer his success to Europe, but after a peculiar ferry accident, he is left with nothing and has to fight his way to his goal using all his talents.

Circus World (The Magnificent Showman in the UK) has nice effects and a good Dimitri Tiomkin (The Guns of Navarone (1961)) score, but its plot is strangely unfocused, perhaps because it seems to have been constructed around the plan to capture the contemporary success of circuses and create a spectacular hit by doing this, rather than around a story which was interesting in and of itself. The film has three story credits and three different screenwriter credits, among them master screenwriter Ben Hecht (Notorious (1946)). It is a story that develops without much nerve into a rather convulsive melodrama.
- This along with seemingly endless circus performances, (the film is 135 minutes long.) Producer Samuel Bronston (El Cid (1961)) must have had an erroneous faith in the magic of circus, which I for one don't share. (And I don't seem to be alone, judging by the numbers below.)
The odd ending SPOILER about swinging around cements the dubious impression left behind by Circus World.
The film was haunted behind the camera during its laborious shoot, (lasting from September '63 to February '64), as star John Wayne (True Grit (1969)) was in the early stages of his lung cancer, which he would require an operation for soon after the film, and co-star Rita Hayworth (Gilda (1946)) was in her early stages of Alzheimer's disease, drinking heavily, missing her schedule and forgetting her lines.
It was directed by Henry Hathaway, who would direct Wayne some years hence in his career's golden swan song, the only movie he received an Oscar for, the great True Grit.

Related review:

Henry Hathaway: Airport (1970) or, A Genre Is Born (sequences)

In lieu of a trailer, - not available on Youtube, strengthening the impression of a brushed-away flop, - here's one of Dimitri Tiomkin's Globe-nominated songs from the film

Cost: Estimated 9 mil. $
Box office: 1.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Huge flop
[Unless Circus World was a flaming success internationally, (which would have almost certainly been reported somewhere), it turned out a gross miscalculation and was most likely a film that most involved were happy to put behind them as soon as possible. It seems even its rights holders still believe so, because it hasn't been released on DVD in America specifically, only on an all region DVD.]

What do you think of Circus World?
Other circus movies that you've seen?

Airport (1970) - A genre is born

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An original poster for George Seaton's event picture Airport, which flashes its starry cast and for some reason repeats its title 8 times

Chicago Airport: A blizzard, too few landing strips and snow plows, a man with a mysterious attaché briefcase, impending divorce and a stowaway passenger. 

 

These are just some of the obstacles presented in Airport, the film that's called the first disaster movie ever, defining genre conventions for countless disaster movies to follow by combining small-scale melodrama with big-scale disaster aspects. It is written and directed by George Seaton (Diamond Horseshoe (1945)), adapting the same-titled 1968 novel by Arthur Hailey (Overload (1979)). Henry Hathaway (Nob Hill (1945)) directed some winter outdoor scenes.
The film is entertaining and worth watching particularly for its stars; the glorious Jean Seberg (À Bout de Souffle/Breathless (1960)), Dean Martin (Rio Bravo (1959)) as a veteran sky captain who might finally choose love over individual freedom, and Burt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity (1953)), who made millions off the flick but still disparaged it gloriously in public, calling it "the worst piece of junk ever made."
The start of Airport is a bit cardboardy, as characters and their wives and girlfriends are introduced, but later on it gets quite exciting, and the film still works perfectly as a lazy afternoon watch.

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 10.2 mil. $
Box office: 128.4 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 12.58 times its cost)

[Airport was released 5 March (North America) and runs 137 minutes. Through profit participation deals, Martin was paid 7 mil. $ for his performance; Lancaster 5 mil. $. Shooting took place from January - June 1969 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and in California. The film grossed 100.4 mil. $ (78.2 % of the total gross) in North America. It was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning one: Best Supporting Actress (Helen Hayes (Ah, Wilderness! (1959, TV movie)). It lost another Supporting Actress nomination (Maureen Stapleton (Passed Away (1992)), Art/Set Decoration to Patton, Cinematography (Ernest Laszlo (The Last Sunset (1961))) to Freddie Young for Ryan's Daughter, Costume Design to Cromwell, Editing to Patton, Score (Alfred Newman (Bus Stop (1956))) to Francis Lai for Love Story, Picture to Patton, Sound also to Patton and Adapted Screenplay to Ring Lardner Jr. for MASH. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, win 1/4 Golden Globe nominations, 1/2 Grammy nominations and a few other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. The Boeing 707 used in the film was only leased: It later crashed in 1989 in Brazil, killing the 25 people onboard. The film was followed by 4 sequels, the first being Airport 1975 (1974). Seaton returned with Showdown (1973). Lancaster returned in Lawman (1971); Martin in The Red Skelton Hour (1970, TV-series), Swing Out, Sweet Land (1970, TV movie) and theatrically in Something Big (1971). Airport is fresh at 73 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Airport?