Detail view of Movies Page

Movie Detail

Name Occurs Before Title

Offscreen Credit

Print Viewed By AFI

Westward the Women

Alternate Title: Pioneer Women Director: William A. Wellman (Dir) Release Date: 11 Jan 1952 Premiere Information: New York opening: 31 Dec 1951 Production Date: mid-Apr--late Jun 1951 Duration (in mins): 116 or 118 Duration (in feet): 10,460 Duration (in reels): 12			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Beverly Dennis	(Rose [Meyers])
	Renata Vanni	(Mrs. Maroni)
	John McIntire	(Roy [E.] Whitman)
	Julie Bishop	(Laurie [Smith])
	Hope Emerson	(Patience [Hawley])
	Marilyn Erskine	(Jean [Johnson])
	Lenore Lonergan	(Maggie [O'Malley])
	Henry Nakamura	(Ito)
	Denise Darcel	([Fifi] Danon)
	Robert Taylor	(Buck [Wyatt])
	Guido Martufi	(Tony Maroni)
	Bruce Cowling	(The Cat)
	Patrick Conway	(Sid Cutler)
	Chubby Johnson	(Jim Stacey)
	Mary Alan Hokanson	(Cora)
	Raymond Bond	(Preacher)
	Terry Wilson	(Lon)
	Michael Dugan	(Outrider)
	Edith Mills	(Sadie)
	John Cason	(Margaret's man)
	Mikel Conrad	(Rose's man)
	Lou Nova	(Blacksmith)
	Frankie Darro	(Jean's man)
	Z. Yaconelli	(Mrs. Maroni's man)
	Ted Adams	(Bartender)
	Gene Roth	(Bartender)
	George Chandler	(Mackerel face)
	Earl Hodgins	(Drunk)
	Stanford Jolley	(Gambler)
	John War Eagle	(Indian chief)
	Bert LeBaron	(Ken)
	Elmer Napier	(Walt)
	Ann Roberts	(Pioneer woman)
	Lucille House	(Pioneer woman)
	Shirley Lucas	(Pioneer woman)
	Pat Paul	(Pioneer woman)
	Donna Hall	(Pioneer woman)
	Opal Erne	(Pioneer woman)
	Norma Santillo	(Pioneer woman)
	Norma Young	(Pioneer woman)
	Jody Smith	(Pioneer woman)
	Mary Murphy	(Pioneer woman)
	Sharon Lucas	(Pioneer woman)
	Mary Casiday	(Pioneer woman)
	Cornelia Flores	(Pioneer woman)
	Stevie Myers	(Pioneer woman)
	Alice Wills	(Pioneer woman)
	Edith Happy	(Pioneer woman)
	Karen Hale	(Pioneer woman)
	Claire Andre	(Pioneer woman)
	Maxine Garrett	(Pioneer woman)
	Marilyn Lindsey	(Pioneer woman)
	Marlyn Gladstone	(Pioneer woman)
	Fiona O'Shiel	(Pioneer woman)
	Alice Markham	(Pioneer woman)
	Polly Burson	(Pioneer woman)
	Evelyn Finley	(Pioneer woman)
	Kathleen O'Malley	(Pioneer woman)
	Doris Lee Cole	(Pioneer woman)
	Henry Wills	(Outrider)
	Ed Juaregui	(Outrider)
	Archie Butler	(Outrider)
	Bill Cartledge	(Outrider)
	Carl Pitti	(Outrider)
	Pat Ford	(Outrider)
	Frank McGrath	(Outrider)
	Don House	(Outrider)
	Ray Thomas	(Outrider)
	Clem Fuller	(Outrider)
	Clint Sharp	(Outrider)
	Gene Coogan	(Outrider)
	Claire Carleton	(Flashy girl)
	Dorothy Granger	(Flashy girl)
	Mil Patrick	(Flashy girl)
	Joan Valerie	(Flashy girl)
	Tom Greenway	(Bart)
	Tom Monroe
	Tennesse Jim

Summary:

By 1851, Roy E. Whitman has established a growing ranching community in his California valley. The one thing missing is women for the men to marry, which would enable them to set down roots in the valley. Whitman hires scout Buck Wyatt to travel with him to Chicago, where he hopes to recruit enough women to provide wives for one hundred men. Buck thoroughly disapproves of the idea, believing that the journey across the country is too hard for women, but when Whitman offers him double his usual salary, he reluctantly agrees. The 140 women whom Whitman recruits are a varied group, including Patience Hawley, the aging widow of a New England sea captain; farm girl Maggie O'Malley, an expert with a gun; Rose Meyers, who is pregnant with an illegitimate child; Mrs. Maroni, an Italian widow traveling with her nine-year-old son Tony; and French-born Fifi Danon and Laurie Smith, two former prostitutes looking for a new life. Buck also hires fifteen men to help him get the women to California, warning both the men and the women against fraternization. After a quick lesson in mule driving, the journey begins. Buck immediately has to send one of the men away when he behaves familiarly with one of the women, and promises that he will kill the next man he catches breaking the rules. The journey is every bit as difficult as Buck had predicted. Indians circle the wagon train and, although they do not attack, they announce their intention to return later. When Laurie is raped by a man who believes that her former profession allows him to treat her any way he wants, Buck carries through with his promise and kills the man. That night, many of the men leave, taking some of the women with them. Jim Stacey, who has fallen in love with Rose, asks her to leave with him, but when she refuses to abandon the train, he stays with her. The next morning, Buck discovers the defections, but rather than turn back, he announces that he will make the women into men. The first step is to teach them how to use a gun. During the practice Tony is accidentally shot and killed. Mrs. Moroni becomes temporarily insane, and Buck must drag her off her son's grave and put her in Patience's care. The women negotiate a difficult pass, clearing the rocks and trees before lowering the wagons with ropes, and one woman is killed in the process. Later, the mules stampede when Danon fires a gun at a rabbit. In reaction to Buck's anger at her, Danon rides away from the train, and he chases after her. After an argument, they admit they love each other. When they return to the train, they find it under attack from Indians. After the attack, a roll call of the casualties reveals the deaths of Whitman, Jim and several of the women. Buck and Ito, the Japanese cook, are the only men left. Later, Laurie is killed when her wagon is washed away during a thunderstorm. The last big obstacle facing the women is the desert. Rose goes into labor during the crossing, and when a wheel falls off the wagon in which Patience is caring for her, the women hold it up until after the birth of her baby boy. Finally, the train reaches its destination, but the women refuse to meet their future husbands until they have had time to clean up. When they are ready they drive into town to meet the waiting men. Buck is now the admiring champion of these plucky women and warns the men to be good to them. As the women choose their husbands, Danon stops Buck before he can leave, and they join the line of couples waiting to be married.

Production Company:	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.	(Loew's Inc.)
Distribution Company:	Loew's Inc.
Director:	William A. Wellman	(Dir)
	Reggie Callow	(Asst dir)
	Jerry Thorpe	(Asst dir)
	Arvid Griffen	(Asst dir)
	Al Alt	(2d asst dir)
Producer:	Dore Schary	(Prod)
Writer:	Charles Schnee	(Scr)
	Frank Capra	(Story)
Photography:	William Mellor	(Dir of photog)
Art Direction:	Cedric Gibbons	(Art dir)
	Daniel B. Cathcart	(Art dir)
Film Editor:	James E. Newcom	(Film ed)
Set Decoration:	Edwin B. Willis	(Set dec)
	Ralph S. Hurst	(Set dec)
Costumes:	Walter Plunkett	(Cost)
	Tommy McCoig	(Ward)
Music:	Jeff Alexander	(Mus)
	Rudolph G. Kopp	(Addl arr)
Sound:	Douglas Shearer	(Rec supv)
	Conrad Kahn	(Sd eng)
Production Misc:	Jim Louck	(Tech adv)
	Ruby Rosenberg	(Unit mgr)
	Johnny Indrisano	(Animal trainer)
Country:	United States
Language:	English

Music:	"To the West! To the West! by Henry Russell.
Songs:
Composer:	Henry Russell
Source Text:

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number	Passed By NBR:
Loew's Inc.	21/11/1951 dd/mm/yyyy	LP1346	Yes

PCA NO:	15358
Physical Properties:	Sd:	Western Electric Sound System
	b&w:


Genre:	Western

Subjects (Major):	Mail order brides
	Romance
	United States--History--Social life and customs
	Wagon trains
	The West

Subjects (Minor):	Accidental death
	Childbirth
	French Americans
	Indians of North America
	Italian Americans
	Japanese Americans
	Prostitution
	Weddings
	Widows

Note:	The film's pre-release title was Pioneer Women . The opening credits list Robert Taylor and Denise Darcel first, with several other cast members listed after them. The end credits show various members of the cast, with their character names, and end with Robert Taylor, followed by the words "and the women." According to IP , the film was shot on location in Suprise Valley, Paria Canyon and Johnson Creek, UT, with the location camp in Kanab, UT. HR news items noted that additional location shooting took place in Mojave and Death Valley, CA. Time noted that M-G-M made a short about the production's location shoot. IP also noted that actor Henry Nakamura's role was written especially for him after director William Wellman and producer Dore Schary were impressed by his performance as the lovable "Tommy" character in the 1951 M-G-M film Go for Broke! . According to various HR news items, Sid Melton was cast, but he was not in the released film and John Lupton was on location with the production when he was called back to report to the army. It is unclear whether Lupton had filmed any scenes prior to leaving the production, but he is not in the released film. Another HR news item included Lloyd Hanlon in the cast, but his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed. Westward the Women marked the motion picture debut of Broadway actress Marilyn Erskine. M-G-M News noted that Wellman cast Navajos, Utes and Piutes as Indians in the film. Contemporary reviews and news items variously stated that 100, 140, 200 and 400 women took part in the film, although the film itself refers to 140 women. According to his autobiography, Frank Capra had planned to direct the film himself and cast Gary Cooper in the lead, but later sold his story to his neighbor, Wellman.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
American Cinematographer	1 Jan 52	pp. 14-15, 42-43, 45.
Box Office	24 Nov 1951.
Daily Variety	15 Nov 51	p. 3.
Film Daily	20 Nov 51	p. 14.
Hollywood Reporter	7 Mar 1951	p. 6.
Hollywood Reporter	15 Mar 1951	p. 7.
Hollywood Reporter	16 Mar 1951	p. 4.
Hollywood Reporter	30 Mar 1951	p. 4.
Hollywood Reporter	6 Apr 51	p. 3.
Hollywood Reporter	13 Apr 51	p. 10.
Hollywood Reporter	16 Apr 1951	p. 2.
Hollywood Reporter	9 May 1951	p. 5.
Hollywood Reporter	8 Jun 1951	p. 4.
Hollywood Reporter	15 Jun 51	p. 8.
Hollywood Reporter	21 Nov 1951.
International Photographer	1 Nov 51	pp. 8-9.
LAT Magazine	8 Jul 1951.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest	24 Nov 51	p. 1118.
New York Times	31 Dec 51	p. 9.
New York Times	1 Jan 52	p. 21.
Time	14 Jan 51	p. 82.
Variety	21 Nov 51	p. 6.

	Display Movie Summary
The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



Advanced Search