Westward the Women (1951)

Simply A Masterpiece

Best movie of this year hands down!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

DON'T BE DISCOURAGED, guys---"Westward the Women" is as intense and harrowing as any film from Hollywood's Golden Age, and is so well written, directed and photographed, that you feel as if you are a part of this rugged, dangerous journey, especially after the brutal, unyielding (and very reluctant) Robert Taylor ends up driving off the men who have signed on to guard the wagon train, leaving the women alone with him to face the elements, the terrain, AND the maruading Indian tribes.But these are no ordinary, stereotypical Hollywood women, and I predict that anyone who appreciates great film-making will find themslves entirely engrossed in their story....a story, incidentally, written by none other than FRANK CAPRA. So you can be sure that the HUMANITY quotient is very high indeed in this intimate yet epic drama.My only reservation is the obligatory romantic subplot between Robert Taylor and Denise Darcel, which occasionally distracts from the main story. And, yes, the comic relief scenes with Ito, the Japanese cook, do get a bit tiresome. But the vast majority of the film is a powerful testament to the courage and endurance of 19th-Century American women, with actress Hope Emerson---against all expectations--practically STEALING THE SHOW as the emotional "fortress" and Mother Earth figure of the intrepid band.Other than the lovely opening and closing musical theme (sung by a female chorus which still, in 1951, maintains that classic "heavenly" sound from Hollywood's Golden Age), there is NO MUSIC in the film, until the action specifically requires it in the final scene----and what a scene it is. I swear....when that little dance orchestra goes into "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes", I have to fight back the tears, every time. I wish that we would see a bit more of these wonderful ladies that we have to come to love and admire during this final scene (and a little LESS of the star romantic couple) but, again, it's a minor quibble.A first-rate film experience. LR

I've seen this film two or three times. I loved to see these courageous and valiant women fighting their way through the West (crossing mountains and deserts and fighting off hostile Indians). One of my favorite moments is the fight between two girls, after one has broken the other's glasses. No rolling on the floor screaming, scratching and pulling each others hair - no, THESE girls use their fists and give each other many a punch in the mouth. Hope Emerson does a great job, too. Oh yes, and Robert Taylor was also in it! O.K., that was a joke, Taylor is quite good as the Scout, who has to guide the women to California, but these women are the real stars of this film!

John McIntire approaches wagonmaster Robert Taylor with an interesting job and challenge. He wants to bring brides west to the settlement he's founded in the southwest United States. Taylor hires on a bunch of hands to escort the women and issues a no fraternization policy. When one of them tries to rape one of them, he shoots him out of hand. It's the unsettled frontier and as wagonmaster he's the law on that train as much as a captain on a ship at sea. Of course the hands mutiny and strand Taylor, McIntire, cook Henry Nakamura and the women.This was a perfect western film for the post Rosie the Riveter generation. No reason at all why women couldn't deal with the rigors of a wagon train. Of course it helped to have the formidable Hope Emerson along.Of course men and women will be men and women and Taylor breaks his own no fraternization policy with Denise Darcel. Of course this is away from the train when Darcel runs off.William Wellman delivers us a no frills unsentimental western with gritty performances by Robert Taylor and the rest of the cast. In a bow to his colleague John Ford, Wellman does have a courtship dance at the settlement. I liked the use of the fiddle music playing Believe Me With All Those Endearing Young Charms and Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes. Ford couldn't have staged it better.Henry Nakamura had made a big hit in MGM's Go For Broke about the Nisei division in Italy. He was a funny little guy, I'm not sure he was even five feet tall. I loved the scene when he and Taylor find a stash of buried liquor and proceed on a toot. This was his last film though, roles for oriental players were hard to come by. I wonder whatever happened to him.If you like traditional cowboy films, this one ain't for you, but given the constraints of 19th century society for the role of woman Westward the Women is quite a revelation.

If only this movie would come out on DVD . . . As a woman, this is one of my favorite westerns because it shows women who were courageous, brave, and faced the same danger as all men who went west. The movie has times when you will roll with laughter and even though there may be no tears from cowboys, there are some tearjerker moments. The women in this film are not the 2 dimensional beauties who wait patiently in the wagon for the menfolk to save the day. Regardless of how many times I've seen this movie, I enjoy every single time. Unlike most westerns, any and all gunfights move the plot along and show the women evolving on their journey west. To me, this western is along side Fort Apache for the most well written script.