Das war der wilde Westen (1962)

Das war der wilde Westen: Directed by John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, Richard Thorpe. With Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones. A family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the nineteenth century – including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.

“Watching a letterboxed version of u0026quot;How the West Was Won,u0026quot; I noticed the dividing lines on the screen, and it was clear that much of the picture was still missing even in this format. But neither hindered my enjoyment of this sprawling epic, even if James R. Webbu0026#39;s Oscar winning screenplay left something to be desired. Alfred Newmanu0026#39;s music score is terrific, and so is that all-star cast. Unlike those disaster flicks of the 70s like u0026quot;The Poseidon Adventureu0026quot; and u0026quot;The Towering Infernou0026quot; that claimed to be stuffed with stars but actually boasted u0026quot;namesu0026quot; (usually familiar performers, primarily from TV, who rarely headlined a first class feature), u0026quot;How the West Was Wonu0026quot; has the genuine article. John Wayne, James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Carroll Baker, and Debbie Reynolds may mean little at the ticket windows of the 90s (and many of them are dead, anyway), but all were above the title stars who carried their own films at the box-office in the early 60s.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThree directors helmed this project but Iu0026#39;d be hard pressed to distinguish whether John Ford, George Marshall or Henry Hathaway were behind the camera during any particular episode if the opening credits didnu0026#39;t identify each segment and its director. I suppose u0026quot;How the West Was Wonu0026quot; is more quantity than quality, but itu0026#39;s entertaining overall.”