How the West Was Won | |
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Original film poster by Reynold Brown
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Directed by |
John Ford Henry Hathaway George Marshall |
Produced by | Bernard Smith |
Written by | James R. Webb |
Starring |
Carroll Baker Walter Brennan Lee J. Cobb Andy Devine Henry Fonda Carolyn Jones Karl Malden Agnes Moorehead Harry Morgan Gregory Peck George Peppard Robert Preston Debbie Reynolds Thelma Ritter James Stewart Eli Wallach John Wayne Richard Widmark |
Narrated by | Spencer Tracy |
Music by | Alfred Newman |
Cinematography |
William H. Daniels Milton Krasner Charles Lang, Jr. Joseph LaShelle |
Edited by | Harold F. Kress |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date
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Running time
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164 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $14,483,000 |
Box office | $50,000,000 |
How the West Was Won is a 1962 American Metrocolor epic-Western film. The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to enjoy great success. Set between 1839 and 1889, it follows four generations of a family (starting as the Prescotts) as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean. The picture was filmed in the curved-screen three-projector Cinerama process.
The all-star cast includes (in alphabetical order) Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, and Richard Widmark. The film is narrated by Spencer Tracy.
The score was listed at #25 on AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores. The film also gained unanimous widespread critical acclaim, and a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In 1997, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".