If such a passage existed (none did) it would afford American merchants easier access to trade with the Orient. As the nineteenth century dawned, many Americans still dreamed of finding the elusive “Northwest Passage,” an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean. Explain the origins of the concept of “manifest destiny”Īmericans’ fascination with the West began early in the nation’s history.Explain why the North and South differed over the admission of Missouri as a new state.Explain the significance of the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark’s expedition.I t has been released on both standard DVD and as of now is on Netflix instant too – I’d go the latter route should you be a member.By the end of this section, you will be able to: ![]() So I’ve softened somewhat from the initial tone here but still hard to single this out as a stalwart film. In some cases reminiscent of his signature work for Mutiny on the Bounty. It is a very good driving score which rises and falls to perfection in true Kaper fashion. What was enjoyable was the score from Bronislau Kaper, which popped in all the right spots – although the theme song (featuring the Serendipity Singers) is pure 60s idealism. As is, it comes off as more of a high level overview. Unfortunately, the result – although noble in intent- goes somehow awry and needs more focus on a few storylines to drive more interest. Ultimately I think the thought behind The Way West was to show the myriad of folks and backgrounds who went on these arduous journeys into the relative unknown. Strange that more could not be done with Robert Mitchum or Richard Widmark in what, for them, are atypical roles. Sadly, outside of a few set pieces which, by definition, don’t tie together well, their talents are wasted.Īndrew McLaglen directs and tries really hard to be John Ford and some of the long scenic shots are good copies of the master director, but McLaglen misses much of the rest that makes a Ford picture. Woven throughout this conestoga soap opera are some other storylines, none of which are given much time, although they do introduce us to Sally Field, in her screen debut.Ī few less of these side-plots would have allowed more development of the characters of the big three, all of whom must have wondered exactly how much they needed the money to sign on to this. The wagon train encounters rivers to cross, native Americans, and ravines to surpass. The plot is extremely trite with the standard encounters along the way. Here he is the mouthpiece for the settlers as they gradually become less and less tolerant of Kirk Douglas’ hard drive and megalomania to get them to Oregon. How he knows or why this is even important isn’t made clear and is yet another lost opportunity in what could have been a much better picture.Īnd alas, poor Richard Widmark is Lije Evans, just another settler along for the ride, albeit in a bit of a leadership role. ![]() Mitchum provides what could have been a much more interesting character, as he has lost his wife (a Native American woman) and his last physical remembrance of her is a turquoise necklace.Īlso, he is apparently going blind, which Kirk Douglas ‘has noticed for some time,’ as he comments about halfway through the two hour run time of this behemoth. Robert Mitchum is Dick Summers, their guide, whom Kirk Douglas hires on to lead them to this new and yet to be founded colony. It isn’t really explained why he is doing this, although he does have a town plan of sorts drawn up and presumably he would be the mayor/governor of this colony. Kirk Douglas is Senator William Tadlock who for some reason has decided to organize a wagon train and lead them to Oregon to found a new colony. ![]() And perhaps I am being overly critical, but I kept getting the impression this was in some way trying to recreate the earlier How the West Was Won. Originally I felt like looking at one of Kirk Douglas’ films in honor of the star’s 95th birthday and for some reason selected The Way West over better known fare like The Vikings.Įvidently there was a reason I wasn’t familiar with The Way West. Hard to imagine that those four phrases would ever go together, but in the sad case of 1967’s The Way West, they do.
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