Want to capture the American Spirit?

Not very many movies show the true american spirit, least of all the pioneer western woman, that had much to do in taming the west and opening up america. If you see movies and documentaries they usually refer to the women of the west as seedy or pompus. Not this movie; it is the only movie I have ever seen that show pioneer women as brave, shy, tough, feminine and masculine all in one story. All the attributes that pioneer women had to have in order to survive. I am sure that some feminist wont like the fact that the women were going west to be brides, but who cares its worth seeing. My wife considers this her all time favorite movie. I may not agree with that, but I do consider it in my favorite top 10.

A True-to-life Adventure

"Westward the Women" is the story of a group of women who have been recruited as wives for a settlement of men in a California valley. Their hopes and dreams, hardships and struggles, laughter and tears are all a part of their trek to the west. Soon after leaving for California, nearly all of the men who signed on to work with the wagon train left during the night. The train boss (Robert Taylor) decided that he would "make men out of the women" so they could be tough enough to make it on their own. This film gives you a feeling of actually being there. It is a true-to-life adventure--one that you will want to come back to and relive.

Next time, take the train

An all-girl wagon train? That's the idea, and somebody must have caught the great director William Wellman in a genial mood when he agreed to direct this. It's a measure of his tremendous talent that Wellman actually made something enjoyable out of an utterly absurd script. A motley assemblage of mail-order brides heading to California are abandoned by their hired male teamsters thanks to trail boss Robert Taylor's poor people skills. Instead of high-tailing it back to St. Joe the fiances push on by themselves, with mixed results. Several dozen make it across, however, and face the far greater perils of marrying complete strangers. Taylor, one of Hollywood's most under-rated talents, is absolutely great, and the large female ensemble acquit themselves very well. As usual with a Wellman picture, phenomenal photography.