While I am no expert of the western film genre, I surely have seen enough of it, especially having grown up in the 50's and 60's. This is one western that is unlike any other, mainly because it is a western focused on women, specifically women who are sufficiently fit, both physically and emotionally, to withstand every kind of calamity imaginable from deadly tribal attacks, to uncompromising, uncharted mountains and deserts, floods, runaway wagons, and several instances of death, brutally up-close and inescapable.
Roy Whitman (John McIntyre) has established what should be the perfect farming settlement in 1850's California. The only problem is that there are no women, a situation that makes it anything but ideal for its male population. He hires seasoned wagon master, Buck Wyatt (Robert Taylor), to help him recruit 150 women in Chicago who are willing and able to make the rugged journey west. Under Wyatt's skeptical, no-nonsense leadership, the women make their way west, encountering many hardships along the arduous course, including several fatal accidents that constantly test their motivation and their fortitude.
While Taylor, McIntyre, and French actress Denise Darcel are excellent, Hope Emerson, Henry Nakamura, and a little black and white dog, who is totally uncredited, manage to steal nearly every scene in which they appear. I am most familiar with Emerson in "Caged", in which she perfectly portrays a nasty, corrupt prison matron. Here she is much more sympathetic but just as effective, again as a powerful, dynamic character in more ways than just one. While other reviewers see Nakamura as an Asian stereotype, I view him instead as an amazingly natural performer who manages to speak lines written by others as if they are his own, a true indication of real talent, especially his extraordinarily understated comedic skills. Darcel's and Nakamura's Hollywood careers were unfortunately cut short and for very different reasons. We are all the poorer as a result. McIntyre, on the other hand, followed this and another notable role immediately afterward as the police commissioner in "The Asphalt Jungle" by launching a prolific film and television career, including prominent contributions to iconic tv series such as "Naked City", "Wagon Train" and "The Virginian". As the baffled sheriff in "Psycho", he delivered the unforgettable line, "Well, if the woman up there is Mrs. Bates, who's that woman buried out at Greenlawn Cemetery?" Legendary.
Directed by William Wellman ("The Public Enemy", "The High and the Mighty", "The Ox-Bow Incident", etc.), this film, extraordinary and unique, serves as a tribute to the pioneering women who fearlessly ventured into the perilous unknown in order to help develop America. Although this is a work of fiction, originally written by Frank Capra, real women experienced the hardships, the tragedies, and the triumphs of these women. They are a vital part of our history as a nation.
Roy Whitman (John McIntyre) has established what should be the perfect farming settlement in 1850's California. The only problem is that there are no women, a situation that makes it anything but ideal for its male population. He hires seasoned wagon master, Buck Wyatt (Robert Taylor), to help him recruit 150 women in Chicago who are willing and able to make the rugged journey west. Under Wyatt's skeptical, no-nonsense leadership, the women make their way west, encountering many hardships along the arduous course, including several fatal accidents that constantly test their motivation and their fortitude.
While Taylor, McIntyre, and French actress Denise Darcel are excellent, Hope Emerson, Henry Nakamura, and a little black and white dog, who is totally uncredited, manage to steal nearly every scene in which they appear. I am most familiar with Emerson in "Caged", in which she perfectly portrays a nasty, corrupt prison matron. Here she is much more sympathetic but just as effective, again as a powerful, dynamic character in more ways than just one. While other reviewers see Nakamura as an Asian stereotype, I view him instead as an amazingly natural performer who manages to speak lines written by others as if they are his own, a true indication of real talent, especially his extraordinarily understated comedic skills. Darcel's and Nakamura's Hollywood careers were unfortunately cut short and for very different reasons. We are all the poorer as a result. McIntyre, on the other hand, followed this and another notable role immediately afterward as the police commissioner in "The Asphalt Jungle" by launching a prolific film and television career, including prominent contributions to iconic tv series such as "Naked City", "Wagon Train" and "The Virginian". As the baffled sheriff in "Psycho", he delivered the unforgettable line, "Well, if the woman up there is Mrs. Bates, who's that woman buried out at Greenlawn Cemetery?" Legendary.
Directed by William Wellman ("The Public Enemy", "The High and the Mighty", "The Ox-Bow Incident", etc.), this film, extraordinary and unique, serves as a tribute to the pioneering women who fearlessly ventured into the perilous unknown in order to help develop America. Although this is a work of fiction, originally written by Frank Capra, real women experienced the hardships, the tragedies, and the triumphs of these women. They are a vital part of our history as a nation.