Before I critique the actual film, I think it is important to recount the surrounding events that would occur in seeing a film like this back in the 50's and 60's when giant screens still dominated many American movie theatres. I had the pleasure of seeing this film on a Cinerama screen when it opened many years ago. As a young child, I was blown away by the size and spectacle of the film; from the sprawling landscapes, the amazing special effects that were almost 3-D in impact (yes when those wagons came barreling down in the western scene people would almost jump in their seats trying to move out of the way!) and the wonderful cast and directors. These were the days when movie theaters themselves were a treat beyond words, with spectacular architecture and design that made you feel like you were in a cathedral (some places included live organ music like Radio City). There were programs for sale, a short subject and a cartoon prior to the film. There was also an intermission. This type of event was at the time mostly reserved for big films like How the West Was Won, Ben-Hur and one of the last ones were "The Sound of Music" and "2001".
With all this involved in the viewing of the film who could help but be drawn into the magic of it all. And I sure was, as well as my family which included grandparents. It was a major event and we were all dressed up for it. People still treated films in this circumstance like a live performance; applauding and laughing and booing (at the villains) and cheering (when the bad-guy gets it... in this case, Eli Wallach's great portrayal of very bad-guy Charlie Gant.) The film was carried by the sweep of the event and the size and amazing impact of the Cinerama screen. The directors, Ford, Hathaway, Marshall and Thorpe were all masters of their craft. The cast is outstanding and probably the largest cast of real heavyweight stars that were ever assembled in a film. You even had the great Spencer Tracy as narrator. Ken Darby's music is unforgettable and size-appropriate to the sprawling expanse of both screen and story. The amazing camera work, art direction, costumes, etc all filled out the details of what was probably the last hurrah of MGM as a real massive studio production.
There are obvious flaws that the size and magic of the event helped us to overlook. The two severe lines that cut the screen in thirds, we understood because of this new exciting three camera technology. And you know this was still the day where special effects were not so great and there was a suspension of belief and imagination that the audience could still bring to a film that would allow us to overlook flaws like that.
The storyline is covered in quick and broad strokes. This film has no intention of getting very deep or being any kind of history lesson. The film has a strongly sentimental tone for the hard life of the settlers who made their way west and sadly like most films of the time and prior, they ignore the holocaust of the Native Americans that went on as our government encouraged the ideas of "Manifest Destiny" on a populace of white Americans and Europeans who were desperate for a better life. In the third segment of the film they do lightly touch on how the Native Americans were forced to resist the coming of the railroad. But that is all you see.
The reality of slavery is overlooked totally; as also the plight of women and Asians and other ethnic groups that were an important part of this time of American expansion. Again, most fans of the film will say as I stated before that this was just entertainment; and so it was. But looking back on it as an older man, I see the flaw in the perpetual ignoring of these critical flaws. It still exists today as many of us celebrate our culture for it's greatness but really ignore it's giant flaws which lead us to ignore opportunities to learn and grow as individuals and as a people.
I think that the film would have been an even greater testament to the American story if it had included more of what really was; which could have been addressed in short as it was in John Ford's great Shiloh sequence where Zeb Rawlings (Goerge Peppard)is forced to kill a confederate soldier he has befriended in order to save a despairing General Grant. The additional irony and tragedy of that moment is also that unbeknownst to him, his father Linus has just died of wounds in the same battle.
I know this review may incur the displeasure of fans of the film. But I for one believe that you can't tell the great American story without it's great accomplishments and it's great flaws. It is the stuff not only of entertainment, but of catharsis and education. What could be a better history lesson for young and old? What could better serve to bring us all together?
With all this involved in the viewing of the film who could help but be drawn into the magic of it all. And I sure was, as well as my family which included grandparents. It was a major event and we were all dressed up for it. People still treated films in this circumstance like a live performance; applauding and laughing and booing (at the villains) and cheering (when the bad-guy gets it... in this case, Eli Wallach's great portrayal of very bad-guy Charlie Gant.) The film was carried by the sweep of the event and the size and amazing impact of the Cinerama screen. The directors, Ford, Hathaway, Marshall and Thorpe were all masters of their craft. The cast is outstanding and probably the largest cast of real heavyweight stars that were ever assembled in a film. You even had the great Spencer Tracy as narrator. Ken Darby's music is unforgettable and size-appropriate to the sprawling expanse of both screen and story. The amazing camera work, art direction, costumes, etc all filled out the details of what was probably the last hurrah of MGM as a real massive studio production.
There are obvious flaws that the size and magic of the event helped us to overlook. The two severe lines that cut the screen in thirds, we understood because of this new exciting three camera technology. And you know this was still the day where special effects were not so great and there was a suspension of belief and imagination that the audience could still bring to a film that would allow us to overlook flaws like that.
The storyline is covered in quick and broad strokes. This film has no intention of getting very deep or being any kind of history lesson. The film has a strongly sentimental tone for the hard life of the settlers who made their way west and sadly like most films of the time and prior, they ignore the holocaust of the Native Americans that went on as our government encouraged the ideas of "Manifest Destiny" on a populace of white Americans and Europeans who were desperate for a better life. In the third segment of the film they do lightly touch on how the Native Americans were forced to resist the coming of the railroad. But that is all you see.
The reality of slavery is overlooked totally; as also the plight of women and Asians and other ethnic groups that were an important part of this time of American expansion. Again, most fans of the film will say as I stated before that this was just entertainment; and so it was. But looking back on it as an older man, I see the flaw in the perpetual ignoring of these critical flaws. It still exists today as many of us celebrate our culture for it's greatness but really ignore it's giant flaws which lead us to ignore opportunities to learn and grow as individuals and as a people.
I think that the film would have been an even greater testament to the American story if it had included more of what really was; which could have been addressed in short as it was in John Ford's great Shiloh sequence where Zeb Rawlings (Goerge Peppard)is forced to kill a confederate soldier he has befriended in order to save a despairing General Grant. The additional irony and tragedy of that moment is also that unbeknownst to him, his father Linus has just died of wounds in the same battle.
I know this review may incur the displeasure of fans of the film. But I for one believe that you can't tell the great American story without it's great accomplishments and it's great flaws. It is the stuff not only of entertainment, but of catharsis and education. What could be a better history lesson for young and old? What could better serve to bring us all together?