The first feature film to be photographed and projected using the panoramic three-camera Cinerama process, this epic Western chronicles a pioneering family's triumphs and tragedies over three generations and a half-century of westward expansion. Divided into five segments, directed by veteran Hollywood filmmakers Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and the legendary John Ford (with uncredited sequences helmed by Richard Thorpe), this 1962 film is one of MGM's most ambitious efforts, featuring a stellar cast that reads like a virtual who's who of Hollywood's biggest stars. Debbie Reynolds plays a sturdy pioneer survivor (and eventual widow of gambler Gregory Peck), who is later reunited with her nephew (George Peppard), a Civil War veteran and cavalryman heading for San Francisco as the transcontinental railroad is being built. Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this dramatically uneven but engrossing favorite that serves up stunning vistas amidst outdoor location footage shot in Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Arizona (Ford's beloved Monument Valley), Colorado, and California. This fine Blu-ray release presents the film in both a normal widescreen format and an exclusive “SmileBox” transfer which replicates the Cinerama wraparound theatrical experience. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (by filmmaker David Strohmaier, Cinerama director John Sittig, film historian Rudy Behlmer, music historian Jon Burlingame, and stuntman Loren James), a documentary about the Cinerama process, and a 42-page booklet. Recommended. (J. Shannon)
How the West Was Won
Warner, 2 discs, 164 min., G, Blu-ray: $34.99 Volume 23, Issue 6
How the West Was Won
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