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A Movie A Week: HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962)
I still went to see the varmint with that pirate girl…

I haven't seen this in years
by OutlawsDelejos		Jul 20th, 2009
10:34:40 PM
What the fuck? The damn page is jumping all over the place.
Well, you beat Harry and his "reviews"
by SoylentMean		Jul 20th, 2009
10:39:12 PM
I haven't seen this film yet (I mean it's fuckin' long) but I did recently acquire it for cheap. Now a long ass movie that I just watched and loved was The Towering Inferno, which is actually pretty scary. If you haven't seen that movie Quint I'd recommend you do so at some point.
I fell sleep on this movie. Took me a few tries to finish it
by lockesbrokenleg		Jul 20th, 2009
10:43:14 PM
Carrie Fisher's mom was pretty hot in it, though.
Jimi FUCKING Hendrix
by YackBacker		Jul 20th, 2009
10:50:03 PM
I would give my left and right nut to have seen him live. Can we clone him?
Awesome Alfred Newman score.....
by darthliquidator		Jul 20th, 2009
10:57:13 PM
....years later, used tongue-in-cheek for the beginning of "Romancing The Stone". Some way-ahead-of-its-time violence in Jimmy's bloody revenge attack on the river pirates..first time I can remember the use of an exit-wound squib...and during the Peppard vs. Wallach train fight, I remember some stuntman falling off the train and smacking into a cactus...yoooowwwch!
Watched this a couple of times on TCM
by Aloy		Jul 20th, 2009
11:01:12 PM
Interesting as they used the reconstructed print and you can see the seams where the Cinerama width was chopped off and sewed back together.

More of a curiosity than a great Western IMHO.

Watched this over the weekend
by volcanopele2		Jul 20th, 2009
11:02:36 PM
I ended up picking the Blu-ray version of this over the weekend. I had seen the 1st disc, the widescreen version, a few months ago when I rented it on Netflix, and on Saturday I watched the Smilebox (see the screen shot with Jimmy Stewart in Quint's writeup) version. Definitely an enjoyable film. Liked how the different directed addressed how to use the three-camera setup different. Henry Hathaway definitely seemed to do a better job at experimenting with the screen format, with some scenes placing characters all on one side, whereas John Ford seemed to shoot his Civil War scenes a bit more conventionally.

I agree with you Quint, the Civil War segment is definitely the poorest of them, being way too brief, and I felt cheated when it came to Linus's fate at Shiloh.

darth
by Quint		Jul 20th, 2009
11:03:08 PM
Indeed, that cactus scene made me cringe, too. On the Cinerama doc they mentioned one stuntman fell off the train during that sequence... well, more like fell UNDER the train and had more than 2 cars roll over him, crushing half his body. He lived, but wasn't as pretty as he was before...
HAVE SEEN IT IN CINERAMA MANY TIMES!
by LT Weezie		Jul 20th, 2009
11:03:48 PM
This is one of my all-time faveorite films. Love the music, the story, and the spectacular scenery. My first viewings of the film were in a regular theatre and on TV. Having lived in the Dayton, Ohio area most of my life, I was fortunate enough to be able to see it many times at the NEW NEON MOVIES from around 2000 to 2002, in original CINERAMA, thanks to Cinerama historian and visionary, John Harvey. He showed his print with the TLC it deserved and it was in pristine condition! He also owned the entire system and set it up himself. He always gave an explanation about the Cinerama technology and answered questions before each showing. Seeing a film there was like you were enjoying a movie on a huge screen, with a super sound system, with your best friends! Hollywood the dog was always in attendance, and she would walk up and down the aisle and greet the patrons. Other wonderful events sponsored there included the showing of a Stanley Kubrick's personal 70mm copy of 2001. Those days are long gone, and the print is now in Seattle, but seeing it in CINERAMA at the NEW NEON was an awesome experience. Quint, you did a great job of presenting and explaining the system. If you ever have the chance to enjoy this film in the original format, DON'T MISS IT!
I remember watching Good Bad, etc when Eli wallach
by lockesbrokenleg		Jul 20th, 2009
11:05:58 PM
has his fucking HAND on the train tracks and a train comes over and breaks his handcuffs, holy shit. Damn. That guy was fucking awesome.
Maybe I've got to see this at the Cinerama dome
by Continentalop		Jul 20th, 2009
11:13:13 PM
Because it really didn't send me.

Call NORTHSIDE 777 I prefer, but it still isn't the greatest of the docu-noirs (T-MEN and THE NAKED CITY are better), plus Stewart was never meant for noir accept for ones by Alfred Hitchcock. Still it is an OK flick.

Just an observation- Quint this was a great review
by YackBacker		Jul 20th, 2009
11:19:43 PM
And an overall great "stream of consciousness" piece of writing as well. Keep this style up, you're an interesting dude.
Fuckin' love this column
by MetalMickey		Jul 20th, 2009
11:29:19 PM
Evil Walter Brennan
by felt pelt		Jul 20th, 2009
11:40:37 PM
in this (and My Darlin' Clementine) is disturbing when you're used to him as kindly and loveable. Especially the way he offers his daughter up for backroom sex, encourages her efforts in stabbing someone in the ribs, and is finally exploded. The toss of gunpowder into the fire was an amazing move when I was a kid, seeing it on TV last week less so. The film's selling point then, its epic length and scope, is its weakness now. There's not enough room for any of the characters to breathe. Also, the theme song and Spencer Tracy's narration in combination still give me goosebumps. I vaguely remember some attempts at nuance in the narration. But mostly... Spencer Tracy just talks about how these men and women were incredibly badass, and the song repeats the sentiment in choral form.
Bing Crosby
by ScottsWillie		Jul 21st, 2009
12:03:50 AM
The movie is ok but the album that Bing Crosby (and others) made that inspired the moive if fantastic!Bing reads several pioneer accounts of life on the frontier and sings some great Old West songs. His rendition of 'Hang Me, Oh Hang Me' is chilling and further proof of why he was the greatest entertainer of the century! If you get a chance, check it out.
Saw it at the Arclight dome year before last.
by Droogie Alex		Jul 21st, 2009
12:30:26 AM
Full triple projection, had one of the 8 cameras in the lobby (one sunk in a river shoot). It was the size of a large fridge.
It was basically IMAX before IMAX
by lockesbrokenleg		Jul 21st, 2009
01:33:09 AM
Cinerama Today
by magicdgk		Jul 21st, 2009
02:56:51 AM
Arclight shows this every year in real Cinerama....it's beautiful! "This film makes me wish we’d see something similar attempted using digital photography and projection set-ups. It might be limited to museums and theme parks" Go to Disney World and see Mickey's Philharmagic. http://www.passporter.com/arti cles/philharmagic.asp "The 165-degree wide screen (nearly three times the width of a normal screen) helps immerse us completely in the action. Disney boasts that this is the widest (150 foot) seamless movie screen in the world (not a Stitch to be found?). According to George Scribner, "Four projectors, two in the center in stereo, and two on each side" are required - the middle two to create the central 3D effects, and one each for the extreme left and right of the screen. These outer images aren't in pop-off-the-screen 3D, as our eyes can't perceive depth at the outer edges of our vision, but the computer-generated scenes are still "modeled" in 3D, just as they are in Pixar's computer-animated features. George revealed that they tested stereo-3D images on the outer screens "early on, but we were not successful. In terms of the story, it starts to get pretty distracting. (It's) better to focus. We're dealing with a range of audiences. It has to be clear and simple and to the point."
It's a good movie, but
by seppukudkurosawa		Jul 21st, 2009
03:03:02 AM
everytime I watch it, I can't help but play Buffy Sainte Marie's song My Country Tis of Thy People You're Dying (http://tinyurl.com/lwaz44).

Oh and Re: The Beatles, George Harrison

What the hell?
by seppukudkurosawa		Jul 21st, 2009
03:09:06 AM
OK, it cut off the rest of my post. I wrote: George Harrison < John Lennon < Paul McCartney. (That means George is better, right? I could never keep up with these cutesy internet terms). Paul lives about 15 minutes from here and I've seen him twice over the years. One of those times was in a health food store, where he refused to shake hands with the owner... I guess if you're Paul McCartney, you've gotta make blanket rules about these kinda things, but still, it didn't exactly leave me with the best image of him.

Working Cinerama
by dampen666		Jul 21st, 2009
04:33:50 AM
Hey Quint, Bradford UK has a working Cinerama screen and projection unit at the Pictureville Cinema, part of the Museum of Photography Film and Television. They show This is Cinerama on Saturday afternoons each month and occasionally have full Cinerama screenings. I saw How the West Was Won projected there when i was at University and also, believe it or not, 2001. Both prints were scratchy as hell, but the novelty factor was great and seeing both projected fully was amazing. Got to say the Blu-ray transfer for HTWWW is outstanding!
Used To work at The Cinerama Dome in LA
by dannyocean		Jul 21st, 2009
06:03:16 AM
and I saw some amazing films there (not just HTWWW). Quint if you ever have a chance to see "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" there, do it. Although it is not true Cinerama (HTWWW and THe Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm were the only two fiction films ever made in Cinerama), IAMMMMW is one of the great experiences in that theatre. Ditto Lawrence Of Arabia, Kill Bill vol. 1 and 2, any Bond film I saw there... I have a theory that everything I saw there made the movie about three times better than if I saw it somewhere else.
Easy on the spoilers!
by Flip63Hole		Jul 21st, 2009
08:11:20 AM
You could have referenced and described scenes just as well without revealing major plot points, deaths and other surprises.
I can't wait for you to see ROPE
by couchtrip105		Jul 21st, 2009
08:18:49 AM
It's a bizarre little movie but probably one of my favorite Hichcocks. Research it a little before you watch it. It's all one continous take except every 11 minutes or so they after change the film so there are lots of tricks they had to do wth the set to accomplish it. Fun movie.
Saw this as a young'un on original Cinerama
by skimn		Jul 21st, 2009
10:31:15 AM
during its first run, and as the old cliche goes, they don't make them like that anymore.
What I love about Rope
by skimn		Jul 21st, 2009
10:34:25 AM
is besides the continous takes (Hitchcock was quite the innovator), but watching the skyline backdrop evolve from late afternoon to evening, with city lights and skyscape changing...
What I love about Rope is that...
by SoylentMean		Jul 21st, 2009
11:48:46 AM
it holds stuff down, ties stuff up, and is very versatile.
A Testament To Patriotic Cinema
by Ill Clinton		Jul 21st, 2009
01:35:32 PM
Fortunately, Hollywood has relearned this forgotten lesson and America has responded. And so has the rest of the world.
What I Love About Rope
by dancetothebeatofthelivingdead		Jul 21st, 2009
01:38:43 PM
is that once Jimy stewart walks into the apartment all of the shitty acting goes out the window. It's incredible to see how all the other actors elevate their game once the pro walks onstage. The first ten minute scene is almost unwatchable in it's poor acting. The next two are a little better and then Stewart comes on an it's go time!

I've always wondered if a lot of the dialogue in Rope was improv. Stewart fucks with all the other actors, almost seeming like he's trying to get them to crack up, and his dialogue seems to have the same M.O. Great fucking movie, though. Not Hitch's best, not even top 5, but a great fucking Hitch movie all the same.
What I Love About Rope
by skimn		Jul 21st, 2009
02:48:14 PM
by David Carradine.....what? Too soon?
Billy Joel has never "rocked" any place. Period.
by Subtitles_Off		Jul 21st, 2009
03:12:10 PM
And patriotic cinema is propaganda by another name. "How the West Was Won" should not be viewed by children. They'll only feel betrayed when they learn the truth.
I was at the same McCartney show!
by Darthkrusty		Jul 21st, 2009
05:42:22 PM
It was great! The rain didn't bother me at all. He finishes up there tonight. Nice tribute to George as well when he performed SOMETHING. How did you like God of Carnage? I enjoyed it a few weeks ago. & Thanks for this review... I've avoided this film due to the bad image cropping on previous releases. I still think the vertical lines will bug me, but I'll check out the blu-ray. I look forward to your take on ROPE!
It's NOT the only studio movie in true Cinerama
by bierce		Jul 21st, 2009
06:16:48 PM
Although the documentary doesn't make it clear, "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" was the first Cinerama movie MGM released in the U.S. (Ironically, HTWWW was released first in England). My parents took me to see "Brothers Grimm" in 1963 and I never forgot the experience of seeing a movie projected on a huge curved wall that wrapped around the sides of the theater. I loved the HTWWW previews, too, especially the river rapids sequence!
Always catch the Peppard segments.
by Sal_Bando		Jul 21st, 2009
08:59:53 PM
Never seen the rest. It's pretty good, I'll give it a looksee again.
"America Is The Fucking Best Country EVER movie?"
by Fareal		Jul 22nd, 2009
04:40:47 AM
I am quite sure that the Native Americans who we took this great nation from do not agree with the premise of this film. President Obama should immeditely return America to the Native Americans.
Subtitles, I have to say...
by Damned if I can login		Jul 22nd, 2009
08:02:09 AM
...that you are incorrect about Joel

Now, don't get me wrong...I don't own a single Billy Joel CD/Album/MP3 whatever. I've always respected his success, but I've basically been indifferent. And from what I understand he's an ass, and his appearance on American Chopper pretty much showed that.

But I *won* a couple of tickets to his concert in San Diego back in '91 or so, and for the record I would not have bought them.

There was no opening band, just Joel and his band. And when they played the very long and complex Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, it blasted me outta my seat. It - most definitely - ROCKED. Oh, and he didn't play the wussified I Love You Just the Way You Are, or She's Always a Lady (thank heaven).

Oh, and another "for the record"...the band I listen to the most these days is Iron Maiden, hands down. Joel in his wildest dreams (or nightmares) never rocked like IM continues to do, but then again no one does.

McCartney
by Crimson Dynamo		Jul 22nd, 2009
08:15:55 AM
Talk about a well run dry...
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