UW Cinematheque | Westward the Women (1951)

Westward the Women (1951)
USA | 1951 | 35mm | 118 min.
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson
Trail guide Buck Wyatt (Robert Taylor) leads a large group of single females on a wagon train from Chicago to a California valley community where the women will meet and marry the men who are the town’s first settlers. A moving and entertaining Western, filled with drama and heartbreak and romance, Westward the Women was recently cited as one of five favorite movies by filmmaker Alexander Payne, who also called it “a completely neglected masterpiece.” Payne will introduce this screening of an excellent 35mm print, courtesy of the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research.