Movie Review

So last night I finally got hold of the remote control while dh took the older kids to youth. Usually the youngest ds gets it b/c he feels left out but he wanted the net. Since only one can hook up at a time, I let him have it and I checked the onscreen guide. YooHoo! I mean, it's been weeks since I had my pick of TV since I'm usually writing or reading while they're watching. And I love watching westerns but somehow LoneStar doesn't show them any more. So I started surfing.

I was amazed to find that I'd stumbled on Wagon Train night on TCM! I settled down to watch:

TheTall Stranger  (1957 Color)  When rustlers leave him for dead, a Westerner throws in his lot with the wagon train whose inhabitants have rescued him. Cast: Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, Michael Ansara.

The Tall Stranger was okay. Horses. Gorgeous scenery. Lots of cowboys. 1 woman. Did I mention horses?

and followed that with:

Westward The Women (1951 B&W) A frontiersman leads a wagon train full of mail-order brides. Cast: Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, John McIntire.

Westward the Women was excellent! Horses. Awesome scenery. Lots of women. 1 cowboy. Did I mention the 140 women?

Actually, there were more cowboys, but with 140 women on the wagon train, only 1 was important.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

What I liked didn't like about the movie: the way the hero treated the heroine. Wow, have times changed! I cringed when he punched her, slapped her and snapped a bullwhip across her back. In fact, I almost shut the TV off. But I didn't. He was the only bad thing about the whole thing and I wasn't going to ignore the women's plight for one horrid man.

What I loved about the movie was watching the way the women took on adversity and won.  Well, of course not all of them or it wouldn't have been realistic. Apparently prior to the filming of this movie, the director had all the actors and extras out on location for 3 weeks of education. They were put through the paces on:

• western riding, saddling, etc
• muleskinning and driving a team
• covering and taking off the canvas on a covered wagon
• calisthenics, fitness and endurance trg

I mean, those characters lived out there so that everything would look authentic. And it did!

I'm an extra in the TV/film industry and a lot of my time was spent watching the background. It was always moving so that no matter where you looked, there was something interesting going on.

I thought the writing was very well done. Every once in awhile, someone would say or do something that wasn't detrimental to the film and if there were time constraints, would probably be the first to be cut, but I found them exquisite additions. The scene with the little boy's dog and the 'in-love' couple come to mind.

Other images that will stay with me are:

• the way the women rallied together when one of their own went into childbirth
• the rage on the hero's face when he realized a cowboy had 'roughed up' a soiled dove b/c she wouldn't 'put out'.
• the women staring at the hero as if he was crazy when he asked who wanted to back out after explaining the reality of the crossing
• the kiss between the H and h
• the 2 female sharpshooters
• the little dog's loyalty
• the Italian mother's pain
• the women standing at the bulletin board picking a husband from all the photos
• the first meeting of the women and the men they'd picked out

Okay, enough about this movie. But if I was rating these the way I rate my books it would be:

The Tall Stranger:  Okay - 2 stars (a so-so read watch for me)

Westward The Women - Excellent - 5 stars (one to re-read watch; definitely a keeper)

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