Director: William A. Wellman/Starring: Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson, John McIntire, Henry Nakamura, Julie Bishop and Renata Vanni
I recently attended a screening of Westward the Women as part of a weekly western series at a local cinema and though the story is set mostly in the old west, it isn't a western as we've come to think of films in that genre. This isn't a shoot-em-up with gunfighters and third-act showdowns, but a riveting, powerful drama that hews to history rather than myth.
William A. Wellman, who brought us the original A Star is Born and Beau Geste, is also known for the gritty western The Oxbow Incident, which, like Westward; tells a tough, gritty story about America's past. It's astonishing that a film like Westward the Women hasn't gotten more attention and critical regard but then again, a film mostly about women undertaking a dangerous trek from Chicago to California in mid-nineteenth century America might be less interesting to critics and Hollywood than cartoonish Westerns featuring gun-play and hokey machismo.
Robert Taylor plays Buck Wyatt; a tough and rugged wagon trail escort who has settled into his life in California farm country. Though Wyatt has mostly retired from the rough and dangerous escort trade, he is approached by a member of the all-male community for a risky business proposition. Wyatt is asked to lead a group of women from Chicago across the unforgiving American frontier to California as prospective brides for the legions of bachelors who reside there. Wyatt is naturally reluctant; being well aware of the inherent dangers in such an undertaking. But seeing that the men are eager to marry, he reluctantly accepts the job. The year is 1851; antebellum America, which has yet to become a constituted nation.
The process by which the women are chosen is the one of the more fascinating sequences in the story as 150 female candidates fill a Chicago Hall, hoping to be selected. The wide shot of the womanly assemblage is humorous, as the bonnet and well-dressed gathering hardly seem ideal candidates to suffer the rigors of a cross-continent journey. But after Wyatt explains the brutal experiences awaiting them on the trail, he finds the women determined and undaunted, even after he mentions that 1 in 3 won't survive the trip. Still unconvinced the women have what it takes to survive, he asks the women if any can shoot a gun. A few women raise their hands and demand a pistol, whereby two take aim at a poster of a man and shoot out the eyes. The scene is funny but it also says something about how some women of the time were as rough and tumble as the men.
We meet some of the women who sign up for the trip, including Fifi Danon (Denise Darcel); a French woman who takes an immediate shine to Wyatt; Patience Hawley (Hope Emerson), who is short on charm but tough and a natural leader and Mrs. Maroni; an Italian widow with a young son and dog who hopes to start again in California.
In a key scene that follows, Wyatt addresses a group of men he has hired to help guide the wagon train to California. He explains to the men the women are off limits; a rule we know will most likely be broken. During the hiring process, a short, Chinese man named Ito (Henry Nakamura) draws jeers when he asks to sign up. Noting his determination, Wyatt takes him on.
As we might expect, the journey is difficult but as Wyatt and his men discover, the women are more than up to the challenge. Along the way, Wyatt maintains a professional distance from the women and finds Fifi's advances off-putting.
Somewhere in the deserty west, the train is set upon by a Native-American tribe who ride off when they meet organized resistance. Wyatt finds keeping discipline to be another problem when one of the women is raped. The perpetrator and the gathering find Wyatt's punitive measures to be quite harsh.
More adversity and tragedy follows on the trail when a particularly tricky descent through a canyon claims a life. A long shot of the women helping a wagon down the mountain via a rope is particularly striking. One might swear one was looking at an old daguerreotype.
The women's willingness to endure hardship becomes evident but as disciplinary measures and desertion thin the ranks of hired men, Wyatt is faced with the dilemma of returning to Chicago or pressing on. Ever the tough and determined guide, Wyatt decides to continue but recognizing the man shortage, he decides to train the women to shoot. During the training, a shocking accident takes place, which visits tragedy upon Mrs. Maroni.
Wyatt's prognostication about woman dying on the journey becomes grimly accurate, as the hostile Native-American tribe returns to attack the gathering. Facing death and loss with equanimity, the women honor the names of their sistren in a way that is very moving.
The hardships mount but the women find their destination is within reach. The meeting between the men and women makes for yet another great sequence. And at this point, we know what will become of Wyatt and Fifi; who have overcome a tempestuous journey together.
The film is way ahead of its time as a convincing statement of female empowerment. Of course we know the trials women suffered on westward migrations were no less arduous and deadly, which the film depicts with impressive fidelity.
I find it hard to believe I had never heard of Wellman's film. It is a truly remarkable work. I had expected a romantic, sentimental tale of the old west but instead found something powerful and starkly beautiful. Wellman's camera work was very inspired. A scene where Danon rides off from the group in anger with Wyatt in furious pursuit brings us close to the action as the horses ride almost directly at the lens.
We learn some of the the women's back stories; their motivations for making the trip, which are varied and interesting. One seeks an escape; the child in her womb a source of shame while others merely seek opportunity.
I hope this movie is revived some time and given the attention it deserves. Wellman stripped the the old west of its romanticism and rather than focus solely on male exploits, showed us women who were no less courageous, determined and resourceful. His film aims for truth and authenticity and nails it. Westward the Women is a film every cinephile or casual movie-goer should see for themselves. You won't be sorry.
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