This isn't as spectacular as you might think after checking the cast credits, which are almost beyond description. However, it's still a pretty solid movie. For a western, I was shocked years later to view this on widescreen VHS and discover the number of songs in here, most by Debbie Reynolds. Early on, I wondered if I wasn't watching a musical rather than a western.
The real story of this movie, it would seem, is the cast. If you want to see a "Who's Who" of the time period, then you have to check this film out. Narrated by Spencer Tracy, it features - in alphabetical order - Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne and Richard Widmark and a bunch more. Are you kidding me???!!!!!
This was also one of the first Cinerama widescreen films put on a VHS tape, I think. I was anxious to see it in that format, but then disappointed there weren't more panoramic scenes. Outside of two - a buffalo stampede and a train robbery - the scenery was just fair.
Peppard had the best part of the film, in my opinion. He was featured in the final third. (The film seemed divided into three distinct segments.) Stewart was the key man in the first third and Peck in the middle. Baker and Reynolds provided the eye candy. I was surprised how small a role Wayne had in here.
The VHS box says the movie is 162 minutes long but it you eliminate three overtures (the eginning, the intermission and ending) you can chop off another 15 minutes of actual footage. In summary, the cast is the only thing special as the story and the songs are just so-so.
The real story of this movie, it would seem, is the cast. If you want to see a "Who's Who" of the time period, then you have to check this film out. Narrated by Spencer Tracy, it features - in alphabetical order - Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne and Richard Widmark and a bunch more. Are you kidding me???!!!!!
This was also one of the first Cinerama widescreen films put on a VHS tape, I think. I was anxious to see it in that format, but then disappointed there weren't more panoramic scenes. Outside of two - a buffalo stampede and a train robbery - the scenery was just fair.
Peppard had the best part of the film, in my opinion. He was featured in the final third. (The film seemed divided into three distinct segments.) Stewart was the key man in the first third and Peck in the middle. Baker and Reynolds provided the eye candy. I was surprised how small a role Wayne had in here.
The VHS box says the movie is 162 minutes long but it you eliminate three overtures (the eginning, the intermission and ending) you can chop off another 15 minutes of actual footage. In summary, the cast is the only thing special as the story and the songs are just so-so.