{ "id": "epqgsswvac", "slug": "the-way-west", "title": "The Way West", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980", "label": "Westerns before 1980", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979", "label": "Released 1961 to 1979", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Released 1961 to 1979", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980", "label": "Westerns before 1980", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979", "label": "Released 1961 to 1979", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Way West (1967) is a 122-minute Western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark, adapted from A.B. Guthrie Jr.'s Pulitzer-winning novel, filmed in Oregon, and panned by critics.", "snippet": "The Way West (1967) is a 122-minute Western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark, adapted from A.B. Guthrie Jr.'s Pulitzer-winning novel, filmed in Oregon, and panned by critics.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979", "markdown": "# The Way West\n\n**The Way West** is a 1967 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, produced by Harold Hecht, and starring [Kirk Douglas](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirk-douglas), Robert Mitchum, and [Richard Widmark](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-widmark) as settlers on a wagon train crossing the [Oregon Trail](https://www.edgepedia.org/oregon-trail) in 1843. It was adapted by Ben Maddow and Mitch Lindemann from A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, the second book in his trilogy that began with *The Big Sky*, and was released by United Artists on May 24, 1967, with a running time of 122 minutes.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) Shot entirely in Oregon, it was one of the most expensive productions of its kind in the state to that time, and it was received so poorly by critics that United Artists canceled a planned Northwest premiere in Eugene.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Source | A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s novel *The Way West* (1949), which won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; the second book in a trilogy with *The Big Sky* and *These Thousand Hills*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) • [3](https://www.aol.com/articles/way-west-brought-together-three-193530000.html) |\n| Release | United Artists, New York City, May 24, 1967; 122 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) |\n| Principal cast | Kirk Douglas as Senator William J. Tadlock, Robert Mitchum as scout Dick Summers, Richard Widmark as Lije Evans, Lola Albright as Rebecca Evans, and Sally Field in her motion picture debut[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) • [2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/) |\n| Key crew | Director Andrew V. McLaglen; producer Harold Hecht; cinematographer William H. Clothier; editor Otho Lovering[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) |\n| Filming | June 7 to August 25, 1966, entirely in Oregon, near Eugene, Bend, and Burns[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) |\n| Budget | Publicized at $6 million, including $1 million spent in the Eugene area and $1.5 million in eastern Oregon[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/) |\n| Reception | Panned by critics; 29% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 7 reviews[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_way_west_1967) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe story follows a wagon train that sets out in the spring of 1843 from [Independence, Missouri](https://www.edgepedia.org/independence-missouri), for the [Oregon Territory](https://www.edgepedia.org/oregon-territory).[5](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1967/05/27/overkill) Senator William J. Tadlock (Douglas), disillusioned with politics, quits the Senate to lead the settlers and establish a utopian settlement in Oregon, bringing his son and slave with him. He hires the seasoned, half-blind scout Dick Summers (Mitchum) to guide the caravan, which includes the farming family of Lije Evans (Widmark) and his wife Rebecca (Albright).[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\nTadlock is a demanding taskmaster, as hard on himself as on those who joined the train, and his dictatorial manner breeds dissent among the settlers.[6](https://www.netflix.com/title/70093746) Trouble after trouble besets the travelers: a [Sioux](https://www.edgepedia.org/sioux) boy is killed, one man is hanged, a romantic affair results in a pregnancy no one planned, a stampede leaves people dead, and a fight breaks out over who should lead the wagon train. As the last members of the party arrive at their homestead in the West, one of them, crazed with grief, kills Tadlock because he had hanged her spouse, then escapes into the arid highlands; the remaining emigrants settle into fresh lives in Oregon, fulfilling the dream Tadlock never realized on his behalf.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\n## Development, 1952 to 1966\n\nThe film took more than a decade to reach the screen. Producer Harold Hecht, whose credits included the Academy Award-winning *Marty* (1955) and *Cat Ballou* (1965), purchased the rights to Guthrie's book in 1953 and had begun planning an adaptation as early as 1952.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) His company with [Burt Lancaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-lancaster), Hecht-Lancaster Productions, added the project to its 1954 to 1956 slate for [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists), and in early 1956 the playwright Clifford Odets was hired to write the screenplay as part of a multiple-picture deal. With [Lancaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/lancaster) set to star, Gary Cooper and James Stewart were under consideration for co-starring roles, and the anticipated budget was reported as $4 million in March 1956 and $5 million by December, which would have made it the most expensive production ever undertaken by the company, by then Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Films, Ltd. John Ford was in talks to direct in late 1956.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST)\n\nThe script remained in development for years, passing through writers including John Twist, Marvin Borowsky, and [John Gay](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-gay), while Kirk Douglas joined the project around 1958 and [Deborah Kerr](https://www.edgepedia.org/deborah-kerr), Susan Hayward, and [Wendy Hiller](https://www.edgepedia.org/wendy-hiller) were considered for the leading female roles. The project lapsed after the dissolution of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, but United Artists retained the screen rights.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) Hecht, whose solo ventures had lost money before the success of *Cat Ballou*, revived the film in 1966 under a new deal with United Artists, with Ben Maddow and Mitch Lindemann credited on the final screenplay and McLaglen, a protégé of John Ford, directing.[7](https://themagnificent60s.com/2022/03/07/behind-the-scenes-the-way-west-1967/) • [2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\n## Production in Oregon\n\nLocation scouting began in June 1965, with McLaglen selecting sites in central Oregon; he had filmed in the state before, shooting scenes for *Shenandoah* in Lane County and episodes of *Have Gun–Will Travel* on the Deschutes River. William H. Clothier, a two-time Oscar nominee, served as director of photography.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\n[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on June 7, 1966, near Eugene, where set designers replicated 1840s Independence, Missouri, and a scene of the wagon train crossing the McKenzie River was shot using 225 extras.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST) • [2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/) In early July the production moved to the Bend area, filming at Mount Bachelor and at a replica of [Fort Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/fort-hall) built at Camp Abbot, then focused on the Christmas Valley area, where Fort Rock stood in for Independence Rock, Wyoming, and the Christmas Valley Sand Dunes stood in for a [Great Basin](https://www.edgepedia.org/great-basin) desert. A daily caravan of more than seventy vehicles carried the company to these locations.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\nBecause McLaglen required all thirty principal actors to remain on set and in costume at all times, many were worn out by late August, when shooting was still under way at the Crooked River Ranch and close to Smith Rock. Outside Burns, the company filmed its last scene, a wagon train escaping a stampede of 450 bison, completing two days ahead of schedule on August 25, 1966. Two hundred Native Americans from the Warm Springs tribe were hired as background actors.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST)\n\nThe publicized $6 million budget included $1 million spent in the Eugene area and $1.5 million in eastern Oregon. The studio's press representative put daily overhead at $25,000, with 300 or more local people hired as extras and helpers, a weekly feed bill of $10,000, lodging of $12,000 or more, $150,000 in set construction, and $100,000 a week in salaries for 185 regular crew, not including the stars. The $30,000 that Oregon's tax system collected from production crew wages was controversial in the state and led to calls for tax reform.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\n## Release and reception\n\nUnited Artists released the film in New York City on May 24, 1967, surprising the Eugene Junior Chamber of Commerce, which had expected to host the premiere. A few days afterward, United Artists withdrew from a conciliatory premiere planned for June 13 in Eugene, citing negative publicity, mainly the film's poor critical reception.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\nThe reception was harsh. Brendan Gill, the longtime theater and film critic of *The New Yorker*, called it one of the worst movies of this or any season, arguing that in two hours and two minutes the script ran through the canonical stereotypes of sixty years of Western filmmaking.[5](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1967/05/27/overkill) The *New York Times* reviewer wrote that what the cast went through to reach Oregon was nothing compared to what an old Western fan had to go through to keep from walking out, and an *Oregonian* editor observed that the reviews read less like criticisms than denunciations implying it might be the worst Western ever made, adding that Oregon did look very nice in the movies.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/) Roger Ebert, reviewing in June 1967, took a more measured view: he found that the film buried its promising material about the settlers' mixed and selfish motives under scenery and stock Western clichés, but judged it a well-made and wholly professional Hollywood Western, with Widmark and Mitchum excellent in roles unusual for them.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-way-west-1967) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 29% Tomatometer from 7 critics.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_way_west_1967)\n\n## Context and legacy\n\nThe film belongs to the era of the classical Western and depicts the 1840s, when settlers from the Midwestern states undertook the roughly 3,200 km overland journey to Oregon; a 2026 legal-historical study has used its narrative to analyze the contractual authority conferred on a wagon train's leader.[9](https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/504798) It was also part of a resurgence of Westerns in the mid-1960s, when domestic locations competed with European productions, particularly the spaghetti westerns made in Italy, for Hollywood filming dollars.[2](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n\nThe title was reused in 1995 for *The Way West*, Ric Burns's six-hour PBS documentary series broadcast as part of WGBH's *American Experience*, which chronicles the loss and settlement of the West between 1845 and 1893 and won a Writers Guild of America Award and a duPont-Columbia Silver Baton.[10](https://www.ricburns.com/film/the-way-west) The 1967 feature remains available on home video and streaming services.[11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-way-west)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Way West (1967), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23248-THE-WAY-WEST)\n2. [Gregory P. Shine, The Way West (film), The Oregon Encyclopedia](https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/the_way_west_film/)\n3. [How 'The Way West' Brought Together Three Legends for a Grueling 1967 Western Journey, AOL](https://www.aol.com/articles/way-west-brought-together-three-193530000.html)\n4. [The Way West (1967), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_way_west_1967)\n5. [Brendan Gill, Overkill, The New Yorker, May 27, 1967](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1967/05/27/overkill)\n6. [The Way West, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/70093746)\n7. [Behind the Scenes: The Way West (1967), The Magnificent 60s](https://themagnificent60s.com/2022/03/07/behind-the-scenes-the-way-west-1967/)\n8. [Roger Ebert, The Way West movie review, June 20, 1967](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-way-west-1967)\n9. [Mihailović, Vuksanović Stanković, and Dokić, Along the Oregon Trail in the Film The Way West, Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Zagrebu 76(3), 2026](https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/504798)\n10. [The Way West (1995), Steeplechase Films](https://www.ricburns.com/film/the-way-west)\n11. [The Way West streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-way-west)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Westerns before 1980 › Released 1961 to 1979*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-way-west", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-way-west.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Way West\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-way-west. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Way West](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-way-west)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-way-west](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-way-west). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Way West\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-way-west. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Way West is a 122-minute Western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark, adapted from A.B." }