How The West Was Won

Oh! This is an anthology movie? I just noticed all the directors…

I’m pretty sure I watched this on VHS back in the 80s, but I have no recollection of what the movie is about. Or movies.

Was this primarily a showcase for super wide screen movie technologies? The super-wide lens here (with a very deep field of view) seems almost supernatural.

Ah, Cinerama:

How the West Was Won was one of only two dramatic feature films (the other being The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm) made using the three-strip Cinerama process. Although the picture quality when projected onto curved screens in theatres was stunning, attempts to convert the movie to a smaller screen suffer from that process’s technical shortcomings. When seen in letterbox format, the actors’ faces are nearly indistinguishable in long shots.

I’m assuming they’re talking about on small screens?

I mean, look! That oars bent! This is so otherworldly — everything looks subtly wrong… like I’m on acid or something.

AM I?!?!1!

So that’s what a Cinerama camera looks like, and explains why the angles are off.

The odd angles here means that they try to keep the actors in the middle third of the screen all the time. It looks so obsessive! But it’s for technical reasons — when people move around between the lenses, it looks all wonky.

So no wonder this was only used for two feature movies — it must have been a nightmare to film.

But it looks really cool!

I’m guessing this ditch is really straight? Cinerama!

Ouch!!!

For most of the movie, the camera is totally stationary, but a couple of the directors try to move it around a bit (bit not a lot, because that’d make people sea sick). But putting the camera on the train, for instance, in an action scene, totally works.

Still that symmetry.

I don’t know how to throw the dice on this one. It’s such a delight to watch — just because of the Cinemascope which makes everything look all wonky (in a good way). Every scene is like “yah”.

And the action scenes are amazing.

But the storylines are pretty… er… basic… or barely there.

So it’s lovely. But is it worth watching? I’ll give it a weaselly:

How The West Was Won. John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall and Richard Thorpe. 1962. ⚃

Now and Forever

Oh, right. I bought a Shirley Temple DVD box set almost a decade ago, but forgot to watch this movie… The other ones were pretty good, if I recall correctly?

This is taking some time to start revving… It’s all very charming and stuff, but it feels like they’re moving people around so that they can start the movie.

Shirley Temple’s father here is a blackguard and a cad (I’m quoting his brother-in-law), so the plot here is basically that he’s asking for money to disappear from their lives… but I’m guessing there’s gonna be a big sentimental finish after he realises that he can’t etc. And I’m fine with that.

Shirley!

Well that didn’t take long.

Oh my god… Temple had to say all these long, convoluted lines! She memorised better at … six? Then I’ve ever been able to.

I don’t remember Cooper hamming it up like this! I think of him mostly as a … pretty dour actor? But he’s totally getting into the silly swing of things here.

This is a cute movie, but instead of zipping along like a screwball comedy, it’s rather… ponderous? It seems like half of the scenes last twice as long as they should — it feels like they’re padding the time or something? It’s 80 minutes as it is, and edited down to a pace that would keep the comedy popping, it would have been less than an hour.

There’s good scenes here — especially at the start. But it promises a movie of hi-jinx and heists, and instead it’s just… sad and melancholy.

Now and Forever. Henry Hathaway. 1934. ⚂

Pale Rider

That’s not a bad opening scene! These shootingest guys are so eveeel that they kill a cow… and… THE LITTLE DOG!!! IS THERE NO LIMIT!

But seriously, it’s kinda wonky? Like all the stunt guys weren’t quite told where to be, so there was a lot of hesitancy? But it was pretty good anyway.

Poor cow.

Hey! This is a lot of fun! I mean, it’s funny! I don’t think Clintwood going for humour exactly, but this is “whoo! yeah!” in the most basic way.

It’s so silly! They’re just hitting that boulder? What about driving a steel pole into it or something to split it instead? I know, I’m not a master rock hitter or anything, but … that just seems like the … bare minimum… you should do.