The Way West (1967)

Kirk Douglas is William Tadlock, a former politician who dreams of a wagon trail to Oregon, of building a great city and sets about making his dream reality.

Robert Mitchum is Dick Summers, the expert guide he hires to lead the way. Richard Widmark is Lije Evans, a restless soul who convinces his family to head West, yet again.

This trip west will be plagued by typical problems, a dry trek across a desert, rampaging Indians, the threat of disease and other hazards of the trail.

Tadlock pushes the wagon train, pushes it hard, until Evans decides he’s pushed too hard for too long, prompting a showdown between the men just as the trip reaches its most perilous point.

Meanwhile, Evans’ young son Brownie has fallen for a dark-haired beauty named Mercy McBee (Sally Field), who’s got her own problems.

She’s pregnant with the child of a married man, a married man who’s lost his life on the journey west no less.

Kirk Douglas as William Tadlock, who dreams of building a grand town in Oregon in The Way West (1967)

Robert Mitchum as famed guide Dick Summers, losing his eyesight but leading one last wagon train west in The Way West (1967)

Review:

Some of the hazards faced by the wagon train are predictable, but one can’t go wrong with Widmark, Mitchum and Douglas along for the ride.

And the script still serves up enough surprises to keep things interesting, including a climax you probably won’t see coming.

This was filmed on an epic scale with the entire wagon train being lowered by rope into a canyon for the final part of their journey.

Yet that isn’t the most memorable scene captured on film by McLaglen. Nor do the aforementioned Western legends have to carry the film on their own.

In her first big-screen appearance, Sally Field is introduced to us riding in the back of a wagon, smiling flirtatiously and swinging her legs enticingly.

Then she proceeds to steal the show as she alternately flirts and teases Widmark’s son, all the while lusting after another woman’s man.

Lola Albright, the pretty blonde leading lady in a number of low-budget Westerns from the 1950s, plays Widmark’s wife. This marked one of her final films, though she continued to appear in TV shows into the early 1980s.

Richard Widmark as Lije Evans, stricken by wanderlust when he hears of the wagon train bound for Oregon in The Way West (1967)

Lola Albright as Becky Evans, scoldiner husband Lije for wanting to move yet again in The Way West (1967)

Directed by:
Andrew McLaglen

Cast:
Kirk Douglas … William Tadlock
Robert Mitchum … Dick Summers
Richard Widmark … Lije Evans
Lola Albright … Becky Evans
Sally Field … Mercy McBee
Katherine Justice … Amanda Mack
Michael McGreevey … Brownie Evans
Jack Elam … Preacher Weatherby
Stubby Kaye … Sam Fairman
Elizabeth Fraser … Mrs. Fairman
Harry Carey Jr. … Mr. McBee
Connie Sawyer … Mrs. McBee
Michael Witney … Johnnie Mack
William Lundigan … Michael Moynihan
John Mitchum … Little Henry
Hal Lynch … Big Henry
Timothy Scott … Middle Henry
Patric Knowles … Capt. Grant
Mike Lane … Sioux chief
Michael Keep … Indian Brave
Roy Glenn … Saunders

Title tune: “The Way West”
by The Serendipity Singers

Runtime: 132 min.

Sally Field as Mercy McBee, explaining why she can’t marry Brownie Evans in The Way West (1967)

Michael McGreevey as Brownie Evans, trying to reason with the distraught Mercy McBee in The Way West (1967)

Memorable lines:

Lije Evans to son Browie, as Mercy McBee shows off her legs: “Best not be looking, Brownie.”
Brownie: “I ain’t looking. As hard as I can.”

William Tadlock: “Dick Summers. I’ve heard about you ever since I crossed the Ohio River and about as often as God almighty.”
Dick Summers: “Well, I hope he doesn’t hold that against me.”

William Tadlock to Dick Summers, when the latter balks at making the trip: “You poor, miserable, female-haunted man. It’s hard to believe your grief has so corrupted your guts.”

Jack Elam as Preacher Weatherby, performing a marriage service and shocked by something he hears in The Way West (1967)

Stefan Arngrim as William Tadlock Jr., one of his father’s motivating factors for heading west in The Way West (1967)

Lije Evans to his wife, Becky, who always seems to know what he’s thinking: “Woman, I wish you’d stop walking around in my mind.”

Mrs. McBee: “Mercy, you’re to stop flashin’ in the fire every time a three-legged boy goes by. Now you hear me?”
Mr. McBee: “If we don’t get that girl hitched before we get to Oregon, she’s gonna run off and marry the nearest buffalo.”

Mercy McBee: “Why don’t she love you?”
Johnnie Mack: “She’s got iron corsets in her skin.”
Mercy: “And what do I have, Mr. Mack?”
Johnnie: “You, hellfire and sin.”
Mercy: “Lead me to it.”

Michael Whitney as Johnnie Mack, confessing to the accidental shooting of an Indian boy in The Way West (1967)

Katherine Justice as Amanda Mack, driven mad by the unexpected death of her husband Johnnie in The Way West (1967)

William Tadlock to his son as he prepares to hang a man: “Sometimes, even if you can’t, you must.”

Brownie Evans: “Women. That’s what’s driving me crazy.”
Dick Summers: “That has been known to happen once or twice. It is rare though.”

Saunders to William Tadlock: “You were wrong, sir. You can’t get nothin’ with a whip. On yourself or nobody else, sir.”

Amanda Mack: “I did it for you. Now you’re done with him. Done with the devil!”

Mercy to Brownie: “Brownie, I’m beginning to like you. In 10 or 20 years, I might even grow passionately fond of you.”
Brownie: “Make the sun go down, Mercy. Make the sun go down right now.”
Mercy: “It will. Soon.”

Roy Glenn as Saunders, Tadlock’s assistant, disagreeing with his boss in The Way West (1967)

Mike Lane as the Sioux chief demanding justice against the man who killed his son in The Way West (1967)

Kirk Douglas as William Tadlock and Robert Mitchum as Dick Summers, anticipating trouble with Indians in The Way West (1967)

Sally Field as the teasing, coming-of-age Mercy McBee, flashing a smile for Brownie in The Way West (1967)

Lola Albright as Becky Evans and Michael McGreevy as her son Brownie react to a tragic turn of events in The Way West (1967)

Richard Widmark as Lije Evans, reacting when Tadlock suggest lynching his son, with Dick Summers (Robert Mitchum) helping hold him back in The Way West (1967)

Kirk Douglas as William Tadlock, glancing back at the body of a wagon train passenger he just hanged in The Way West (1967)

Jack Elam as Preacheer Weatherby, discovered hiding under a wagon by Lije Evans (Richard Widmark) in The Way West (1967)

Sally Field as Mercy McBee, flirting with the smitten Brownie Evans (Michael McGreevey) in The Way West (1967)

Robert Mitchum as Dick Summers and Kirk Douglas as William Tadlock guide the wagon train through the desert in The Way West (1967)