Carson Lund Presents WESTWARD THE WOMEN

ABOUT THE FILM:

One hundred midwestern mail order brides embark on a California-bound wagon train in this late-career gem from journeyman director William “Wild Bill” Wellman, whose simultaneously gruff and tender touch turns a cornball script by Frank Capra into a stark study of sorrow and solidarity on the frontier. Robert Taylor anchors the colorful ensemble as a cold but principled trail guide who’s gradually unmoored by the toughness and perseverance of his female company, even as the harsh landscape claims more and more lives. An incident-rich adventure in which the hokum and the hardship coexist in precarious balance, WESTWARD THE WOMEN concludes on a note of seemingly incongruous exaltation that’s nonetheless spiked with an understanding of the deadly toll of westward expansion.

– Written by filmmaker Carson Lund

FORMAT: 35mm

DISTRIBUTOR: Park Circus

COUNTRY: USA