O Lord, without consulting with Thee, we have sent thy way some souls whose evil ways passeth all understanding. We ask Thee humbly to receive them... whether you want them or not! Amen.

Over my break I watched the film How the West was Won. It is like the Longest Day and Bridge to Far in terms of cast. The cast includes Walter Brennan, John Wayne, Karl Malden, James Stewart, George Peppard, Eli wallich, Debbie Renyolds, Carroll Baker, Greorgy Peck and Lee J Cobb to name a few. The film also has Lee Van Cleef in an uncredited role. The film is narrated by Spencer Tracy.   It revolves around one families journey to the west and the struggles they faced over the years.



The film was shot by different directors. The great John Ford shot the Civil war scene. Another great western director Henry Hathaway shot the  River, Plains and Outlaw scene. George Marshall shot the Railroad scene.The film was nominated 8 times at the Oscars in 1963 winning only 3. One for best writing for story and screenplay, best editing and best sound. The great score by Alfred Newman and Ken Darby was going to win for best original score but there was a mix up and the Oscar went to John Addison for Tom Jones. The mistake has never been fixed to this day. I have no complaints except that they killed off Karl Malden and Walter Brennan which was mean.  It was also a little slow at times. Overall it was good.