This 64-year-old western is a remake of the prestigious film, but it was a complete failure.

This afternoon, France 3 broadcasts at 14:25 The Rush to the West (Cimarron original version), a 1960 western with Glenn Ford, Maria Schell, Ann Baxter, Russ Tamblyn and Vic Morrow. This mural depicts the rush of American pioneers to Oklahoma when the territory was officially opened for colonization and it was time to choose the right plot of land.

A remake of the prestigious film

This western is an adaptation of a novel by Edna Ferber (who complained that she didn’t get a cent from the film despite her credits) and has already been brought to the screen. And you will see that Westward Bound (1960) may be the remake of the movie that made history, but it was a bitter failure.

The previous film, also titled The Rush to the West, won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1931, becoming the first feature film to win this prestigious award. Released by RKO, this version was quite expensive and its critical success was not enough to save the studio money. However, the film became profitable thanks to its release in 1935.

Anthony coins

The 1960 version was assigned to Anthony Mann, who accepted because the film allowed him to use MGM’s vast resources to film on location. But during the filming, the producer Edmund Granger was uncompromising: he had to shoot more in the studios, which he categorically refused, wanting to shoot only on real locations.

In the end, the director closed the door before filming was completed, and it was director Charles Waters (Spring Parade) who was called in to finish the film in compliance with the producer’s wishes.

Means but a few entries

Despite a breathtaking sequence that required 1,000 extras to recreate the settlers’ “land race” to Oklahoma, the slowness and proliferation of character discussion scenes hampered the film, which ultimately lost $3.6 million at the time (or roughly $38.5 million). today). And if American critics recognize the film’s merits, they are generally disappointed.

A complete decline, which hampered the career of Glenn Ford, who had been playing in small films since 1964, where studios struggled to entrust him with the main role in big-budget productions, and the names of prestigious people directors almost did not call him in the past. Except for Vincent Minnelli.

As for Anthony Mann, he’s set to film a version of The Cid with Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren that shows he’s far from out of touch.