Alfred Newman: How the West Was Won - Overture

[geesching]

CERTAINLY ONE OF THE GREATEST SCORES EVER WRITTEN FOR THE SCREEN MEMORABLE AND TREMENDOUSLY MOVING.

[Marcatolegato]

can you upload the Blu-ray footage instead - the sound is much better there

[olsonsr]

I saw this movie in the Seattle Cinerama in October 2011 in the original 3-projector 105mm format. The place was packed with film geeks. The Overture played with all three projectors spinning and the curtains closed. It sounded fantastic and the crowd was awed. Then when the MGM lion roared the curtains opened and you could see the opening credits. It was a magic moment and I appreciate having this posted so I can relive it.

[Marcatolegato]

is this from the Blu-ray - becaurse i have just seen the BD version and the music is just awesome in stereo and very sharp

[StawDogs]

It has a strange air of loneliness; great theme music, but certainily week story telling.

[Zorro3906]

RIP----Harry Morgan. 

[ZeekWolfe1]

The movie was wonderful except for the scenes of the Civil War. It is clear that corners were cut to keep expenses down. It was mostly shot on a sound stage. The cannons were not realistic and the scene with Harry Morgan as Grant and John Wayne as Sherman just didn't seem right.

[mackshayster]

@ZeekWolfe1 i thought part 4 was bad for the plot, and the civil war scenes couldve been tied together better, but the first 2 parts were awesome

[Horsemarine100]

Not much to say for thye film, but the music was great!

[windstorm1000]

Wonderful film score---Kind of a bloated movie and the Cinerama was a distraction what with the divisions, but on the whole entertaining.

[clydesplace]

@windstorm1000 Did you ever actually see the film in Cinerama the way it was meant to be presented? I don't think anybody who actually has would call it a distraction.

[theintelligent1973]

I wonder if the indians love this movie or any other wester movie, just wondering...

[LindstromTommy]

How the west was won is definitly the best western movie trough all times. I just love it. Shown it to some friends and they too love it.

The scene with the buffalos is magestic!!!! one of the greatset scene ever, considering that they didn´t use computers and blue screens

[Israeltekhelet]

What a soundtrack. This is truly some of the most inspirational music I've ever heard.

[Broadway789]

I believe this portion is NOT the beginning BUT the intermission. Thus enabling folks to get a snack or use the bathroom. I am old enough to remember, as I have seen movies with intermissions, including GONE WITH THE WIND.

[niflap]

I tried looking up the song "Endless Prairie, online, but only 2 versions are mentioned. The Lorne Greens version & the segment of it played in the overture of this movie. The Lorne Greene version had more lyrics, but he spoke his way through most of the song, so there seems to be no way of knowing how the melody goes in those verses goes. I could tell the spoken parts were meant to be sung, because they had rhyme, but didn't seem to have rhythm. I assume what we heard sung was the chorus.

[1246339]

まだ二十歳そこそこの頃、何の予備知識もなくこの映画を観て

オールスターのすごさに鳥肌が立ちました。

こんな映画はそう観れないだろうとその後3回も通いました。

デビー・レイノルズの船上での『牧場の我家』が特に好きだった～

大分前の夜中に放映があって大喜びで観たのに

短～くなっていてがっかりしたけど、しっかり録画して何回もみて­ました。

CGばっかりの今のハリウッドではもう造れないでしょうね。



[bobareebop]

Great French horns in the title theme. L.A. studio cats I assume.

[harponercam]

This is great and I play the DVD sometimes just to hear this- but what we need is the closing number too

P.s. after 4:20 the music is the long opening credits- I love the transition at the lion, but a post production company stuck their logo in between on the DVD, and I have to fast forward a couple of seconds- here on youtube it flows as it did in the film I saw on it's first run as a kid. great music, Maybe I'll post the end part.

[WJRESQ]

I saw this film in Cinemascope in Washington, DC in 1962 or 1963. Without a doubt one of the greatest films of all time. Epic in its view on the screen, and the music was just wonderful. It still stands the test of time. I suppose that is why it was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, and won 3. Never seen this film? Rent it if you can or buy it, get out that big bowl of popcorn for a most enjoyable Sunday night.

[jdelayknee]

@WJRESQ Right on, I saw it at that time also but it was called Cinerama, not Cinemascope (that was introduced in the 50's) There are a few theatres in the county that can still project the 3 projectors. I was in the front row and it blew my socks off. The real deal. The all star cast, the music, the filmography makes it a national cinema treasure

[zeekwolfe]

I saw this film at the Stanley Warner theatre in Los Angeles in 1962. It was in Cinerama. I was overwhelmed by the three screen technique and the wonderful soundtrack by Alfred Newman. Guess what, this film had no profanity or nudity. And, every scene change was not accompanied by a whoosh, swoosh, ka-pow, ka-bang, a horse and wagon chase, the obligatory lip lock of the main stars, a token negro, a token Asian, a token gay person, all actors under 28, etc., etc....you get the point.

[Aussiemarco]

@zeekwolfe Well said! So many great wonder-works of movie making would never be made today. Imagine all the possible "great" movies that are out there in screenplay form that will never be made, because they don't fit the contemporary movie industry's prerequisite of only pretty kids appearing in them, and every third scene MUST have an explosion. "T'would make a tender person weep."

[jgfpony]

Anyone know where to find the lyrics to the songs that they're singing?

[zelig46]

In the original version of the film in Cinerama-equipped theaters since the film began with the display closed with the track "Overture" that opened only on the MGM lion.

In television appearances and in videocassettes (VHS) This track would not exist, the film began on the initials MGM, Blu Ray has put right this mess

zelig46

(Sorry for Automatic Traductor)

[Dimension150]

At 4:20 the film actually starts with MGM Lion & opening credits on screen. But this clip seems to be "stuck" on the 'Overture' title for some reason. Oh well, still nice to hear all that great music!

[IeoCrasher]

@Dimension150 you are correct the overture actually ends in 4:20!

[misPivoine]

@Dimension150

magnifique

[walkabou5]

I saw this film with my Mum and brother at the Casino in Old Compton Street, London in April 1963. A fantastic experience, we all loved it. I have very happy memories of that day.

Great movie, Great music.

[Fredericknetwork2]

Thanks very much, that's was a long time I was looking this original version, the most greatest western music movie I ever heard!!!

[MrMalahostia]

gracias por el aporte, buenisima b.s.o.

[Bronwyn51]

every time I see this film, or hear this music, it sends me back to the past, and it remains one of my favorite movies

[jslasher1]

One of Alfred Newman's finest scores. And, just to think that he was a replacement composer when Dimitri Tiomkin, who had been engaged for this film, had to 'exit' on account of eye surgery.

[94puppyeyez]

I am related to the person who composed the music hehe. But sadly i never got to meet him.

[jslasher1]

Newman was certainly up to the task. One of the greatest Western film scores. To hear it as it was meant to be heard, one must go to a proper Cinerama screening.

[dvorak20012000]

Great stuff, classic film scores don't come much better. Thanks for including the opening credits music too.

[dramusic]

I saw this at the glorious State Theatre, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is probably my third favorite Western of all time. A first class soundtrack for sure.  You have to see it on the big screen to really fully appreciate it.

[AJNorth]

Imagine sitting in a cathedral-like theater with a wide curved front wall covered by an ornate curtain; the year is 1962. The houselights go to half as the state-of-the-art sound system fills the space with the vocal Overture, "Bound for the Promised Land," in twelve-channel stereo.

[AJNorth]

As the Overture ends, the curtains begin to part, the houselights dim completely and Leo the Lion roars - as the the credits begins to roll and the Main Title music thunders out . Imagine.

[AJNorth]

One of my earliest movie-going memories is of seeing "How the West Was Won" at the Cinerama theater in New York City as a small boy. That unforgettable, jaw-dropping experience floods back in a flash as though yesterday when hearing Newman's extraordinary and stunning music, perfectly complimented by Ken Darby's lyrics - and expertly realized by all concerned.

[rogiet3]

@AJNorth As a younng lad I heard about HTWWW and begged my family to take me from Wales to the Caino Cinerama in London. I had waited months, finally we were there. The packed out cinema fell silent, the overture began, my heart was pounding, Leo far bigger than he had ever been before roared and then the main theme began. I was transported into the Old West, it was one of the greatest moments in cinema. Cinerama, full stereo, Newman's music and a classic movie. Wow

[jslasher1]

@rogiet3 You meant to say Casino Cinerama.

[rogiet3]

@jslasher1 Yes it was Casino my spelling is getting worse. Have a good day.

[AJNorth]

When experiencing a score like this one, it is difficult to imagine motion pictures without music.

Though many great Western scores have been written by some of the cinema's greatest composers (including Dimitri Tiomkin, Jerome Moross, Elmer Bernstein and Ennio Morricone), no composer - and no score - eclipse Alfred Newman or "How the West Was Won." None.

[rogiet3]

No better theme ...ever

[helga1940]

Fantastyczna ponadczasowa muzyka.Oddaje ducha Zachodu.