Westward the Women plot

In 1851, Roy Whitman (John McIntire) decides to bring marriageable women west so his lonely men will put down roots in his California valley. Roy hires a reluctant Buck Wyatt (Robert Taylor) to lead the wagon train. In Chicago, Roy recruits 138 "good women". After telling them about his valley, he encouraging them to pick their prospective mates from pictures he has tacked to a board. Two saloon girls, Fifi Danon (Denise Darcel) and Laurie Smith (Julie Bishop), hastily change their flashy clothes when others like them are rejected. Roy is not fooled by the disguise, but convinced of their sincere wish to reform, adds them to the group. Most of the male travellers likewise fall victim to disaster, save for Buck and his courageous Japanese cook Ito (Henry Nakamura). Even when the wagon train reaches its destination, the story is far, far from over. Though second-billed Denise Darcel is the most prominent of the women, the large cast generally works as an ensemble, with everyone pitching together for the common good, just as their real-life counterparts had done back in the 1850s. Throughout, the film abruptly (and effectively) switches moods, veering precipitously from raucous comedy to profound tragedy (some of the deaths occur so suddenly that they can still elicit gasps from the audience). An expertly assembled and reasonably realistic saga, Westward the Women is one story that needs to be told in black-and-white; the currently available colorized version should be avoided like the plague. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide