

How the West Was Won
It's here! The mightiest adventure ever filmed!
The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.
TMDB
7.0/10
520 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $15M
- Box office
- $76.7K
- Language
- English
- river
- settler
- native american
- caravan
- outlaw
- frontier
- colonisation
- family
- riverboat
- usa history
Top billed cast


















Behind the camera
Writers
Music
Produced in
United States of America
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
Gallery









Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- TheatricalG20 Feb 1963
United KingdomGB
- PremierePGLondon1 Nov 1962
- Theatrical2 Nov 1962
AustriaAT
- Theatrical1217 May 1963
BelgiumBE
- Theatrical122 Nov 1962
BrazilBR
- TheatricalL10 Dec 1962
- TVL15 Mar 1999
FranceFR
- PremiereParis29 Nov 1962
GermanyDE
- Theatrical121 Feb 1963
IrelandIE
- TheatricalPG2 Nov 1962
ItalyIT
- Theatrical30 Jan 1963
JapanJP
- TheatricalG24 Nov 1962
PortugalPT
- TheatricalM/123 Jun 1965
South KoreaKR
- Theatrical12 Aug 1966
Frequently asked questions
How the West Was Won was released on 2 November 1962.
Audience reviews
3- J9/10
John Chard
5/4/2017
Bound for the promised land, indeed. One of the last great epic movies to come out of MGM that was a roaring success, How the West Was Won still has enough quality about it to warrant high praise. The story that drives the film on was suggested by the series of the same name that featured in "Life" magazine 1959. Narrative is formed around one family, the Prescott's, who set out on a journey West in 1839. They and…
- W7/10
Wuchak
4/14/2021
_**Unique, entertaining all-star Western epic comprised of vignettes is a mixed bag**_ Released in 1962-63 and written by James Webb, "How the West was Won" is an epic Hollywood Western covering fifty years between 1839-1889 focusing on the Prescott family's move West and narrated by Spencer Tracy. This is a history lesson amped up with melodrama, romance, adventure, violence and song & dance. The film was done…
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
1/23/2023
It's almost impossible to imagine how anyone could have amassed such a complete complement of Hollywood A-listers (both in front of, and behind, the camera) to make this epic tale of the pioneering American spirit in the 19th century. From the opening bars of Alfred Newman's score, you can rest assured that we are in for something grand - and, cinematographically speaking, we certainly are. The story is essentially e…
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