Westward The Women (1951)

Set in 1851, a California rancher (John McIntire) who has built a large spread in a valley hires a wagon master (Robert Taylor) to bring a hundred respectable women from the East out West to marry the lonely men and keep them from leaving. Directed by William A. Wellman (THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY), this is a very good western. Based on an idea by Frank Capra (LOST HORIZON) who had hoped to direct the movie himself but his studio (Paramount) had no interest in the project so Wellman took Capra's story and set it up at MGM. The film was a box office success so Paramount lost out. Though Taylor is definitely the lead, this is a female centric western. Of course, there's romance but the bulk of the film is focused on the hardship the women face traveling through hostile Indian country, the desert and the physical tasks that would normally be done by men. Not all of the women survive the trek nor do some of the men. Tough and unsentimental, the doesn't always go where you think it's going to go. For example, there's an adorable dog and I thought, "He'll be toast before the movie's over" but the little bugger makes it. With Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson, Marilyn Erskine, Julie Bishop, Renata Vanni and Henry Nakamura.