The West (documentary)

The West— sometimes marketed as Ken Burns Presents: The West — is a documentary film about the American Old West. It was directed by Stephen Ives and the executive producer was Ken Burns. The film originally aired on PBS in September 1996.

Production

Stephen Ives and Ken Burns had worked together on several films, including The Civil War (1990) and Baseball (1994).^[1] In 1988, Ives created his own production company, Insignia Films, and began working on The West as director, with Burns signed on to the project as executive producer.^[1] In order to create The West, the film crew traveled over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) via airplane, conducted 72 interviews, visited 74 archives and collections, and filmed more than 250 hours of footage.^[2] Notable interviewees included the historians Stephen Ambrose, J. S. Holliday, and Richard White; the novelists Maxine Hong Kingston and N. Scott Momaday; the environmentalists and writers Terry Tempest Williams and Marc Reisner; and the politicians Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Ann Richards, Stewart Udall, and Ralph Yarborough.^[3]

Many notable actors lent their voices to The West, including Adam Arkin, Ossie Davis, Keith Carradine, John Lithgow, Mary Stuart Masterson, Blythe Danner, the famous playwright Arthur Miller, and Jimmy Smits. The film's narrator, Peter Coyote, later also narrated Burns' documentary film, The National Parks (2009).

The film's production was funded by General Motors.^[4]

TV release

The West premiered on September 15, 1996, on PBS. The film was split into episodes, with one episode being aired each night for eight consecutive nights. Episodes were cut to about 90 minutes each in length, for a total length of over 12 hours for the entire film.^[5]

Episodes

When The West was released on VHS, the finale episode, "One Sky Above Us," was divided into two one-hour episodes, titled "Ghost Dance" and "One Sky Above Us." This VHS was September 24, 1996.

Reception

The West was well received by both popular audiences and historians. Over 38 million viewers watched the film during its original airing,^[1] and it earned an average national Nielsen rating of 5.0.^[6] In 1997, the Organization of American Historians awarded The West its Erik Barnouw Award.^[7]

Film and television critics also responded positively to The West. Caryn James of The New York Times praised the film for its "enthralling detail" and authenticity, calling it "fiercely and brilliantly rooted in fact."^[8] Richard Zoglin of TIME judged the film "a sweeping, thoughtful, often moving look at America's conquest of the West",^[9] and Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times wrote that, "director Stephen Ives succeeds magnificently, delivering a lush work at once fully documented and fully entertaining... no one could ask for better television."^[10]

DVD release

PBS released a five-disc DVD set of The West on September 30, 2003.^[11]

References

Further reading

• Ward, Geoffrey C. (2003). The West: An Illustrated History. Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-316-73589-2. 

External links

• Official website
• The West at the Internet Movie Database