was assigned as producer, and he hired James Webb to write the script. George Peppard was announced as the lead in October 1960, and Irene Dunne and Bing Crosby were originally announced as stars. Laurence Harvey and John Wayne were also slated to appear in one sequence together. By April 1961, Wayne and Spencer Tracy had confirmed their plans to play generals Sherman and Grant for a segment directed by John Ford, and James Stewart had been signed as well. Other roles would go to Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds, Russ Tamblyn and Carroll Baker, while Henry Hathaway and George Marshall would also direct from a script by James Webb. Crosby was scheduled to provide narration. Jim Hutton was intended to appear in the Civil War segment. Eventually, Harry Morgan appeared as Grant when Tracy was unavailable. Ultimately, the film contained five sections: the 1830s migration, the 1840s gold rush, the Civil War, the construction of the railroad and the "taming" of the Wild West, with one family's story over three generations providing the bridge between each time period. The budget was set to at least $8 million. John Ford directed the Civil War segment, George Marshall the railroad segment and Henry Hathaway the rest. "We wanted three old pros, no young geniuses," said Smith. Cinerama How the West Was Won was one of only two dramatic feature films (along with The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm) produced with the three-strip Cinerama process. Although the picture quality when projected onto curved screens in theaters is stunning, attempts to convert the film to a smaller screen suffer. When the film is projected in letterbox format, the actors' faces are nearly indistinguishable in long shots. Shooting Filming started in May 1961 by John Ford in Paducah, Kentucky. Producer Bernard Smith said, "It is essential for our purposes that virtually the whole movie be shot outdoors. Throughout the movie, one of the basic themes is to show little people against a vast country – huge deserts, endless plains towering mountains, broad rivers. We want to capture the spirit of adventure, the restless spirit that led these men and women across the country in [the] face of many difficulties and dangers." After Ford finished his segment, Hathaway took over on location. Parts of the film were shot in Monument Valley, Utah and in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California. Ford complained about having