Death in the West is a 1976 documentary film directed by Martin Smith, which is believed to contain the first recorded admission from a tobacco company representative that smoking causes health problems. It was filmed by reporter Peter Taylor alongside a team from the United Kingdom current affairs program This Week. The film aired only once in the UK, from London in September 1976 on Thames Television, to an audience of approximately 12 million viewers, before a court order was obtained preventing it from being re-aired. Content The film is composed of three different kinds of footage: old Marlboro commercials, interviews with two Philip Morris executives, and interviews with six American cowboys who have either lung cancer or emphysema, alongside testimony from physicians that the conditions were caused by heavy cigarette use. The film interviews James Bowling, senior vice president and director of corporate affairs for Philip Morris, as well as Helmut Wakeham, vice-president for the company's USA science and technology department. The interview with Wakeham is believed to be the first recorded admission from a tobacco company representative that smoking causes health problems. Wakeham was also criticised for comparing the ill-effects of smoking to overconsumption of apple sauce. Lawsuit Shortly after the film aired, Philip Morris sued Thames Television, successfully obtaining a court order to prevent the film from being shown until its suit could be heard and preventing the filmmakers from publicly discussing the film. Philip Morris' suit accused Thames of both deception and breach of copyright, stating the firm was "sandbagged and double-crossed" into allowing Marlboro commercials to be used in the film, as they thought the film would depict cigarettes in a more favourable manner. Both Mother Jones magazine and The Glasgow Herald doubted this claim, since Peter Taylor had previously made three films for British television which portrayed cigarette use in a negative manner. Philip Morris also spent "considerable money" in an attempt to prove the six individuals in the film were not genuine cowboys. Palmer Williams, then senior producer for 60 Minutes in the US, had expressed interest in airing part of the documentary, and the American Cancer Society had plans to use the film in their anti-smoking campaigns. The court order, however, prevented Thames from selling them the film. Philip Morris stated they would settle out of court, if Thames returned all the footage of the commercials and Phillip Morris employees, thereby effectively