According to the 24 Jul 1960 NYT, How the West Was Won began as a series of articles published during 1959 in Life magazine, chronicling the U.S. westward expansion of the nineteenth century. The series was followed by a record album of the same name, released on RCA-Victor in early 1960. The two-volume set featured singers Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, among others, performing songs and stories of the Old West. On 21 Jun 1960, NYT announced that Bing Crosby Enterprises partnered with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) to produce The Great Western Story, using the Cinerama widescreen format. Inspired by the bestselling album, the story would be told in “six historical segments, each written for twelve of Hollywood’s stars.” The filmmakers also intended to include iconic Western characters and appropriate music from the period. A portion of the profits would be allocated for the construction of a new wing at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, CA. More than two months later, the 1 Oct 1960 LAT reported the official title as How the West Was Won. The picture would now be comprised of eight episodes, with actor George Peppard as the unifying character. Veteran actress Irene Dunne was added to the cast, but did not appear in the finished picture. On 27 Feb 1961, LAT announced that Gary Cooper, Glenn Ford, and Burt Lancaster would also be given roles. Actors John Wayne and Spencer Tracy were chosen to play General William T. Sherman and General Ulysses S. Grant, respectively, according to the 21 Apr 1961 LAT. The 28 Apr 1961 LAT stated that Crosby would provide voice-over narration. Other casting announcements mentioned George Gobel (1 May 1961 LAT), Jim Hutton (6 May 1961 LAT), Barry Harvey, Tudor Owen, and Lee Van Cleef (12 May 1961 LAT), Frank Sinatra (24 May 1961 Var), and Jerry Holmes (4 Aug 1961 LAT). Crosby was replaced as narrator by Spencer Tracy, who relinquished the role of Grant to Henry (Harry) Morgan. Neither Ford, Lancaster, Gobel, Hutton, nor Sinatra participated in the completed film, and Gary Cooper died before the start of principal photography. Harvey, Owen, and Van Cleef appeared in uncredited roles. The picture also marked Jerry Holmes’s feature film acting debut.
       An article in the 21 May 1961 NYT stated that production was expected to begin the following week, with a minimum budget of $8 million, to be shot on locations “from the Ohio River to the Pacific.” The article revealed that Bing Crosby purchased the rights to the original Life magazine series with the intention of making a “television spectacular,” rather than a movie. He eventually offered the project to MGM, which was searching for suitable properties to fulfill its five-picture deal with the Cinerama Corporation. Producer Bernard Smith anticipated a limited run for the 145-minute epic, as there were only 110 Cinerama theaters in the entire world at that time. As Smith explained in the 3 Sep 1961 LAT, screenwriter James R. Webb spent fifteen months composing the script, which chronicled the fictional Prescott family from 1840 to 1885 as each generation moved further west. Directors Henry Hathaway, John Ford, and George Marshall were each given their own units to avoid the logistical difficulties of moving an entire film company from one location to the next. Hathaway was assigned the first, second, and fifth segments, with Ford and Marshall filming the third and fourth segments, respectively. Production took place on locations in KY, IL, OH, CO, AZ, and southern CA. The 16 Sep 1961 NYT revealed that Marshall was originally assigned the second segment, depicting “a comic treatment of a mammoth Indian attack.”
Columnist Hedda Hopper, in her 12 May 1961 LAT column, announced the impending start of principal photography in Charlesville, TN. The 24 May 1961 Var estimated that ninety percent of the picture would be shot on locations across the U.S., with completion of photography anticipated for late Dec 1961. The budget was expected to exceed $12 million. Filming began 28 May 1961, according to a 19 Jul 1961 Var production chart. On 22 Aug 1961, LAT reported the production’s move to Montrose, CO, with new cast members Thelma Ritter, Robert Preston, and Gregory Peck. The 16 Sep 1961 NYT stated that John Ford was in the process of editing the completed Civil War sequence. With production nearly completed, the 3 Jan 1962 LAT announced a summer premiere, tentatively scheduled for 4 Jul 1962.
An article in the 24 Jan 1962 Var noted that How the West Was Won was the first MGM release for which the studio had no rights to the soundtrack. Bing Crosby Enterprises intended to market the score independently. Three weeks later, however, the 13 Feb 1963 Var stated that MGM subsidiary Robbins Music acquired rights to the score, composed by Alfred Newman, with plans to aggressively market the soundtrack album. According to the 3 Apr 1963 Var, music rights were originally under the control of Project Records president Si Rady, through his affiliation with Bing Crosby Enterprises. Following a buyout of the label by Capitol Records, MGM was able to purchase the rights for an estimated $250,000. The 4 Apr 1962 Var revealed that Dimitri Tiomkin was initially hired to write the score, but was forced to postpone the project due to an eye injury, from which he needed two months to recover. On 27 Jun 1963, NYT reported that Tiomkin was suing MGM for $2.6 million, claiming he was “unjustly” fired, causing him “a loss of royalties” and jeopardizing his chances for further employment. Tiomkin had already spent five weeks writing the score when he was injured on 12 Mar 1963, resulting in a four-week hospital stay. The composer received notice of his dismissal on 26 Mar 1963.
       In his 10 Jan 1963 LAT column, sportswriter Jim Murray recounted the on-set accident that nearly cost stuntman and actor Bob Morgan his life. While performing a scene on a moving train in Globe, AZ, Morgan was struck in the face by a 6,000-pound stack of fiberglass logs. He was then run over by two flat cars and a caboose, severing his left leg. Morgan was transported seventy miles to a hospital in Phoenix, AZ, where his face was reassembled. He later sued MGM for an undisclosed amount, which Murray described as “enough money to buy a small country.”
       Although principal photography was completed weeks earlier, the 14 Feb 1962 LAT reported that MGM executives Joe Vogel and Robert Weitman decided the film “needed a very important finish.” Another month of location shooting was required, featuring actors George Peppard and Debbie Reynolds. Henry Fonda would complete his scenes in New York City, where he was appearing in a play. Productions charts in the 14 Mar 1962 Var stated that photography resumed on 5 Mar 1962.
       While filming was still in progress, the 21 Mar 1962 Var reported MGM’s plan to release How the West Was Won overseas, hoping it would present a positive image of American culture. Two months later, on 16 May 1962, Var announced autumn 1962 openings in England, France, Japan, Australia, Spain, and Austria. Subsequent openings were planned for Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, South Africa, Belgium, and Germany. The 4 Oct 1962 NYT reported that a private screening was held for a select group of exhibitors the previous evening, adding that the picture would not be released in the U.S. for another year.
       How the West Was Won premiered 1 Nov 1962 in London, England. The screening was preceded by a “charity gala,” according to the 7 Nov 1962 Var. The U.S. premiere took place on 20 Feb 1963 at the Warner Hollywood Cinerama Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. The 10 Feb 1963 LAT revealed that veteran actress Irene Dunne, president of the St. John’s Hospital Foundation, “was instrumental” in arranging the premiere, which benefited her organization.
       Reviews were lukewarm, exemplified by the 27 Jan 1963 LAT and the 28 Mar 1963 NYT, both of which described the film as a composite of Western clichés. Native-American horse wrangler Gene Hoback, who coordinated 225 Navajo background actors for a battle sequence, told the 5 May 1963 LAT that he refused to see the film, saying the reenactment was too realistic. The 6 Mar 1963 reported that George Peppard attended the Dallas, TX, premiere, where he received the award for “most distinguished young motion picture star” by the Dallas chapter of Women of the Motion Picture Industry (WOMPI).
       The 8 Jan 1964 Var declared How the West Was Won the top rental among exhibitors, anticipating earnings of $17 million over the course of its run.
       The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture; Color Cinematography; Color Art Direction-Set Decoration; Color Costume Design; Original Music Score; Story and Screenplay—Written Directly for the Screen; Achievement in Sound; and Film Editing. It won the latter three awards. Other awards and accolades were bestowed by the American Cinema Editors, the Motion Picture Sound Editors, Photoplay magazine, Western Heritage, the National Board of Review, and the U.S. Congress. Although the picture continued as a first-run feature for more than two years, Var revealed on 30 Dec 1964 that it not yet earned “‘a substantial portion’ of Cinerama’s share of the film negative cost.” Faced with losses in excess of $10 million, Cinerama curtailed its investments in film production.
       The 26 Jul 1961 Var reported that author Louis L’Amour was commissioned to write a novelization of the screenplay for Bantam Books. Six hundred thousand copies were planned for the first printing.
       Location scenes filmed at Battery Rock along the Ohio River in Illinois; Courthouse Mountain in the Pinnacles National Monument, California; Chimney Rock in the Colorado Rockies; Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border; the countryside around Paducah, Kentucky; Custer State Park, South Dakota; and in Uncompaghre (Colorado), Tonto (Arizona) and Inyo (California-Nevada) National Forests. Opened in London 1 Nov 1962. Also reviewed at 162 and 165 min; copyright length: 149 min. The final scene in the Cinerama version, a panoramic helicopter view of modern-day America, was omitted from the film in its general release version. The non-roadshow version was released in 35mm CinemaScope.