How the West Was Won

Corrected entry: When Linus Rawling's son comes home from the Civil War, his brother shows him their parents' gravestones, and says something to the effect that "Paw isn't really buried here, I just set up a marker." However, the ground in front of Linus Rawling's gravestone is raised into a rectangular mound. If there is just a gravestone with nothing buried under it, the ground in front of it should be flat.

Correction: It is possible that an empty coffin was buried in the grave. This is not unheard of in other cases.

Noman ★

Linus was killed at Shiloh which took place almost exactly 3 years before the end of the war when Zeb obviously comes home. Coffin or no, after 3 years the mound would no longer look fresh if indeed there would be much if any mound left at all.

William Lanigan

Corrected entry: During the fight at the river pirates land base, Jimmy Stewart throws a small keg of gunpowder at a fire. Seconds later there is a very large explosion. Frame by frame slow motion reveals that the keg hits the log behind the fire and totally shatters spilling its contents over the fire and nearly putting it out. Had the keg contained gunpowder it would have instantly caught fire.

Correction: If you need slow-motion to spot it, then it's not a mistake per this site's rules.

Sacha ★

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Mistakes

Continuity mistake: Approximately 46 minutes into the film, Robert Preston is testing a new bullwhip. The whip is in his left hand as he brings his arm back and cracks the whip. He brings the left arm back for a second crack, and the shot changes to a closer angle just as he brings the whip down, only now it is suddenly in his right hand and not the left. The editing, the sound effect, the arm swing all seem perfectly coordinated, except that the whip changed hands between camera set-ups.

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Quotes

Zeb Rawlings: It ain't quite what I expected. There ain't much glory in lookin' at a man with his guts hanging out.

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Trivia

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Questions

Question: The scenes with Zeb and Lou have always puzzled me. Lou is trying to stop Zeb for going after outlaw Gant and the two have a last scene arguing where Zeb says basically that he will use the Law to put away Gant, but that he'll need Gant's help. The next scene is the two on the train to protect the gold from Gant's gang, and Zeb and Lou are working together now. But Lou's got a bandage on his forehead! I think the previous scene might have had a fight scene between the two in which Zeb finally convinces Lou to help him, hence the head injury. There's no other explanation for it. Anyone have any ideas?

Answer: This type of inconsistency is common in film making. More scenes are often filmed and/or they are much longer, but after editing, large portions are often cut out. Although the editing may improve the film's story line and pacing, it leaves small errors behind. This appears to be the case in this movie where a scene was completely deleted, but it left an unexplained detail behind.

raywest ★

Answer: A scene in with Zeb knocks Lou out in a stable was deleted.

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