title: Dream West
text: # Dream West
  
  Dream West is a 1986 American television miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and directed by Dick Lowry.
  
  ## Development
  
  The seven-hour miniseries was broken into three parts (2 hours, 2 hours, and 3 hours). Part 1 aired on Sunday, April 13, 1986. It was the 16th most-watched show of that week. Part 2 had been intended to follow the next day, but was postponed a day until April 15 due to a press conference by President Ronald Reagan about Libya (see 1986 United States bombing of Libya). Part 3 was moved to Sunday, April 20. Part 2 was the 15th most watched television show for its week, and Part 3 came in 8th place.
  
  ## Plot
  
  The film was based on the 1984 novel of the same name by David Nevin, based on the life of 19th century explorer and politician John C. Frémont.
  
  ## Cast
  
  * Richard Chamberlain as John Charles Fremont
  * Alice Krige as Jessie Benton Fremont
  * F. Murray Abraham as President Abraham Lincoln
  * René Enríquez as General Castro
  * Ben Johnson as Jim Bridger
  * Jerry Orbach as Capt. John Sutter
  * G. D. Spradlin as General Steven Watts Kearney
  * Rip Torn as Kit Carson
  * Fritz Weaver as Senator Thomas Hart Benton
  * Anthony Zerbe as Bill Williams
  * Claude Akins as Tom Fitzpatrick
  * John Anderson as Brig. Gen. Brooke
  * Lee Bergere as 'Papa Joe' Nicollet
  * Jeff East as Tim Donovan
  * Michael Ensign as Karl Preuss
  * Mel Ferrer as Judge Elkins
  * Gayle Hunnicutt as Mrs. Maria Crittenden
  
  ## Reception
  
  The Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors (2009) refers to the film as a "bracing yet relatively little remembered miniseries."
  
  The film was released on DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection in 2012.
  
  