Official HTF Western Appreciation Thread (3 Viewers)

[Tino]

I started a thread on John Ford's excellent The Searchers and that thread has started to veer off into a classic western thread so I figured it's a great topic for its own thread.

From Robert Crawford:

May I suggest the following order on the Westerns:

Stagecoach
Fort Apache
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Rio Grande
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Note: Because he plays a younger man in Rio Grande, I prefer to watch that before She Wore a Yellow Ribbon even though the latter film was filmed and released first.

I'll have these films in Saturday and will watch in this order.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I've been watching a lot of James Stewart westerns recently (that had its own thread) -- but to sum up, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was fantastic. Any of the collaborations that Stewart had with director Anthony Mann are worth seeing too.

 

[Tino]

I remember loving Winchester 73.

 

[TravisR]

By no means am I an authority on westerns but The Magnificent Seven is a classic.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I remember loving Winchester 73.

It was pretty good... and then, for me, their movies just kept getting better and better. So if you start out a collaboration with an absolute classic and just keep improving, that's a pretty special period for any career.

 

[Bernard McNair]

So many great westerns to view. I recommend "Vera Cruz" and The Professionals" both with Burt Lancaster in lead roles. In my view Mr. Lancaster was a great actor in any genre but I particularly enjoy his performances in westerns made at any stage of his lengthy career. Enjoy your journey into the west!!

 

[dpippel]

Some of my faves that haven't been mentioned yet:

3:10 to Yuma (both versions are very good)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (natch)
Once Upon a Time in the West (also natch)
Garden of Evil
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Lancaster and Douglas)
Jubal
Shane
Monte Walsh
My Name is Nobody
Red River

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I really enjoyed "Two Rode Together" with James Stewart and Richard Widmark, directed by John Ford. It's not the very best movie that any of them did, but it's a pretty good one, and Stewart and Widmark have fantastic chemistry - they have some phenomenal chemistry together and the dialogue scenes they have with just the two of them together range from heartfelt to hilarious. I had never heard of the movie before I had seen it, it was a blind buy from Twilight Time, and I absolutely loved every moment of watching it.

 

[Mark McSherry]

Two Stewart-less westerns that Anthony Mann directed in that same time-frame are showing on TCM in a week. Both westerns have their followers---

The Last Frontier (1956) with Victor Mature, Guy Madison, and Robert Preston - July 12 11:00 PM Central
Devil's Doorway (1950) with Robert Taylor - July 13 1:00AM Central

TCM precedes these two with the Mann/Stewart NAKED SPUR and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Tino, Naked Spur was awesome, and doesn't have a Blu-ray. If you've got TCM, I highly recommend it!

 

[Walter Kittel]

Lots and lots of great Westerns...

The Professionals - An extremely entertaining, well paced Western / Adventure with solid work by Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, and Jack Palance.

The Naked Spur - Strong work from James Stewart in a hard edged role. The wonderful landscapes on display in this film are almost a supporting player; quite picturesque. I really wish this would become available on Blu-Ray.

Red River - I do not care for the ending, which I feel is not true to the events depicted prior to the finale, but that criticism aside it is a marvelous Western with splendid work by Wayne and Montgomery Clift.

Will Penny - Great character work by Charlton Heston as an aging cowboy. While not as 'big' as his iconic roles, it might be my favorite performance from this actor.

The Big Country - Very, very high on my list of personal favorites in the Western genre. William Wyler worked in any number of genres and his command of film is on strong display in this work. Perhaps the iconic Western theme song plays over the opening credits of this film. Great work from Gregory Peck and the lovely Jean Simmons. Chuck Connors is terrific as the son of Burl Ives (both of whom turn in excellent performances}. Wonderful cinematography that really showcases the breadth and scope of the open range. Just a great film. The Blu-Ray has a geometry error and I don't think it has ever been corrected; but depending upon how sensitive you are to that sort of thing; I found it to be very watchable (and the best version I've ever seen.)

Once Upon A Time In The West - Perhaps not as 'classic' in terms of when it was made as the titles that will form the mainstay of this thread, it is probably still my favorite Western for the depth of its themes of the passing of the old West, the performances of the lead actors, one of the screen's best all time antagonists in the persona of Frank (Henry Fonda) and all the flourishes that one comes to expect from a Sergio Leone film.

- Walter.

 

[bujaki]

Good to see Mark bring up Anthony Mann's The Devil's Doorway, an uncompromising story of injustice with Robert Taylor's (arguably) finest performance. A punch in the gut.
Another great Mann Western: The Furies, a Criterion release, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston. Need one say more?

 

[cinemiracle]

By no means am I an authority on westerns but The Magnificent Seven is a classic.

It was a good remake but nowhere near as good as the original classical Japanese version THE SEVEN SAMURAI.

 

[cinemiracle]

The western is my least favourite genre. Very few were ever true to the real American west . I did enjoy THE GOOD ,THE BAD AND THE UGLY as a much loved favourite. SHANE was a classic. CHEYENNE AUTUMN was also up there with the best.It was truly magnificent when I saw it in 70mm originally. Other favourites were SHENANDOAH ; ROSE MARIE;THOSE REDHEADS FROM SEATTLE ;SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROHERS and THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW. Who still remembers that great comedy/musical? I never tire of watching it on dvd. .SEVEN BRIDES was even greater when it was blown up to 70mm. For reasons mentioned previously in another forum,I am not a John Wayne fan. Am I the only person in this forum who lists musicals as my favourite westerns?

 

[Capnvid]

"I really enjoyed "Two Rode Together"....."

Me too! The scene of Jimmy Stewart and Richard Widmark talking by the river is a classic in itself. You have superior taste in actors and films, Josh.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

"I really enjoyed "Two Rode Together"....."

Me too! The scene of Jimmy Stewart and Richard Widmark talking by the river is a classic in itself. You have superior taste in actors and films, Josh.

You give me too much credit, I'm just willing to try most things once so I've been lucky to discover some good things along the way. Two Rode Together I saw based on recommendations from fellow members so I can't take full credit. But oh, that scene by the river! By the middle of the scene I just knew this was going to be a favorite movie.

 

[B-ROLL]

The Ox-Bow Incident
My Darling Clementine
(Dr. McCoy in) The Gunfight at the O.K Corral (not historically accurate but ..)
The Alamo
Nigh Noon
(Newer)
Young Guns
Tombstone
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

 

[AshJW]

Westerns is my most favorite genre.

These are my most favorite classic-westerns:
- Rio Bravo
- The Magnificent Seven
- El Dorado
- The Searchers
- Once Upon A Time In The West / c'era una volta il west (THE classic spaghetti western)
- Cheyenne Autumn
- The Comancheros
- Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
- The Horse Soldiers
- The Man from Laramie
- Red River
- Vera Cruz
- The Violent Men
- Warlock
- The Big Country
- Winchester '73

 

[Keith Cobby]

Mine are:

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Big Country
The Professionals
The Cowboys
The Magnificent Seven
The Tall Men
Silverado

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Nice topic!

My favorite Westerns include:

* The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly --- This marvelously entertaining movie contains at least three dozen iconic Western/Civil War scenes all seamlessly stitched together in the search for the stolen gold. Fabulously directed in a very unique style by Sergio Leone with an equally unique score from Ennio Morricone; and starring Clint Eastwood at his sardonic best with able support from Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. It just doesn't get much better than this!

* The Magnificent Seven -- The best American version of "The Seven Samurai" to date with legendary performances from an all-star cast. The fact that they're remaking this is a complete joke since it has already been remade as "Battle Beyond the Stars", "The Three Amigos", "A Bug’s Life", and on and on. Regardless, this movie remains the best interpretation and no additional remakes are necessary as long as you can pull this down off the shelf!

* Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid -- Ah ... Robbing trains and banks: These are the cornerstones of the Western genre. But here we get a whimsical look at the process in a movie loosely based on a true story. And I don't know what it is about Westerns that inspires unique scores, but this movie provides one of the most unique ever from composer Burt Bacharach. (We even get "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" inserted into the movie to a bicycle riding montage. Try finding anything like that in any other Western.) The main reason this is one of my favorite Westerns, though, is that it never ceases to bring a smile to my face. (Of course, I always hit the stop button just after Australia is mentioned...)

Other Favorites:

John Wayne:
* Fort Apache
* The Searchers
* True Grit
* The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Other Clint Eastwood favorites:
* For a Few Dollars More
* Hang 'Em High
* Pale Rider
* Unforgiven

Comedy/Western favorites:
* Support Your Local Sherrif
* Cat Ballou
* City Slickers
* Rustlers' Rhapsody