November 25, 2004

A Brief History of the Western

My wife's father has a seen a few westerns and finds them fascinating. So we're watching some westerns together. The question is, which westerns would you show to someone who hasn't seen many of them and wants to learn about the genre?

Here is what we have on the list so far:
  • My Darling Clementine (1946) - One of John Ford's best efforts, Henry Fonda is Wyatt Earp. Victor Mature as Doc Holliday, does Hamlet. Cinematography to die for.
  • Red River (1948) - Howard Hawks directed this early John Wayne vehicle.
  • The Searchers (1956) - John Ford directed one of John Wayne's greatest efforts. Wayne is not just playing John Wayne here, he's angry, unbalanced, dangerous, animal-like - not the protector of order he later became.
  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - A lawyer at my old office said this was his favorite film. Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne do politics, gunfire. Ebert has not formally revied the film that I can find, but has an interesting take.
  • Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) - Incredible to me that this was made in 1969, while Gunsmoke was still on TV and John Wayne was still in full voice. Ebert, in a rare miscalculation, does not regard the move as among the best, and blasphemes by criticizing Claudia Cardinale's performance. I've seen all but one of these films, and for me this is the one that most rewards re-watching, and has the most to say.
  • And I know we have to finish up with Unforgiven (1992) - I've never seen it! Everyone says it's great, as does the Swami.
Which leaves a couple of questions - what were the greatest westerns of the 70's and 80's? And should we include some pre-war films as well? And are we going too heavy here? Maybe we should dig up some Roy Rogers or Lone Ranger TV shows? And what about Shane (Ebert: "he has...issues")?


2 Comments:

Blogger VMM said...

I have one word for you: High Noon.

Also, I would add two Clint Eastwood movies to your list: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Wayne Tucker makes a good case for it being better than Once Upon a Time in the West because of Eli Wallach) and The Outlaw Josey Wales, the only good western made in the 70's.

There were no good westerns made in the 80's. Instead, we got crap like Silverado, Young Guns, and Pale Rider. Oddly enough, the best of that decade was made for television: Lonesome Dove. I just noticed it has an astronomically high 9.1 rating on IMDB. According to my calculations, were it qualified to be on the top 250 movie list, it would be ranked number 69, or 3rd among westerns.

Other westerns in the IMDB top ten: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Ox-Bow Incident (never seen it), and The Wild Bunch.

November 26, 2004 at 3:04 PM  
Blogger VMM said...

Oh, and if you want something lighter, get Rio Bravo, directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. This movie has one of my favorite comic relief characters in any movie: Walter Brennan as John Wayne's cantankerous sidekick, "Stumpy".

November 26, 2004 at 3:29 PM  

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