Observe: That is our authentic listing revealed in January 2002. After practically 20 years, we determined it was well past time for an replace. Take a look at the revised listing that appeared in our July 2021 problem right here.
1. The Searchers (1956)
It might be not possible to provide you with a unanimous No. I, with 1000’s of movies and a century to span, however is there anybody who loves Westerns who doesn’t love The Searchers? John Ford could have written the language of the film Western in Stagecoach, however with The Searchers he demonstrated a mastery of visible storytelling to craft a movie that’s the cinematic equal of the Mona Lisa. Unheralded in its time, The Searchers has develop into an icon for individuals who take their films critically. Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese rank it amongst their most profound cinematic influences. Even moviegoers who’ve by no means been to movie college debate the movie’s greatest digicam photographs.
If that makes watching The Searchers sound as thrilling as attending a classroom lecture, nothing could possibly be farther from the reality. Ethan Edwards’ seven-year seek for his niece, who’s kidnapped by Indians, has the dramatic sweep of epic poetry. The embittered, bigoted Edwards undertakes an inside seek for grace that mirrors his journey by Monument Valley. The quests finish concurrently, as Edwards, who had deliberate to kill the woman slightly than see her raised as a savage, lifts her triumphantly into the air and lovingly cradles her in his arms, uttering 4 phrases that make Western followers cry: “Let’s go house, Debbie.”
However there isn’t a house for Ethan. He’s seen an excessive amount of, completed an excessive amount of, to ever be accepted into well mannered society. Within the basic last scene, Ethan returns Debbie to her household however can’t cross the brink of their cabin. He stays exterior, framed within the doorway, destined to wander his live-long days devoid of the comforts of house and fireplace.
John Wayne’s uncompromising portrayal of one of many films’ most ferocious tragic heroes ought to have earned him an Academy Award. However it will be greater than a dozen years earlier than Wayne lastly connected with Oscar for his portrayal of Marshal Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (No. 60).
2. Stagecoach (1939)
Hailed upon its launch as a touchstone within the evolution of the Western, Stagecoach is ostensibly an easy story of eight passengers touring by hostile territory. However beneath the floor, Dudley Nichols’ literate script examined the conflicting dynamics between the characters — female and male, North and South, high-brow and low-brow, valiant and cowardly — and the fascinating methods during which these dynamics change in the course of the journey.
John Ford’s determination to forged John Wayne didn’t sit effectively with producer Walter Wanger, who needed Gary Cooper. However as Stagecoach grew to become a template for the style, The Ringo Child established the John Wayne persona: a powerful, unbiased man who lives by an ethical code that doesn’t all the time conform to the legislation of the land. He’s respectful towards girls, however awkward and timid relating to romance. Ringo’s marriage proposal to the prostitute Dallas (Claire Trevor), delivered with head bowed and voice wavering, is a type of quiet, poignant second not present in Westerns earlier than Stagecoach.
John Wayne’s entrance scene appears to have been intentionally designed to introduce a major new presence within the style, because the lengthy shot from the shifting stagecoach closes quickly towards a determine within the distance. Wayne forces the stagecoach to a halt. He stands, legs aside, a saddle slung over his shoulder, twirling his personalized Winchester. “Seems to be such as you’ve acquired one other passenger,” he tells driver Andy Devine, and western films would by no means be the identical.
3. Shane (1953)
Shane isn’t just a narrative of the West; it’s all of the tales of the West: ranchers vs. homesteaders; the taming of the frontier; the showdown between good and evil; and the gunfighter who protects legislation and order (Alan Ladd), then feels misplaced as soon as the job is completed.
Youthful viewers are likely to expertise Shane by the eyes of Brandon De Wilde and share his hero worship of the buckskin-clad stranger with the pearl-handled revolver. Shane is soft-spoken and well mannered (“I hope you don’t thoughts my cuttin’ by your house”), however his hair-trigger response to a sudden noise betrays his identification as a gunfighter. Alan Ladd could have stood solely 5’4” however to little Joey (De Wilde) his presence is bigger than life.
When these identical viewers develop up and are available again to the movie, they see the emotional layers within the grownup relationships, which add better resonance to the story. Marian (Jean Arthur) warns Joey about getting too hooked up to Shane, however clearly she’s making an attempt to warn herself. Her husband Joe (Van Heflin) acknowledges her attraction in addition to the way in which his son idolizes Shane, however he does nothing, hoping Shane will do the proper factor when the time comes.
Each scene works, each efficiency rings true. Director George Stevens turns the removing of a tree stump right into a second of exhilaration. The grins Shane and Joe trade once they flip the tide of their general-store brawl arc irresistibly infectious. Jack Palance, because the embodiment of evil, set a normal for western villainy that’s but to be surpassed. And De Wilde’s plaintive cries of “Come again, Shane!” on the fade-out nonetheless echo within the reminiscence.
4. My Darling Clementine (1946)
The title gives the primary clue to John Ford’s intent. Though My Darling Clementine was based mostly on Wyatt Earp’s doubtful biography, Frontier Marshal, and follows the occasions main as much as the gunfight on the OK Corral, Ford focused on the romance between Wyatt (Henry Fonda) and Clementine (Cathy Downs). It’s becoming that the gunfight, although thrilling, doesn’t come near being probably the most memorable scene within the movie. The quieter moments — the church dance, the hilarious hair tonic scene, Doc’s Shakespearean soliloquy — are most indelible. That is probably the most stunning black-and-white western ever made. The truth is, it’s value watching as soon as with pontificate to raised recognize the chiaroscuro created by cinematographer Joseph MacDonald.
5. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
It’s on TV on a regular basis — TBS, AMC, TNT — the Meals Community and Animal Planet are most likely subsequent. And if it pops up throughout a channel surf, you may’t flip it off whether or not it’s close to the start, when Yul Brynner recruits his workforce of mercenaries, or when the “Seven” journey into the Mexican village, to the pulse-quickening “Bomp-BUMP-Bump-Bomp” of Elmer Bernstein’s rating, or on the movie’s climax in the course of the crackerjack shootout with the vicious raiders led by the demonic Calvera (Eli Wallach). It’s based mostly on Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, however that is no high-brow museum piece. Whereas the earlier 4 movies on this listing are justly lauded as cinematic artwork, The Magnificent Seven has no pretensions aside from to being the final word cowboy popcorn film.
6. Lonesome Dove (1989)
It was a western at a time when nobody else was making them. It was six hours lengthy, when the nationwide consideration span had shrunk to the size of a Madonna video. It starred fifty-something Robert Duvall and forty-something Tommy Lee Jones, when tv advertisers cared solely in regards to the youth market. And it was produced by Motown, and that made no sense in any respect. However in 1989, for 4 nights in February, it appeared as if everyone was watching Lonesome Dove. Larry McMurtry’s story of two retired Texas Rangers and their conversations and adventures throughout a cattle drive sought to “strip the glamour from the Outdated West.” But it surely was additionally a celebration of friendship, loyalty, and endurance of hardship, virtues lengthy related to the style.
7. Excessive Midday (1952)
No basic western divides film followers greater than Excessive Midday. Carl Foreman, a blacklisted screenwriter, based mostly the movie on private expertise, therefore the chilly shoulder Marshal Will Kane receives when he asks his group for assist. John Wayne and Howard Hawks had been outraged that Kane would attempt to recruit amateurs into his battle and made Rio Bravo to remind moviegoers how the West was gained. However the public liked Excessive Midday, with its weak hero (Gary Cooper, who gained the Greatest Actor Oscar), pretty newcomer Grace Kelly, and haunting theme music. The movie was taut and suspenseful, its story informed on the faces of its characters and with the relentless ticking clock.
8. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child (1969)
“Not that it issues, however the next story is true.” William Goldman’s “historical past with a twist” method mixes truth and legend to create a high-spirited journey. Butch and Sundance could not have been as glib or handsome as Paul Newman and Robert Redford, however Goldman’s script stayed near the information as they’re identified, and if Butch and Sundance didn’t actually soar off that cliff to flee a posse, they need to have. Redford and Newman’s potent chemistry impressed legions of makes an attempt at imitation. The duo single-handedly gave beginning to the “Buddy Movie,” and the enduring affect of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child could be present in films as numerous as 48 Hours and Shanghai Midday.
9. Dances With Wolves (1990)
We knew, we all the time knew, even whereas cheering for the cavalry in numerous movies, that historical past is written by the winners of the world’s conflicts, and America’s Native inhabitants acquired a uncooked deal. With Dances With Wolves, we lastly noticed the opposite aspect of the story, and the way becoming that it was by the eyes of an American soldier. Dances With Wolves grew to become a private campaign for Kevin Costner, who coproduced, directed, starred, and raised financing abroad after a string of Hollywood studios handed. His ardour was rewarded with seven Academy Awards and an awakening of our nationwide conscience.
10. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
It was the film Clint Eastwood needed to make, earlier than the emotionless persona he created by the Sergio Leone movies and his different signature character, Soiled Harry, grew to become a typecasting entice. In his 1976 guide The Filming of the West, film historian John Tuska predicted that Eastwood’s profession probably didn’t have endurance. That very same yr, The Outlaw Josey Wales launched a brand new kind of Eastwood character, nonetheless quiet, nonetheless lethal, but additionally compassionate and emotionally weak. The title describes how society will decide Josey Wales — an outlaw solely by circumstance — however when his quest is full, he returns to being the farmer Josey Wales in a scene that gives hope for the long run.
11. Gunsmoke (1955 – 75)
Even those that would relegate TV westerns to a standing beneath their film counterparts — and we all know we’ll be listening to from you — should acknowledge the greatness of Gunsmoke. The sequence spanned two of probably the most defining a long time in American popular culture historical past, from Marilyn Monroe to Farrah Fawcett; from “Rock Across the Clock” to “The Hustle;” from The Searchers to The Godfather. By way of all of it there was James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon, tall within the saddle and afraid of nothing, besides perhaps marriage to Miss Kitty.
12. Destry Rides Once more (1939)
Has there ever been a extra unlikely romantic pairing than Jimmy Stewart’s laid-back, milk-drinking lawman Tom Destry and Marlene Dietrich because the bawdy singer with a German accent and the inexplicable title of Frenchy? Destry Rides Once more packs memorable songs (Dietrich’s “See What the Boys within the Again Room Will Have”) and memorable scenes (a ferocious catfight between Dietrich and Una Merkel) into 94 flawless minutes. The film would have been longer if sure traces had made it previous the censors, resembling when Dietrich wins a poker hand and drops the cash down her shirt, prompting a cowboy to quip, “There’s gold in them thar hills.”
13. Rio Bravo (1959)
Figuring out Rio Bravo’s connection to Excessive Midday affords perception into an attention-grabbing slice of Hollywood historical past, but it surely’s hardly a prerequisite to get pleasure from its rousing mixture of motion, comedy, romance, and music. Dean Martin and Angie Dickinson be a part of outdated palms John Wayne and Walter Brennan, and if the casting of Ricky Nelson was a blatant try by Howard Hawks to spice up the field workplace with teenage women, no less than the child contributed a tremendous duet with Martin on the ballad “My Rifle, My Pony and Me.” And look on the brilliant aspect; it may have been Fabian.
14. The Gunfighter (1950)
“The quickest man with a gun who ever lived … was an extended, lean Texan named Ringo.” We’ve seen gunfighters as heroes and villains, lawmen and mercenaries. However Jimmie Ringo (Gregory Peck) is the gunfighter as superstar; trapped by fame, a topic of gossip, scorn, and adulation, Ringo can’t order a drink in a bar with out drawing consideration. “He don’t look so robust to me,” sneers any variety of envious punks. Well-known final phrases.
15. Purple River (1948)
Purple River appeals to these moviegoers who don’t like westerns, however inevitably uncover that, sure, John Wayne can act and, sure, films about cowboys and cattle drives could be about greater than cowboys and cattle drives. Allusions to Mutiny on the Bounty infuse the father-son battle between Wayne and Montgomery Clift, and their climactic fistfight symbolizes their real “outdated Hollywood vs. younger Hollywood” rivalry. The comfortable ending divided audiences, however the director, Howard Hawks, preferred each characters an excessive amount of to let both perish, and it’s arduous to fault his determination.
16. The Good, the Dangerous, and the Ugly (1967)
Latest scholarship has favored As soon as Upon a Time within the West as Sergio Leone’s crowning work, however for individuals who can’t separate the Leone oeuvre from its most well-known character, The Good, the Dangerous, and the Ugly is the final word spaghetti western. It has all of the signature components: dusty, desolate vistas; amoral characters resembling Tuco (Eli Wallach) who’re motivated solely by revenue; a showdown in a round enviornment, suggesting gladiators in a colosseum; an incomparable rating whose whistling theme, by Ennio Morricone, is immediately recognizable; and Clint Eastwood because the serape-clad, cheroot-chomping Man with No Title.
17. One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
This movie by no means stood an opportunity again in 1961, when its star and director, Marlon Brando, spent three years fussing over each digicam angle and line studying. Phrase acquired out that Mr. New York actor was making an artsy western, and One-Eyed Jacks was launched to a mixture of frosty evaluations and public indifference. At present, the again story forgotten, we treasure this deceit-filled saga of two outdated companions in crime, one revenge-obsessed however nonetheless able to redemption, the opposite hiding a savage nature behind a sheriff’s badge. For Gen-Xers who know Brando solely because the roly-poly man who kissed Larry King, right here’s proof that after upon a time, he was cool off the charts.
18. The Wild Bunch (1969)
The most effective opening credit sequence ever ends with William Holden growling “In the event that they transfer … kill ’em!” adopted by the sepia-toned freeze-frame “Directed by Sam Peckinpah.” Kinda says all of it. The director’s authentic 144-minute lower was trimmed virtually instantly after the movie’s launch, but it surely’s been restored for the video and DVD launch. The brand new scenes deepen the connection between Pike (Holden) and former Bunch member Robert Ryan, now a bounty hunter on Holden’s path, and after 30 years we lastly uncover how Pike acquired that limp.
19. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Rance Stoddard (James Stewart) performs a pitifully meek legal professional incapable of killing sadistic outlaw Liberty Valance. However that’s what historical past has recorded as a result of “when the legend turns into truth, print the legend.”’ Lee Marvin offers us a beautiful villain for the ages, and John Wayne impersonators picked up a staple for his or her act within the Duke’s demeaning references to Stewart’s character as “Pilgrim.”
20. The Nice Prepare Theft (1903)
Two western-style shorts had been truly created earlier than The Nice Prepare Theft was produced: in 1898, Thomas Edison filmed the five-minute sequences Cripple Creek Bar-room and Poker at Dawson Metropolis. But it surely was The Nice Prepare Theft, a reenactment of a heist by the ever-popular Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch just a few years earlier, that signifies the true starting of the western.
21. The Shootist (1976)
We bear in mind it sadly, and the reality is that we shouldn’t. Although it’s not possible to disconnect truth from fiction when E.W. Hostetler (Jimmy Stewart) tells John Bernard Books (John Wayne), “You’ve acquired most cancers” (Wayne succumbed to the illness in 1979), no film star essayed a greater last bow. Along with his efficiency in The Shootist, the Duke delivered one final valentine to his followers (and costar Lauren Bacall), one final raspberry to his critics, and an elegy to the American West that — to paraphrase Andrew Sarris — represents the survival of sure vestigial virtues in an period of mealy-mouthed relativism.
22. As soon as Upon a Time within the West (1969)
Henry Fonda by no means struck us because the bad-ass kind, however in Sergio Leone’s operatic follow-up to his {Dollars} trilogy, Fonda performs one of the vital abhorrent employed weapons ever. It’s disturbing, like watching Mr. Rogers give a child a wedgie. Forty minutes of cuts killed the unique American launch, however the movie was lastly restored to its full grandeur in 1984.
23. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
“So right here they’re, the dog-faced troopers, the regulars, the 50-cents-a-day professionals, using the outposts of the nation.” The center entry in John Ford’s Cavalry trilogy had his inventory firm at their most sentimental and featured Oscar-winning images of Monument Valley in Technicolor. The Duke, whose inherent air of authority labored to his favor when he performed older characters, discovered certainly one of his most indelible roles as retiring officer Nathan Brittles.
24. Unforgiven (1992)
Has it actually been virtually 10 years since this movie gained the Academy Award for Greatest Image and Clint Eastwood garnered Greatest Director honors? So as to liven up this undertaking, Eastwood traded on his standing because the style’s final bankable star to get a western made in a youth-driven market, then crafted a darkly poetic character examine that discovered extra to sentence than to have a good time in our western delusion. When anybody over 60 wins an Oscar, the belief is that it’s a profession award. The best praise one may pay Eastwood and Unforgiven is that nobody even thought to ask.
25. Tombstone (1993)
Most individuals found Tombstone after it went to video. Because the “different” Wyatt Earp film, it was overshadowed by Kevin Costner’s epic biography, however Tombstone’s unpretentious, balls-out gusto reminded us that an awesome western didn’t should unfold on the grand scale of Lonesome Dove or Dances With Wolves. Kurt Russell seems remarkably like the true Wyatt, and Val Kilmer’s unforgettable tackle Doc Holliday is the perfect style efficiency by an actor up to now 20 years. Strap on the weapons once more, Val — we’ll be your huckleberry.
26. The Lone Ranger (1949 – 57)
He wore a black masks and a white hat, a complicated mixture. However kids all the time knew he was a buddy. Few characters in western fiction are as beloved because the Lone Ranger and Tonto, as performed by Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. The impressed teaming of a cowboy and an Indian was a paradigm of racial concord. And to today, we will’t hearken to the “William Inform Overture” with out pondering “Hello-ho, Silver!”
27. The Virginian (1929)
We’ll smile after we say it — no western novel has been dramatized greater than The Virginian. It had been filmed twice earlier than Gary Cooper performed the tide position within the first “speaking” feature-length western. Subsequent variations appeared in 1946 and 2000, and a TV sequence debuted in 1962 and ran for 9 years. But it surely’s Cooper’s Virginian we bear in mind, for his star-making flip and the mustache-twirling of the villainous Walter Huston.
28. Winchester ’73 (1950)
What’s superb about Anthony Mann westerns is how every of his characters are absolutely developed, from Will Geer’s folksy tackle Wyatt Earp to the barkeep on the job at his saloon. Winchester ’73, the story of “the gun that gained the West,” follows Jimmy Stewart as he traces the provenance of his stolen rifle by a sequence of unsavory homeowners, all of whom are introduced down by frontier karma.
29. Blazing Saddles (1974)
The western was in bother within the Nineteen Seventies, so when Blazing Saddles rode into theaters, followers puzzled if it signified a style revival or the final nail in its coffin. Ten years later, it was nonetheless the highest-grossing western in historical past. Mel Brooks’ impolite, crude masterpiece contained sufficient laugh-out-loud moments for 10 films, from the notorious campfire scene to Madeline Kahn’s show-stopping send-up of Marlene Dietrich.
30. Fort Apache (1948)
Moviegoers had been used to seeing the U.S. Cavalry journey to the rescue, battle trumpets blaring. John Ford needed to take a extra in-depth have a look at a typical regiment; the day-to-day work of troopers in distant outposts, their private lives, and the way they address the fixed risk of assault. Fort Apache inaugurated the landmark Cavalry trilogy with a sobering reminder that typically the nice guys don’t win.
31. Angel and the Badman (1947)
Can a person who lives by the legislation of the gun stroll a extra enlightened path? Quirt Evans (John Wayne), on the vengeance path, should select between killing the person who murdered his father and settling down with a candy farm woman performed by Gail Russell, the most popular Quaker babe in films. An underrated entry within the Wayne canon.
32. Metropolis Slickers (1991)
Crowd-pleasing comedy that resonated with middle-aged child boomers. A trio of Massive Apple buddies (Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, and Bruno Kirby) be a part of Jack Palance’s cattle drive, and uncover the one secret of life. Palance gained the Oscar for Greatest Supporting Actor, and a calf named Norman grew to become probably the most beloved bovine since Ferdinand.
33. Dallas (1978 – 91)
The company cowboys within the tv sequence Dallas rode round in Mercedes-Benz coupes and held their showdowns in glass and metal skyscrapers. Not precisely a conventional Western, however beneath the soap-opera extra, the Ewings had been ranchers who fought amongst themselves however all the time circled the wagons towards an outdoor risk. OK, Bobby’s season-canceling bathe was a cop-out. However J.R. Ewing was probably the most well-known cowboy in America for greater than a decade, and when he was shot the entire world puzzled whodunit.
34. The Bare Spur (1953)
Jimmy Stewart performs a ruthless bounty hunter who, when informed his captive is harmless, replies, “It’s him they’re payin’ the reward on.” Robert Ryan is excellent because the manipulative villain who tries to sever the uneasy alliance between Stewart and the companions who joined him on the path. One other intense psychological drama from Stewart and Anthony Mann.
35. The Massive Path (1930)
Director Raoul Walsh forged John Wayne in The Massive Path on the recommendation of John Ford, who mentioned he “preferred the seems of the brand new child with a humorous stroll,” Wayne went from additional to star, which might have been an awesome discovery story had the movie been successful. However The Massive Path nonetheless deserves to be seen, not only for Wayne’s early-career work however for its exceptional wide-screen panoramas and close to cinéma vérité motion scenes, together with a river crossing in a fierce storm that nearly drowned the forged.
36. Oklahoma! (1955)
So long as the wind nonetheless comes sweeping down the plain, we’ll by no means develop uninterested in spending time with Curly and Laurie and Ado Annie, and listening to “Oh, What a Lovely Morning,” “Surrey with the Fringe on Prime,” “Folks Will Say We’re in Love,” and the remainder of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s splendid Oklahoma! rating.
37. A Fistful of {Dollars} (1964)
Henry Fonda, James Coburn, and Charles Bronson handed on the prospect to play a anonymous drifter in a Western transforming of the Japanese movie Yojimbo. Director Sergio Leone settled for TV actor Clint Eastwood, who cashed a $15,000 paycheck for the film that made him a global star. Eastwood correctly deleted most of his traces from the script to reinforce the drifter’s mythic persona.
38. The Wild, Wild West (1965 – 70)
A gadget-filled practice, a megalomaniacal dwarf, and Robert Conrad in very tight pants. Secret Service Brokers James West (Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) had been TV’s authentic dynamic duo on this spoofy, action-packed western. One rerun will expunge any reminiscence of the terrible 1995 film of the identical title.
39. The Man From Snowy River (1982)
To say that it’s Australia’s contribution to the western isn’t a lot of a praise. (There’s not a lot competitors.) However The Man From Snowy River captured the mythic spirit of the West in addition to any homegrown product has, maybe as a result of it was based mostly on a revered Australian legend. We’ve seen horses gallop throughout an enormous expanse a thousand occasions. Snowy River made these scenes inspiring once more. Critics shrugged; audiences fell in love.
40. The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
Apart from its opening sequences, The Ox-Bow Incident was shot virtually fully with painted backdrops and artificially created gentle and shadow. The closed-in feeling fits this darkish story of a lynching of innocents and its repercussions among the many city people.
41. The Man From Laramie (1955)
Quintessential Anthony Mann drama starring the director’s favourite obsession-driven cowboy, James Stewart. Of their last collaboration, Stewart hunts down the lads who bought weapons to the Apaches, ensuing within the dying of his brother. If Shakespeare had written a western tragedy, it might need regarded like this.
42. Blood on the Moon (1948)
Moody and really darkish, extra movie noir than horse opera, with Robert Mitchum as a long-haired drifter caught between warring ranchers and homesteaders. Mitchum, a shifty character in any setting, performs ethical relativism so effectively that even when he does the proper factor, you continue to do not belief him.
43. Duel within the Solar (1946)
Gone With the Wind, western-style. Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones steam up the Arizona desert in jaw-dropping Technicolor. Producer David Selznick guarantees “an image of a thousand memorable moments.” Audiences dubbed it Lust within the Mud. Melodramatic, over-the-top, and simply plain trashy — however in a great way.
44. Will Penny (1968)
“It takes a heap takes of time, years to construct up an expansion. I don’t have them … years no extra.” A noble cowboy at twilight, fantastically photographed by Lucien Ballard and performed by Charlton Heston in certainly one of his most understated performances. Too dangerous moviegoers most popular to look at him preventing soiled apes in one other 1968 movie.
45. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)
A companion piece to Excessive Midday, with a extra charismatic villain. Somebody has to look at captured outlaw Glenn Ford till the three:10 practice, however no one desires the job besides a determined farmer (Van Heflin), who wants the $200 reward to feed his household. A tense psychological drama.
46. Rio Grande (1950)
The ultimate entry in John Ford’s majestic Cavalry trilogy, and the primary teaming of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, a match made in film heaven. Strains of mounted troopers in Monument Valley by no means regarded extra inspiring, however the perfect second stays when the regiment serenades O’Hara with “I’ll Take You Residence Once more, Kathleen.”
47. Bonanza (1959 – 73)
For 14 years, the adventures of Ben Cartwright and sons Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe had been a Sunday night time custom. Tales dealt extra with household than heroes and villains, however they didn’t flinch from such severe subjects as drug abuse and racial prejudice. It’s factor these 4 guys had one another (and Hop Sing, in fact), as a result of girlfriends on the Ponderosa had an alarmingly quick life expectancy.
48. Gunfight on the O.Okay. Corral (1957)
Burt Lancaster performs Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas performs Doc Holliday, and that’s just about all you might want to know. That is the perfect of the 2 stars’ many collaborations, particularly with Rhonda Fleming, one of many high western actresses, alongside for the journey. The climactic gunfight is a knockout.
49. El Dorado (1967)
Generally magic occurs by chance. El Dorado appeared an train in going by the motions; an unofficial finale to a trilogy of Howard Hawks westerns (Rio Bravo and Rio Lobo got here first) all starring John Wayne, during which the tales had been kind of interchangeable. However Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and James Caan play the acquainted materials with a wink to one another and to the viewers that’s irresistible.
50. Excessive Plains Drifter (1972)
This was Clint Eastwood’s first western as each star and director, and it introduced new which means to the phrase “paint the city purple.” Eastwood essays one other no-nonsense man of few phrases, however his scenes with pint-sized costar Billy Curtis supply sudden comedian aid.
51. Assist Your Native Sheriff (1969)
Nobody performed the reluctant hero higher than James Garner, whose easygoing appeal match completely on this pleasant comedy.
52. Have Gun Will Journey (1957 – 63)
At a time in TV historical past when each different present was a western, viewers nonetheless hadn’t met a personality like Paladin (Richard Boone), the suave, refined gun-for-hire with the chess knight calling card.
53. Cowboy (1958)
A Chicago resort clerk bails a cowboy out of debt, in trade for a job on his subsequent cattle drive. Terrific East-meets-West discord, personified by Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford.
54. For a Few {Dollars} Extra (1965)
Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Title meets Lee Van Cleef, Man with No Facial Expression. Violence ensues.
55. Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Usually missed among the many nice MGM musicals, Annie Get Your Gun has a rare Irving Berlin rating, brassy Betty Hutton as Annie Oakley, and extra dancing cowboys than Gilley’s in its heyday.
56. Comes a Horseman (1978)
Very good Gordon Willis images elevates this post-World Struggle II spin on the outdated story of unbiased ranchers below siege from massive enterprise.
57. The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
In, The Sons of Katie Elder, John Wayne and Dean Martin reprise their Rio Bravo chemistry as 4 brothers observe down their father’s killer, with no assist from native lawmen.
58. Tumbleweeds (1925)
A landmark silent movie starring the display screen’s first cowboy hero, William S. Hart. The thrilling land rush scene stays a cinematic tour de pressure.
59. Maverick (1957 – 62)
Irreverent, non-traditional western with James Garner because the affable Bret Maverick, a gambler who, when bother beckons, is ever-ready to climb out of a window and run away.
60. True Grit (1969)
The Duke lastly walked off with an Oscar because the irascible Marshal Rooster Cogburn. John Wayne known as Rooster’s recollections of his life to costar Kim Darby “the perfect scene I ever did.”
61. Big (1956)
Director George Stevens gained the Oscar for Big’s superb visuals, together with the long-lasting picture of James Dean, cowboy hat low over his brow, reclining behind the wheel of a classic roadster.
62. The Plainsman (1936)
Cecil B. DeMille’s frontier epic about Wild Invoice Hickok and Calamity Jane surrounds Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur with 2,500 Sioux and Cheyenne extras. Observe the dramatic Star Wars-style credit.
63. Dodge Metropolis (1939)
What’s the perfect barroom brawl in historical past of western films? It needs to be the donnybrook in Dodge Metropolis, starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and one condemned saloon.
64. Experience the Excessive Nation (1962)
Two western icons, Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott, get again within the saddle for career-capping performances in Sam Peckinpah’s poetic tribute to a disappearing lifestyle.
65. Wagon Prepare (1957 – 65)
Lengthy earlier than The Love Boat ever considered setting sail, Wagon Prepare gathered completely different visitor stars every week for an eventful expedition. And in contrast to wagonmaster Ward Bond, Captain Stubing by no means needed to fear about Indian assaults.
66. Alias Jesse James (1959)
Bob Hope runs into outlaw bother and is rescued by a historic assemblage of Hollywood cowboys, together with Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Gary Cooper, Hugh O’Brian as Wyatt Earp, James Arness as Matt Dillon and Fess Parker as Davy Crockett.
67. The Tin Star (1957)
A sheriff turned disillusioned bounty hunter (Henry Fonda) tutors an inexperienced lawman (Anthony Perkins) on this intense Anthony Mann basic.
68. Rawhide (1959 – 66)
America meets Clint Eastwood as cattleman Rowdy Yates and sings alongside between whip-cracking to the perfect TV western theme music ever.
69. Silverado (1985)
An formidable try to revive the old-school western by author Lawrence Kasdan, who manages to concurrently salute and ship up each cliché of the style.
70. Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
After portraying Indians as capturing gallery geese for 25 years, director John Ford switched sides in his last western. Transferring, heartfelt, and lengthy overdue, even when the Cheyenne chiefs are performed by Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland.
71. 3 Godfathers (1948)
Three Cowboys Discover a Child: John Ford’s tackle the oft-filmed story is sentimental in the proper approach and gave John Wayne an opportunity to stretch his acquainted display screen persona.
72. Lonely Are the Courageous (1962)
The passing of the Outdated West was indelibly captured one unforgettable picture when fugitive cowboy Kirk Douglas tries to cross a superhighway on horseback.
73. Jesse James (1939)
Pure hokum as a biography of the famed outlaw, however grand leisure starring Tyrone Energy as Jesse and Henry Fonda as his brother Frank and that includes among the most perilous stunt using ever captured on movie.
74. Warlock (1959)
The provocative undercurrents on this story of a employed gunslinger (Henry Fonda) and his devoted companion (Anthony Quinn) will maintain the Freudians busy for hours.
75. The Good Outdated Boys (1995)
Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in a young, humorous TV western with a function high quality forged (Frances McDormand, Sissy Spacek, Matt Damon).
76. Arizona (1940)
Feminine leads are a rarity in westerns, so it’s a deal with to see the gifted Jean Arthur pulling off a rootin’ too tin’, shoot-’em-up with solely a modicum of help from William Holden.
77. McLintock! (1963)
Copyright issues and quite a lot of different authorized cockleburs stored this comedy that includes John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara out of circulation for many years. We puzzled if McLintock! was nearly as good as we remembered, after which it debuted on video. Sure, it was.
78. Cat Ballou (1965)
Jane Fonda performs the title position, a schoolteacher turned bandit, however Lee Marvin steals the movie in an Oscar-winning twin position, capped by the funniest rendition of “Glad Birthday” in film historical past.
79. McCloud (1971 – 77)
Dennis Weaver portrayed New Mexico Marshal Sam McCloud, who drew snickers from the hard-boiled Manhattan police detectives for his sheepskin coat and cowboy hat, till he beat them to the dangerous guys each time.
80. The Gray Fox (1982)
Stuntman turned actor Richard Farnsworth waited 40 years for a lead position, after which grew to become an in a single day sensation as an growing older practice robber.
81. The Alamo (1960)
Republic … we just like the sound of that phrase. John Wayne performs Davy Crockett in a traditionally sincere depiction of the well-known siege. Spurned in its time, the movie now will get higher with each viewing.
82. Two Mules for Sister Sara (1969)
The ethical of this story is rarely decide up a hitchhiking nun. The odd-couple teaming of Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine actually clicks.
83. Union Pacific (1939)
Usually daring Cecil B. DeMille mix of historical past and fiction, with Barbara Stanwyck in certainly one of her greatest tough-girl roles.
84. Hombre (1967)
Elmore Leonard’s story of a white man raised by Apaches pulls no punches in its condemnation of frontier racism.
85. The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955 – 61)
Distinctive amongst TV westerns in that the persevering with story adopted the historic lifetime of Wyatt Earp (Hugh O’Brian) to Tombstone, the place the saga of the OK Corral unfolded in a five-part sequence climax.
86. A Massive Hand for the Little Girl (1966)
Breezy comedy with a terrific twist ending, with Henry Fonda and Joanne Woodward as a farm couple who threat their life financial savings in a high-stakes poker recreation.
87. Barbarosa (1982)
A laid-back outlaw (Willie Nelson) befriends a farm boy on the lam (Gary Busey) on this amiable, well-photographed character examine.
88. Path of Robin Hood (1950)
A vacation basic. Roy Rogers saves Jack Holt’s Christmas tree enterprise with assist from an all-star posse of western heroes, together with Rex Allen, Allan “Rocky” Lane, and Ray “Crash” Corrigan.
89. Man With out A Star (1955)
Ranch hand Kirk Douglas matches wills with a savvy cattle baroness (Jeanne Crain) whereas making an attempt to maintain the fences away from his nook of the frontier.
90. The Massive Nation (1958)
A lot of westerns have “Massive” of their title. Why this one isn’t extra celebrated is a “massive” thriller, although it positive factors new converts with each airing on Turner Film Classics.
91. Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
Better of the numerous movie biographies of the famed Apache chief, with a star-making efficiency from Wes Studi as Geronimo.
92. The Cisco Child (1950 – 56)
“Hey, Pancho!” “Oh, Ceeesco!” If you happen to didn’t develop up having fun with this trade each Saturday morning, our profoundest sympathies. Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo performed the famed Mexican heroes.
93. How the West Was Gained (1962)
Gargantuan display screen epic chronicling three generations of a pioneer household. Lengthy however engrossing, with a dozen high stars and certainly one of Alfred Newman’s greatest scores.
94. Excessive Chaparral (1967 – 71)
Romeo and Juliet on a ranch, with America and Mexico because the contentious households. The wedding of “Massive John” Cannon (Leif Erickson) and his Mexican bride, Victoria (Linda Cristal), inaugurated 5 years of refined stones.
95. Cimarron (1931)
The primary western to win the Oscar for Greatest Image stars Richard Dix and Irene Dunne as Easterners heading west. Dated, however a significant step within the maturation of the style.
96. Junior Bonner (1972)
“Bloody Sam” Peckinpah proves he may make PG film with this considerate have a look at rodeo life, with Steve McQueen as an growing older bull rider.
97. The Massive Valley (1965 – 69)
Barbara Stanwyck had a knack for working effectively in a frontier setting, and she or he discovered her greatest western position not in film theaters however on this in style tv sequence that blended good drama with loads of motion.
98. The Phantom Empire (1935)
See! Gene Autry battle torch-wielding robots! Thrill! To the singer’s adventures within the kingdom of Murania! Chuckle! At how a lot enjoyable going to the films was, when serials like this off-the-wall sci-fi western performed earlier than the function.
99. Dangle ’Em Excessive (1967)
Clint Eastwood’s first movie after the {Dollars} trilogy has him enjoying an harmless rancher condemned for homicide. Full of life try at cooking Leone’s spaghetti recipe stateside.
100. The Unforgiven (1960)
Audrey Hepburn in a western is purpose sufficient to look at this one, however this John Huston movie additionally options tremendous performances from Burt Lancaster and legendary starlet Lillian Gish.
From the January 2002 problem.
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