Favorite Westerns?
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phantomparticle — 5 years ago(May 29, 2020 09:54 PM)
I was never a big western fan, even as a kid, although I must have seen a zillion of them in the theatre between 1953 and 1965.
Lately, I've been watching a lot on YouTube. Must be something in my aging DNA
So, favorites:- Lonesome Dove
Yes, it was a tv movie, but I consider it the greatest western epic ever made; no offense to John Ford. - Little Big Man
Dustin Hoffman's tour de force performance, the excellent supporting cast, a brilliant script and the remarkable Chief Dan George (Man! How I miss him) should put this somewhere on everyone's favorite list. - The Westerner
It's Walter Brennan's movie all the way. He and Gary Cooper are the Abbott Costello of The Old West in this enjoyable romp. Still, there is enough drama to keep it from crumbling into farce. Brennan has a memorable exit. - Man of the West
Cooper again, nine years later, as a world weary ex-gunfighter who crosses the path of his old outlaw gang. One of the most brutal westerns ever committed to film. If anyone thinks Cooper was a wooden actor, look up The Westerner and then watch Man of the West, both played in his natural style and as different as our blue Earth and the gray dust of the moon. - Open Range
The great Robert Duval and the not so great Kevin Costner working perfectly well together. The final gun battle is one of the most realistic I have ever seen in a movie where everyone blasting away at each other look like they really are professionals with guns.
I wish I had more time to elaborate on my choices but, as Groucho once sang, "Hello, I must be going". Maybe a post sometime down the line.
And This, Too, Shall Pass Away
- Lonesome Dove
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MortSahlFan — 5 years ago(May 29, 2020 10:39 PM)
Well, here's a reminder, because I'd like to read more.
I like Gary Cooper, so I'll add those two movies to my watch-list. Thanks!
https://www.patreon.com/LoyalOpposition -
phantomparticle — 5 years ago(May 29, 2020 11:08 PM)
I could have put The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in second or third place, but I wanted to cite a couple of westerns that don't get much print on these boards.
Eli Wallach steals the movie from under Eastwood's serape. Wallach had some great stories about how he was cast and how he could have been killed during the sequence in which the train cuts his handcuffs.
My suspicion is that Leone saw what Wallach was doing and deftly skewered the movie in his direction.
Wallach also has the best line in the movie:
If you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk.
Thank you, Mr. Wallach, wherever you are.
And This, Too, Shall Pass Away -
joekiddlouischama — 2 years ago(July 01, 2023 05:18 AM)
Eli Wallach steals the movie from under Eastwood's serape. Wallach had some great stories about how he was cast and how he could have been killed during the sequence in which the train cuts his handcuffs.
My suspicion is that Leone saw what Wallach was doing and deftly skewered the movie in his direction.
Your suspicion is partly correct. As written by the late film critic, historian, and biographer Richard Schickel in his 1996 work
Clint Eastwood: A Biography
(page 174):
On location, Leone was attentive and encouraging to Wallach—"He allowed me to have my romp with this little guy"—and Clint was protective.
That said, Eastwood could see from the beginning (meaning from the script stage) that as Leone's visions (and budgets) were expanding, the role of his own character was comparatively diminishing from one film to the next. Regardless, Eastwood still provides that balance to Wallach—his "cool" here is immaculate, perhaps unmatched—and offers a performance of subtle skill and strength. Take, for example, the scene late in
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
where Eastwood's Blondie wordlessly, yet movingly, tends to the dying Confederate soldier, or how, even later in the film, he subtly raises and sharpens his voice for the first time, asking Wallach's Tuco, "You thought I'd trust you? $200,000 is a lot of money. We're going to have to earn it." It is not some emotional appeal pitched to a critical awards voting body, but in that rhetorical question, Eastwood's suddenly sharpened intensity of pitch is unforgettable.
In other words, the film still needs Eastwood's acting, even as Wallach ostensibly 'steals the show.' -
Loki — 3 years ago(April 04, 2023 04:51 PM)
The Good The Bad and the Ugly
The Proposition
Unforgiven
Bone Tomahawk
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Hateful Eight
Dead Man
Django
McCabe & Mrs Miller
A Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
Hang 'Em High
3:10 to Yuma
Once Upon a Time in the West -
MortSahlFan — 3 years ago(April 05, 2023 06:15 PM)
'McCabe & Mrs Miller' is a great microcosm for America, despite the 'anti-western' label. Beatty hated improv, though, but guessing (despite it not being very popular) because he had/has a name, that some people have seen it because of him.
https://www.patreon.com/LoyalOpposition -
MortSahlFan — 3 years ago(April 06, 2023 12:15 PM)
"Nashville" is one of my very favorite movies.
https://www.patreon.com/LoyalOpposition -
AndrewDavidscott76 — 3 years ago(April 05, 2023 09:08 PM)
Younger Clint, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Older Clint, Pale Rider.
Younger Wayne, Red River.
Older Wayne, The Shootist.
Favourite Western that is **** but is almost saved by Jeff Bridges, Wild Bill.
Favourite Western that is almost ruined by Renee Zellweger, Appaloosa.
Best non-Western genre films that are still Westerns. Assault on Precinct 13 and Hell or High Water. -
LorqVonRay1999 — 3 years ago(April 07, 2023 01:27 AM)
Lonesome Dove
The Outlaw Josey Wales
True Grit (original)
Sons of Katie Elder
The Searchers
They Call Me Trinity
Trinity is Still My Name
Support Your Local Sheriff
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Who Shot Liberty Valance?
Red River
Stagecoach
Warlock
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West
Blazing Saddles
Silverado
Open Range
Hud
Unforgiven -
filmflaneur — 2 years ago(December 14, 2023 11:15 PM)
These are my top 10 Westerns. Not the best ever, just my current favourites, the ones I would most want to watch again out of all before they hang me…
Once Upon a Time in the West
Rio Bravo
The Searchers
The Wild Bunch
Johnny Guitar
The Tall T (in fact any of the Ranown cycle!)
Silver Lode
Ride the High Country
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
No Name on the Bullet
I think you'll find things are a little more complicated than that.