Favourite Western's

[buggeration]

This is a thread for posting our favourite Westerns.

Sergio Leone's Once A Upon A time In The West. The film, coupled with Ennio Morricone's score make this the best western of all time in my book. Casting Henry Fonda as a baddie was inspired.

[Bovon]

High Noon - yep. And, don't know why really, but Rio Bravo.

[jch48]

Can't disagree with the selections mentioned so far,Buggeration I could have picked any of Leone's films for my list,you probably know the story about Leone wanting his three stars from Good,Bad,Ugly to be killed off at start at Once Upon a Time in the West,at the train station scene,loved to have seen that one.

[redding66]

Are we talking about all westerns, or just those from the 80's and back? I would put Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood, and 3:10 to Yuma up there with the best.

[avidfan]

i love true grit & the shootist-john wayne, the outlaw josey wales (sp?)-clint eastwood in fact most john wayne and clint eastwood westerns!

[buggeration]

Originally Posted by jch48

Can't disagree with the selections mentioned so far,Buggeration I could have picked any of Leone's films for my list,you probably know the story about Leone wanting his three stars from Good,Bad,Ugly to be killed off at start at Once Upon a Time in the West,at the train station scene,loved to have seen that one.

Yea that would have been a classic. Apparently Van Cleef and Wallach were up for it. Eastwood would have gone for it too, but he was filming Hang 'Em High at the time - or was it Coogan's Bluff?-whatever!

[jch48]

Originally Posted by buggeration

Yea that would have been a classic. Apparently Van Cleef and Wallach were up for it. Eastwood would have gone for it too, but he was filming Hang 'Em High at the time - or was it Coogan's Bluff?-whatever!

Wallach is also quoted that during the making of The Magnificent Seven,he could'nt get used to putting his gun back in his holster,so it ended up that every scene he did they did'nt show him doing that,useless info if you're interested.

[buggeration]

Originally Posted by jch48

Can't disagree with the selections mentioned so far,Buggeration I could have picked any of Leone's films for my list,you probably know the story about Leone wanting his three stars from Good,Bad,Ugly to be killed off at start at Once Upon a Time in the West,at the train station scene,loved to have seen that one.

Yep. They were up for it too, But Eastwood was filming Hang 'Em High at the time and the studio wouldn't release him from his contract to do it. Shame!

[qurl116]

John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, Rio Grande)
The Searchers
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Shootist

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Bovon

High Noon - yep. And, don't know why really, but Rio Bravo.

Rio Bravo (1959)
El Dorado (1967)
Rio Lobo (1970)

All good films, which all tell nuanced variations of the same essential story, without merely repeating themselves artistically. General opinion seems to be that Rio Bravo is better than El Dorado, and El Dorado is better than Rio Lobo. Personally, I find a lot to like in all three, though El Dorado is marginally my favourite.

Rio Bravo

Interesting that Bovon cites High Noon and Rio Bravo: possibly not as random as it seems.

The story goes that Hawks and John Wayne disliked High Noon, particularly the procession of Gary Cooper around the town (a decent marshall wouldn't go crawling for help) and the craven, self-serving refusal of the townsfolk to stand up for law and order (totally unAmerican). Rio Bravo postulates a similar confrontation, but here we see that the sheriff (Wayne) is supported, the town drunk (Dean Martin more or less as Dean Martin, but a very creditable outing none the less) re-discovers his pride and becomes a serious threat to the bad guys and, after several extremely brisk shootouts the evil doers are routed in total disorder.

I remember the sly and unpleasant barman getting his comeuppance, having viciously mocked Dean Martin when he was an abject drunk, only to face him again when he is sober and extremely cross. The barman reaches stealthily for a double barrelled shotgun while Martin and Wayne are making an arrest and Martin casually fires a warning shot: the barman withdraws a hand which is bristling with very large wood splinters from the bar.

El Dorado

The law and order theme is underpinned by a more complex revenge theme. Wayne's character is in a difficult position: in a tragic early episode, he shot the youngest son of the MacDonald family, whom he must now protect from Ed Asner's villain, Bart Jason. The daughter (played by Michele Carey) refused to accept that the shooting was a mistake and ambushed Wayne's character, severely wounding but not killing or disabling him. Both sides treat it as a score draw, but the relationship isn't very cordial.

The film has strong humour alongside the dramatic tension. Wayne's wayward allies include Robert Mitchum in excellent form as the extremely unstable, dried out drunk Sheriff O'Hara, who is still decidedly moist around the edges, Arthur Hunnicutt as Bull, a very stubborn and intractible deputy sherriff so old that he can't remember how old he is any more, and James Caan as a young drifter who has invited himself to Wayne's party because Wayne saved his neck and he is determined to return the favour, whether Wayne likes it or not. This is all very well, but Caan's character doesn't know one end of a gun from the other, though he is pretty handy with a Bowie knife. He also knows a drastic but highly effective recipe for a potion to get an alcoholic off the booze, fast: this is very bad luck on Robert Mitchum...

Rio Lobo

The variation here is that this is a story of the Civil War and its aftermath. Wayne is a former US Cavalry colonel sniffing out the traitor who collaborated with the Johnny Rebs, led by Mexican actor Jorge Rivero as Captain Pierre Cardona (half Mexican, half French, all dash and courage, clever and tactically astute but very impetuous).

Now the war is over, Captain Cordona doesn't mind helping Colonel McNally (Wayne) to find the traitor: he also has no use for backstabbers, preferring always to shoot from in front. Their paths cross again in a town near Rio Lobo where they both aid a damsel in distress (Jennifer O'Neill) and find that Cardona's former comrade and his family are in danger from land stealers and corrupt lawmen in Rio Lobo. For Wayne this initially seems like a side issue, but he gamely takes on a good fight, even risking a good tooth to gather intelligence from the town dentist.

This film is marred by some indifferent acting from Rivero and O'Neill but is still very watchable. There are strong action sequences, interesting themes of former enemies uniting to clean up the post civil war America. The ending is excellent: Sherry Lansing, who has been tortured and had her very pretty face slashed and mutilated for life by evil sherriff Mike Henry for aiding the good guys, confronts him with a quietly ferocious challenge:

Turn around, Sheriff. I want you to see who it is who kills you.

The wounded sheriff turns around and tries to fire, but Amelita (Lansing) blows him nearly in half with a shot from a very nasty looking rifle. At the end, she, Wayne (wounded and barely mobile) and the dead sheriff are the last ones on the scene. She is seen supporting Wayne (who clearly likes a woman with guts, scar or not) as he hobbles off in search of medical attention. Possibly a new story is beginning...