Need Western recommendations ... (1 Viewer)

[Deepak Shenoy]

I seem to have barely scratched the surface when it comes to Westerns and I would invite recommendations on essential Westerns I may have missed. An example of such a title would be the Fox release of 'Yellow Sky'. Not a title I had heard about before, but one I will probably enjoy (haven't picked it up yet). Of course I have already watched all the "usual suspects" including

Shane
High Noon
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Professionals
The Magnificent Seven
Unforgiven
most of the Westerns directed by Leone, Peckinpah, Ford and Mann

and am looking for more obscure titles that are nonetheless worthwhile.

Thanks,
-D

 

[Robert Crawford]

Off the top of my head, the following are some of my recommendations:

• Track of the Cat
• The Proud Ones
• The Unforgiven (Not the Eastwood film)
• Seven Men from Now
• The Last Wagon
• Arizona
• Hondo
• Nevada Smith
• Hour of the Gun
• Last Train from Gun Hill
• Warlock
• The Bravados
• Jubal
• The Violent Men
• Forty Guns

Others will offer titles I'd missed or decided to skip.

Edit: A couple more titles that I would feel remiss if I don't mention them because they're among my favorites that I forgot about. "The Tin Star" and "The Ox-Bow Incident".

 

[sarah99]

How the West was Won
The Scalphunters
The Searchers
The Hunting Party
Little Big Man
The OUtlaw Josey Wales
The Wild Bunch
Major Dundee
McKennas Gold
Ulzanas Raid
Soldier Blue

 

[seanOhara]

You didn't mention anything by Hawks. If you haven't seen them, Red River, Rio Bravo, and El Dorado are musts.

The Budd Boetticher Westerns are awesome. Seven Men from Now is the only one on DVD at present, but The Tall T, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station, and Decision at Sundown have showed up on Encore's Western channel recently.

Duel at Silver Creek -- Jim Beaver (Ellsworth on Deadwood) says this is one of his favorite Westerns not directed by Ford or Boetticher, so that makes for a pretty good recommendation.

There are several good John Wayne westerns beyond those directed by Ford and Hawks. The Cowboys (not to be confused with Glenn Ford's Cowboy, which is also good) is one of my favorites. Hondo and McLintock! are both great fun, though I recommend the latter only if you enjoy John Ford-style humor.

3:10 to Yuma -- it's Elmore Leonard and a Western, all in one!

And if you're in the mood for a comedy Western, pick up Cat Ballou.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I really enjoyed 'Texas' with William Holden and Glenn Ford.

'Warlock' directed by the great Edward Dmytryck and starring Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda is also an excellent choice.

Of course everything Anthony Mann directed is essential (especially Winchester '73 and Destry Rides Again).

Also, John Sturges' Last Train To Gun Hill with Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn is another great "later" western.

 

[Marty M]

I would suggest almost any western that was directed by John Ford, but specifically try The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stagecoach, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Fort Apache to name a few. Another favorite westen is Rio Bravo, directed by Howard Hawks.

 

[Brett_M]

I second The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Add:

High Plains Drifter
Pale Rider

And, not to be a revisionist voice, add:

Tombstone
Open Range

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

He mentioned that he's already familiar with 'the usual suspects' including Ford.

I think the point of this thread is that he's asking for suggestions of titles which are less popular or have slipped under the radar...

 

[Scott Kimball]

Check out the underrated "The Tin Star" with Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins.

For a different flavor, try "Rustler's Rhapsody" with Tom Berenger.

-Scott

 

[Opi]

* Flaming Star - with Elvis Presley

* Two Mules for Sister Sara - with Clint Eastwood

Both directed by the formidable - but sadly often ignored or underrated - Don Siegel

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

I always liked Silverado.

 

[PaulaJ]

How about some silent westerns, specifically my favorite silent western star William S. Hart?

The Toll Gate
Tumbleweeds
Hell's Hinges

 

[Jeff Reis]

Not obscure in the spaghetti western world, but by all means check out The Great Silence and Django.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Here's a few good "under-the-radar" westerns that are out on legit R1 DVD:

FOUR FACES WEST (1948, Joel McCrea & Frances Dee) Artisan
LUST FOR GOLD (1949, Glenn Ford & Ida Lupino) Sony/Columbia
THE RIDE BACK (1957, Anthony Quinn & William Conrad) MGM
TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN (1958, Sterling Hayden) MGM

One (of many) that desperately needs to be on DVD (please, MGM, please!):

DAY OF THE OUTLAW (1959)

 

[Lew Crippen]

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

 

[Irina]

You cannot go wrong with any westerns by Anthomy Mann with Jimmy Stewart (Winchester'73, Bend of the River, The Naked Spur, The Far Country) or Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Ride the High Country) or Fritz Lang (Western Union, Rancho Notorious - both available in R2 - UK). I have not seen any bad westerns with Gary Cooper (The Westerner, Man of the West (R2 - UK), Garden of Evil (R2 - UK), The Hanging Tree - R2 - France).

Also:
Yellow Sky by W. Wellman
Red River by H. Hawks
The Gunfighter by H. King
Johhny Guitar (Nicholas Ray)

 

[Jeff(R)]

One-Eyed Jacks

 

[dpippel]

It's a mainstream, well-known movie but for some reason hardly ever gets mentioned in these threads, so I'll go ahead and mention it:

Dances With Wolves

one of the best westerns ever filmed IMO.

 

[JohnRa]

You mentioned "Yellow Sky" which I would put high on the list.

Some others for your consideration:

The Big Country - William Wyler
The Plainsman - C. B. DeMille (Great fun starring Gary Cooper and
Jean Arthur in all their Hollywood glory.)
From Hell to Texas - Henry Hathaway (Obscure and under-rated in my
non-expert opinion. Don Murray, Dennis Hopper)
The Sheepman - George Marshall (Glenn Ford, Shirley McLaine in a western
comedy)
Branded - Rudolph Mate (Alan Ladd)

Two OK Corral films, two different takes, both directed by John Sturges:
Gunfight at the OK Corral
Hour of the Gun

I will add my second to some others already recommended:

The Gunfighter
Johnny Guitar
Warlock
the Randolph Scott westerns directed by Budd Boetticher
the James Stewart westerns directed by Anthony Mann
McCabe and Mrs. Miller

And no western movie education can be very good without at least one each of Roy Rogers (preferrably co-starring Dale Evans and Gabby Hayes) and Gene Autry (co-starring Smiley Burnette). Grab some popcorn, a soft drink (no alcohol allowed here!) and enjoy Saturday matinee nirvana!


John

 

[Bob Graham]

There are some good Robert ALdrich westerns available: APACHE, ULZANA'S RAID (the US Goodtimes edition is P&S-as well as OP), VERA CRUZ, LAST SUNSET (coming as part of the Rock Hudson collection from Universal).

I'd also recommend the westerns of Arthur Penn: THE MISSOURI BREAKS, LITTLE BIG MAN and LEFT-HANDED GUN (coming as part of Warners' Paul Newman Box Set).

A few oddball choices: Frank Perry's RANCHO DELUXE, David Newman's BAD COMPANY, and John Houston's hilarious LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN.