***Official 2nd Annual HTF Western Movies/TV Shows Challenge 2025*** (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

***Official 2nd Annual HTF Western Movies/TV Shows Challenge 2025***

1. Watch Western-Movies/TV Shows from midnight March 1, 2025 through March 31, 2025 (use your own time zone to set the ending time).

2. Each Western-Movie/TV show can be viewed by physical media such as DVD, Blu-ray, 4K/UHD, etc. Other means of viewing can be done either by streaming or just watching a TV broadcast such as TCM or any other TV channel and/or internet outlet/app. Recorded or not recorded doesn't matter.

3. Unlike other HTF Movie Challenges, there isn't a minimum number of Westerns you have to watch during this Challenge. Each movie/TV show episode counts as one point each.

4. The only requirement during this Western Challenge is to briefly tell us why you liked or disliked each Western you watched. Please note the viewing means by which you watch the movie/TV show. Whether it was by physical media, streaming, TV broadcast and etc. Furthermore, your opinion can be expressed in just a few sentences or even longer paragraphs as to why you enjoyed the movie/TV show or why the movie/TV show didn't work for you. Such comments serve as an incentive for other people to watch or not watch a Western they never seen beforehand.

5. At the end of the challenge, the point totals will be added up based on the one-point system outlined in number 2 above. There won't be any participation categories like there are in other HTF Challenges. At the end of the Challenge, I will simply tabulate the total number of points each participant accumulated during March. Each participant will be listed with the number of points each has accumulated during March.

 

[Tino]

Yes, in your placeholder post.

So we just keep adding to one post?

 

[Robert Crawford]

So we just keep adding to one post?

Tino, take a look at thread below and you will see the placeholder/summation posts as well as the brief description posts for individual movies. Mark’s post is the latter.

Read this thread.

 

[Tino]

Tino, take a look at thread below and you will see the placeholder/summation posts as well as the brief description posts for individual movies.

Read this thread.

Sorry. I must be a blockhead. Still confused. So to be clear, I post all the movies and shows in one continuously edited post?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Sorry. I must be a blockhead. Still confused. So to be clear, I post all the movies and shows in one continuously edited post?

The placeholder post is to be use for logging the list of movies you watch during the entire challenge. Your other posts in this thread are brief write ups on the movies as to why you liked or disliked a certain movie. Such write ups can be as simple as a few sentences long without being elaborate with words.

 

[Malcolm R]

Sorry. I must be a blockhead. Still confused. So to be clear, I post all the movies and shows in one continuously edited post?

Most usually just make a new regular posting for each film they watch (or you can put several into a single post if you've binged a few) that contains their summary and discussion of the film(s). The placeholder post is where you can keep a running list of what you've watched so that they can be counted up at the end without going through the entire thread.

I can't speak for others, but I would not be coming back to your placeholder repeatedly to see what you may have recently watched. Discussion/review of films viewed should be in a new post so it flows like a regular discussion thread. Then keep a running list of titles in your placeholder (hence the need for extended editing priveleges).

 

[Tino]

First up.

A terrific brutal western limited series on Netflix. I loved every minute of this bleak violent story of Mormons, Indians and settlers with villains on both sides. Based on true events and characters.
10/10 for me.

 

[benbess]

I'm going to try to go chronologically for this Western voyage, watching things both streaming and in my blu-ray collection.

First up is a movie I hadn't seen before, The Texan from 1930, starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray, and directed by John Cromwell (The Prisoner of Zenda, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Anna and the King of Siam, Dead Reckoning, etc.). This early sound film has some of the stiffness of movies from this era, but is still compelling and charming. Cooper plays a man who starts out on the wrong side of the law, but....well, I don't want to give spoilers. I've been a fan of both Fay Wray and Cooper since I was much younger than they are in this movie, and now I'm much older than they are and still a fan. The production quality of this Paramount movie is good, and it was clearly meant to be a strong follow-up to Cooper's 1929 hit The Virginian, which I saw once long ago. Norman Rockwell was able to visit the set while filming was underway, and did the fine painting below that became a cover for the Saturday Evening Post.

My rating on The Texan: B-

Picture quality is okay to poor, with many speckles and so on throughout. PQ: C
(Watched streaming on Starz.)

Quote: "Me sing? Well I used to hum a little to my pony but I wouldn’t call it singing.”

 

[Rodney]

01) 03-01-25: "Winchester '73" (1950) [Criterion Blu-Ray]
02) 03-02-25: "Wanted: Dead or Alive, “The Bounty” (S1, E3) [Mill Creek DVD]
03) 03-29-25: "Sunset in the West“ [Kino Blu-Ray]
04) 03-30-25: "The Light in the Forest” [GmbH DVD]

 

[Doug Wallen]

Due to the announcement of Gene Hackman's passing this week, I thought I'd view two of his Western's that I haven't viewed in several years. First up is Unforgiven, followed by The Quick And The Dead.

1. Unforgiven (1992) Warner Bros., Malpaso Productions. Viewed on Warner Bros. 4k UHD.
Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett, Saul Rubinek, Frances Fisher, Anna Thomson, Anthony James, Beverley Elliott, Liisa Repo-Martell, Cherrilene Cardinal. Directed by Clint Eastwood.
Winner of 4 Academy Awards - Directing: Clint Eastwood, Supporting Actor: Gene Hackman, Editing: Joel Cox, Best Picture: Clint Eastwood.
So much has been written about this film I am not going to try and reinvent the wheel. I am watching Gene's performance this time. He just seems so earnest in his portrayal Little Bill. He inhabits the persona and doesn't understand where anyone would disagree with him. He just knows he is right and his way must be adhered to. An excellent performance.

2. The Quick And The Dead (1995) Tri-Star Pictures, Japan Satellite Broadcasting. I have an HDX digital copy watched on Fandango at Home.
Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobin Bell, Roberts Blossom, Kevin Conway, Keith David, Lance Henriksen, Pat Hingle, Gary Sinise, Olivia Burnette, Fay Masterson Raynor Scheine, Woody Strode, Scott Speigel, Jonothon Gill. Directed by Sam Raimi.
What a cast for a Western. So many familiar faces in character turns in this tribute to spaghetti westerns. I can see a lot of "Once Upon A Time In The West" utilized in this film (the flashbacks involving a child, the recurring badge). I have always enjoyed Raimi's use of unusual angles and dolly shots in his films and this one is amazing. He is over the top but doesn't linger over the violence. I find this a comical take on what is a serious subject. The town of Redemption is under the thumb of John Herod. The competition appears a subversive way to keep the townspeople in line. The revenge angle is easy to figure, even so, the depiction on screen is just fun to watch. It has been years since I last viewed this and I still get wrapped up in the hourly gunfights just like I did when I first viewed this nearly 30 years ago.

 

[RCRochester]

March 1 - Rio Bravo (1959)

Watched on 4K UHD (my first time watching it on this format).

John T. Chance is the sheriff of Presidio County, TX who arrests Joe Burdette, the brother of powerful local rancher Nathan Burdette, for murder and holds him in his jail cell until the marshal can arrive to pick him up. Unfortunately, Nathan's men have blockaded the town in attempt to bust Joe out, leaving Chance to hold strong with the help of his three deputies: a recovering alcoholic, an old eccentric, and a young upstart.

A favorite of the likes of Quentin Tarantino and John Carpenter, Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo is considered by many to be one of the greatest westerns of all time. It's certainly my favorite among the Duke's westerns. It's got a cool vibe and deals with things like honor, friendship, loyalty, and self-respect. Most of the stars cash in on their usual personas, however, the film's best performance is that of Dean Martin who seems to be ripping into his own self-crafted image as a boozy joke. Ricky Nelson's acting is a bit dodgy, but he does bring charm to the role of Colorado, and Angie Dickinson is warm and attractive as the only main female character.

The pace does get a bit slow at times, and at 141 minutes I think they probably could have shaved a bit off the running time. Also, while the climax is exciting, it ends kind of abruptly without any real payoff between Chance and Nathan. Those are small quibbles though, and the only thing that I didn't really like, as sacrilegious as this may seem, is that Walter Brennan's schtick as Stumpy started to grate after a while.

I'm sure most of the people here will already be familiar with this film, but if not, it definitely comes recommended for fans of this era of filmmaking.

 

[Tino]

March 1. #2. Digital viewing.

One of the best westerns ever made. The inspiration for Mel Brooks Blazing Saddles.

Michael Curtiz’s Dodge City

This film provides an exceptional cinematic experience, solidifying its place among my top ten classics.

Dodge City serves as a foundational work for subsequent westerns, offering a comprehensive blend of elements that were novel and uncliched in 1939. The narrative unfolds with a classic conflict between heroes and villains, culminating in an epic barroom brawl and featuring memorable scenes such as cattle stampedes and gunfights. The Technicolor cinematography, composed by the renowned Max Steiner, enhances the film’s visual appeal. Eroll Flynn delivers a charismatic performance, while Olivia DeHavilland adds a touch of elegance.

The supporting cast also delivers outstanding performances, particularly Alan Hale, Bruce Cabot, and Ward Bond.

One particularly noteworthy scene is the barroom confrontation between former soldiers from the North and South, where they duel their respective national hymns. This scene foreshadows a more powerful and iconic scene that Curtiz would later employ in Casablanca.

Dodge City’s enduring popularity and its status as a classic in the western genre are well-deserved. It stands as one of the most entertaining and captivating westerns ever produced, leaving a lasting impression on audiences.

10/10 for me.

 

[benbess]

I played for the first time in a few years my Twilight Time blu-ray of John Ford's Technicolor Drums Along the Mohawk, first released in 1939. This is an epic Western, but one set in New York, and so an Eastern-Western. The production costs back when it was made added up to $2 million, which adjusted for inflation would be around $45 million today, and it seems up there on the screen.

I bought this TT blu-ray for around $30 a dozen years ago or so, and it's now long out of print. Currently used copies seem to sell for well over a hundred dollars, which was a surprise to me. This is at least my forth time watching it, and so I definitely got my money's worth. Wonderful booklet essay by Julie Kirgo on the movie.

Anyway, even though as usual for the time there are unfortunate portrayals of "Indians" in this movie, I still enjoy this epic of the frontier with all the vivid cinematic action and goofy humor we expect from a John Ford movie. Henry Fonda's dazed description of one of the battles, as he's clearly suffering from from post-traumatic shock, is one of the highlights of his early career from my pov.

My rating for Drums Along the Mohawk: B+

Picture Quality: B
(As maybe all of you already know, the original 3-strip Technicolor negatives were thrown out by Fox in the 1970s.)

Quote: "Well, I reckon we better be gettin' back to work. There's going to be a heap to do from now on."

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My first viewing for this challenge is the 1973 film version of “Westworld”.

Before this challenge, I had been viewing a loose thematic collection of 1970s era science fiction, and Westworld was originally planned to be part of that group, but works perfectly as a bridge out of sci-fi into westerns.

Warner’s Blu-ray does a good job of preserving the look of the film - as a lower budget film by a first time feature film director, this was never going to be a reference disc, but I’m pleased that it looks like the 70s artifact that it is.

I’ve always enjoyed this film for what it is. It creates a convincing scenario in less than 90 minutes, and doesn’t waste any time along the way. You can see the seeds of Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” first being planted here.

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my Summary with Movies/TV Shows Grades:

01) 03-01-25: "Winchester '73" (1950) (4K/UHD) 5/5 Stars
One of my favorite westerns was the first movie Anthony Mann directed James Stewart. Mann had three westerns released in 1950 and all three movies are outstanding. The first one was "Furies" starring Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston. The second 1950 western was "Winchester '73" and the third one was "Devil's Doorway" starring Robert Taylor. As to "Winchester '73" it's been my favorite Mann/Stewart film since I was a kid. I loved the film premise of revenge as well as the great reveal near the end of the film that ties everything together. Another thing I love about this film is its outstanding cast of actors. Stewart, Shelly Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, Millard Mitchell, John McIntire, Will Geer, Charles Drake, Jay C. Flippen, John Alexander along with a young Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis. This western has it all, gunfights, shooting contest for a prize Winchester, Indian attacks and Dodge City with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. The 2025 Criterion 4K/UHD offers outstanding audio and video presentations. I big-time improvement over the iTunes HD Digital and the DVD releases from 17-22 years ago.

02) 03-01-25: "Colt .45" (1957 1-4 Episodes) (Blu-ray) 3.5/5 Stars
As a child of the 1960s, I grew up watching westerns galore on TV as well as in the movie theater. I vaguely remember this 1957-1960 TV series. I'm sure I was expose to its syndication run during the 1960s but have no memory of ever watching it like I did with other TV series produced in the 1950s that were syndicated to the NYC stations during the next couple of decades. Like Have Gun Will Travel, Rawhide, Wagon Train, Cheyenne and several others. Anyhow, today I watched the first four episodes of its first season. Each episode is about 25 minutes long. The TV series is loosely based on the 1950 movie "Colt .45" starring Randolph Scott and Zachary Scott. The TV show's premise involves undercover government agent Christopher Colt whose cover is as a travelling gun salesman selling the Colt .45 as the newest six-shooter in the old West. So far, I enjoyed the first four episodes and will try to work through the rest of the episodes. I really enjoyed seeing a young Peter Brown in the first episode, who would later be a regular on other 1950s/1960s TV westerns like the Lawman and Laredo. The second episode had Dan Blocker and Wayne Morris while the fourth episode had John Smith playing a killer, who would later star in the TV series Laramie. Also, a young Ken Osmond/Eddie Haskell of Leave It to Beaver fame appeared in the fourth episode. Warner Archive's 2024 Blu-ray is impressive to say the least. Such a pristine video presentation in the first four episodes.

 

[compson]

The most striking thing about these early westerns is their treatment of American Indians. Two of the movies incorporate romantic relationships between Indians and settlers, and a third provides an evenhanded treatment of battles between them. Any dehumanizing of Indians in later movies cannot be excused as merely running afoul of more modern attitudes, given that such dehumanizing was rejected in these earlier movies. There is, to be sure, one exception among the movies I watched.

In my comments, I provide the full plots of the first two movies I watched, both 30-minute shorts from D.W. Griffith, but I avoid spoilers for the others.

Spoiler: The Massacre; The Battle at Elderbush Gulch

In D.W. Griffith’s The Massacre (1912), we’re introduced to a young Army scout as he marries and, after a lapse of two years, he and his wife and baby join a wagon train escorted by the Army through dangerous territory. Meantime, the Army launches a surprise attack on an Indian camp, killing a young Indian mother and her baby after we seen them in a medium shot. Seeking vengeance, the Indians attack the wagon train. The battle scenes are mostly shown at a distance in impressive battle landscapes, and what closer shots there are are often marred by hammy falls of the wounded that look like something that might be seen on a playground. Still, the battles are exciting and the entire movie engaging. It’s not enough to say the Army isn’t blameless in the wagon train massacre; in fact, it’s to blame. The movie doesn’t offer judgments and instead presents a seemingly inevitable cycle of violence. At the end, we see the Army scout and his wife and baby, and in contrast to the slain Indian mother and child, they have all survived. This struck me not as as endorsement of their superiority but rather a message that the Indians suffered the greater loss.

Needless to say, Griffith was also capable of less enlightened work. Indians attack a settler village in The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913) after the son of an Indian chief is killed in a confrontation with a settler. The settlers mount a vigorous defense, and the cavalry rides to the rescue. Lillian Gish’s baby and two puppies are imperiled but survive. The battle scenes are now shot and cut with both greater urgency and greater intimacy, and while the movie is very impressive visually, I didn’t find it particularly engaging. The Indians are not personalized in any way, and, in fact, the initial confrontation arises out of an Indian dog feast, where the participants ate dog meat. Some tribes did eat dog, especially at festivals, while others did not, but it was a practice likely to repulse moviegoers and paint Indians as other. Unlike other movies from this time, including from Griffith, this movie offered nothing else.

Cecil B. DeMille co-directed The Squaw Man (1914), his first film, in which a man wrongly accused of stealing from an orphans’ fund flees England, narrowly making his escape, ends up in Wyoming, and becomes involved with a Ute woman (played by Red Wing, an American Indian). The movie, believed to be the first feature shot in Hollywood, takes some dramatic turns and is exciting from start to finish. DeMille remade it twice, in 1918 (only the final reel survives) and with sound in 1931.

The first movie DeMille directed solo was The Virginian (1914), a less than satisfying screen adaptation of Owen Wister’s 1902 novel about a Wyoming cow-puncher who came from Virginia. The movie stitches together pieces from the novel but without a dramatic through line. A humorous segment from the book about a mixup of babies falls completely flat here. The movie includes the dramatic events from late in the novel but without the time or background to give them impact. The actors do well enough, but the movie is a disappointment.

Allan Dwan directed dozens of features, including several with Mary Pickford or Douglas Fairbanks, and at least 200 shorts. He apparently is the person who first had the idea of making a movie about Robin Hood (which he directed), and he then contrived to get Fairbanks to want to star in it. With The Half-Breed (1916), he gave Fairbanks one of Fairbanks’s most impressive entrances, standing alone above a stream wearing only a barely visible loincloth. His character is the son of a deceased Indian mother and a White man who “betrayed” her. Fairbanks is, as always, a winning presence on screen, and a sympathetic one. He is constantly told, even by a minister, that he’s inferior because his mother was Indian, but the audience’s sympathies are meant to be with him, suggesting that the immorality of racial and ethnic bigotry is not a recent discovery. Fairbanks has potentially romantic relationships with two women, one of whom is wanted by the sheriff, and things get complicated. The movie moves at a measured pace but remains interesting, with some compelling images. Finally, there’s this: we see couples dancing in the saloon, and three of the couples are two men, a fact of which nothing is made. I gather men sometimes danced together in the Old West when there were no women around, but there were women (working, perhaps) in the saloon. I guess this was just a touch of realism but an unexpected one.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, I got in two yesterday. I'm trying to watch some Westerns that I have not seen, a tough task for me as I've seen a lot of Westerns, but both of yesterday's pictures were new to me.

**No Spoilers Ahead**

March 1:

The Quick and the Dead (1995) - So, while I watched this film for Hackman, Sharon Stone is the lead in this one. She also was a producer on the film, which was probably either in her contract or this was a film she really wanted to make. The cast list alone on this made me wonder how I had never watched it but once I put it on, I realized I had tried this once because the beginning was familiar. I think I did not much get into that time and turned it off.

Outside of Hackman and Stone, there is Leo DiCaprio in an early role, Russell Crowe, Lance Henriksen, Keith David, Woody Strode (briefly as a coffin builder), Gary Sinise, Pat Hingle, and a cavalcade of character actors whose faces you will likely recognize. The film is directed by Sam Raimi, dipping his toes into yet another genre.

Even with all that firepower behind this, to me the real star of the show here is DP Dante Spinotti whose cinematography is pretty attention grabbing. It seems heavily influenced by Spaghetti Westerns and comic books. Many shots looking like they are single frames out of a comic book. His work makes this a very nice looking picture.

The story here is pretty simple, Hackman runs a little middle of nowhere town called Redemption and holds a gunfighting contest there on a regular basis. It would seem mainly so Hackman's character can continue to maintain his iron grip on the town because he takes half of everything the town makes for himself. Of course, he's also an expert gunfighter and enjoys showing off his skills and keeping everybody afraid of him.

This gunfighting contest attracts a rogue's gallery of bad men to the town to attempt to prove they are the fastest gun hand. Crowe's character is brought to the town because Herod (Hackman) used to run with him and always wanted to see which of them was the fastest.

The backstory for Stone's character is sort of plucked right out of Once Upon a Time in the West. This makes sense because so much about this film seems like a sort of reheated Leone spaghetti dinner. Essentially, I think whoever created the story thought the climactic gunfights in Leone pictures were so amazing that why not make a film that was loaded with these gunfights. Hence, a town with a gunfight contest! Plus the ticking clock motif is part of every gunfight and if you have seen a Leone film, you will recognize this.

The story here really takes a backseat to the visual presentation though, so it seems kind of an afterthought. The characters are mostly just sketches and you can basically see from a mile away who the last 4 gunfighters will be in the contest. Not that they are really trying to create suspense with that, they wipe out a bunch of the contestants in a montage of gunfights to get us down to a final 8. I would say this is done for the purpose of time.

This is a movie about gunfights so that is what we get. It's fun, it is entertaining, it's not a great Western because...well...I was never really involved with any of the characters. Stone to me seems miscast. She is beautiful but she looks somewhat uncomfortable in this setting. It looks like she can't ride a horse and she's basically playing a female version of Eastwood or Bronson from the Leone films.

Here's a secret about a lot of later Westerns, so many of today's actors can't ride a horse, some are even afraid of them, that they will often try to remove horse riding or minimize it in these later Westerns. This occurred to me watching this as there is very limited horse riding in this film and when you see Stone riding into town on her horse, if you pay attention, it looks more like the horse is taking Sharon for a ride and she is just sitting there going where the horse intends to go. It seems pretty obvious when she is on the horse, she has no control of it.

This is a nitpick but I could not help thinking of the story (I can't remember the film) where they were trying to shoot a scene of a bunch of people riding into town on their horses and they have set up the shot, the horses come galloping into town, riders on their backs, and go right past the cameras and just keep going out of site. None of the actors were horse riders and so had no control of the horses. So, in this case, the horses just take charge and they just came storming through town and went straight back to the barn...with the actors on them. The wrangler in charge of the horses said to the director, "Well, that's it with the horses today." because once back in the barn, the horses would become even more difficult to deal with for the inexperienced riders. They could only shoot with the horses for short periods each day because the actors had no idea what they were doing.

I also recall that there was a big star actor that described a scene where he and another rider were supposed to go racing past the cameras as they tore out into the desert trying to make their escape on horseback. He had no control over his horse though and so as they tore past the cameras, the other actor was able to bring his horse to a halt but this guy's horse just kept going. He just kept looking back as the crew got smaller and smaller in the distance and wondered where he would end up as he held on for dear life.

This is likely part of why we see fewer Westerns made today. Actors and horses don't always go together.

Bottom line on this one, if you enjoy Spaghetti Westerns, you probably will have some fun with this. Hackman gives yet another good performance as the bad guy but the character is not particularly deep. Gene elevates it though beyond the basic mustache twirler it is written as. Stone is out of her element. The rest of the cast are all playing obvious cliches but they know what they are doing. Not great, not horrible, entertaining.

One last secret here, the Coens paid their own little tribute to their friend Raimi's film in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. I will let those of you that have seen both films find that one.

 

[cda1143]

…March 1:

The Quick and the Dead (1995) - So, while I watched this film for Hackman, Sharon Stone is the lead in this one… The cast list alone on this made me wonder how I had never watched it but once I put it on, I realized I had tried this once because the beginning was familiar. I think I did not much get into that time and turned it off….

I’m with you here. Got through twenty minutes, but didn’t need to waste anymore time. The most highly regarded critics, (which I only read the day after giving up) agreed.

There’s a superb two sentence tribute to the genius of Gene Hackman in Elbert’s otherwise negative review.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

March 1: Johnny Reno (1966; R.G. Springsteen): 3.5 out of 5 (Paramount DVD)

Once an outlaw, Johnny Reno (Dana Andrews) is now a United States Marshal tasked with bringing peace and justice to the Wild West. While riding in to the town of Stone Junction, he comes across the Connors Brothers, both of whom are wanted by the town and the Indians for the death of a young man who was well liked by both. With the lone surviving brother (Tom Drake) in custody, Johnny finds himself caught in the middle between the town and the Indians, both of whom want the prisoner for different reasons. But as Johnny finds out - along with ex-flame Nona (Jane Russell) - there's more going on than it first appears.

One of the 13 Westerns made by producer A.C. Lyles for Paramount Pictures from 1964 to 1968, this one (which is, so far, the only one available on home video) features a cast of familiar faces and a straightforward story. Andrews and Russell are decent, with Lon Chaney Jr. (as the Stone Junction sheriff) and Lyle Bettger (chewing the scenery as the town mayor with ulterior motives) standing out amongst the supporting cast.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

My second feature was something I stumbled across when a clip from a Western popped up in my YouTube feed. The clip did not mention what the film's name was and I only vaguely recognized the actors but did not know their names. I had to post the clip here and our fellow poster Malcolm helped me figure out what the film was as he recognized the gunfighter in the scene.

March 1:

Gunless (2010) - I had never heard of this film and had no idea it existed. This is a Canadian production, written and directed by a guy named William Phillips. It stars an actor named Paul Gross best known, I think, for his part in a TV series called Due South. Honestly, he looked vaguely familiar to me when I saw him in the clip but I have never seen anything he was in, including Due South. This film was a lot of fun. It is a comedy Western, sort of along the lines of the old Burt Kennedy comedy Westerns. I have to say that Gross has something that many of today's actors do not have, screen charisma. He has a presence on screen and he is really great in this. This was apparent in the clip I saw but in this film he is incredibly enjoyable to watch.

To give you an idea of what this is about, Gross plays The Montana Kid, an American gunslinger that has been fleeing bounty hunters that not only want him for the price on his head but also because he has really pissed them off. His panicked scramble to escape these bounty hunters has led him to unknowingly cross the border into Canada. Where he becomes a fish out of water unfamiliar with the ways of Canada and its people. Much to his surprise, when they discover he is a sort of famous American gunslinger, the people in this small Canadian town are excited to have a celebrity in their midst and everybody, much to his chagrin, wants to meet and talk with him.

At this point the film becomes a humorous cross between a Western and Local Hero, where the perplexed, but sort of charmed by the hospitality of his new foreign friends, gunslinger finds himself starting to actually like these people and this place. This is, like Local Hero, sort of a warm hug of a picture. I was totally taken by it.

Lots of funny stuff happens as the kid and the town get to know each other and the kid tries to maintain the gruff exterior a gunfighter should have...but he's a bit soft underneath and his fake persona does not even fool his own horse.

This has a lot going for it. It looks great, shot in the beautiful Canadian outdoors, which are absolutely gorgeous. The cast is fantastic and funny. The writing is sharp and the story pretty wonderful. As with Local Hero, one of the great parts of the story is as the kid falls in love with the people and the place so do you. Sometimes a warm comedy like this is good for the soul. This one hit the spot for me and I had a great time with it. I don't want to spill much about it but if you are at all intrigued by what I have told you so far, go ahead and check this out. Watching this, I was kind of surprised Gross did not become a bigger star. He nails this part as it fits him like a glove.

This really was for me like finding an undiscovered gem. I enjoyed this more than the star studded The Quick and the Dead. A funny aspect of this picture is that the main feature is pretty much an easy PG but the credits at the end which include a series of outtakes are R rated. Everybody involved with this seems to be having a great time and it shows.

Color me impressed and I recommend this. I watched it streaming, sadly the streaming channel, Plex, inserts commercial breaks which was the only annoyance. Just great to stumble upon such a fun and enjoyable film.

 

[Rodney]

01) 03-01-25: "Winchester '73" (1950) [Criterion Blu-Ray]
Anthony Mann is one of my all time favorite directors, and Jimmy Stewart is a favorite actor of mine. Put them together and you get a string of Westerns that are all great, starting with this one. I saved viewing this for the challenge, and was extremely happy for the upgrade from the old DVD presentation.