Haven’t seen Rio Grande (1950) mentioned yet. The best of John Ford’s “cavalry trilogy” (Fort Apache 1948, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 1949).
!!
this thread inspired me to watch some westerns. started with clementine. loved it.
just watched red river. another hit. reading up on the film, the gay innuendo went completely over my head. but it’s interesting. I thought the valance character was tragically underdeveloped.
watching these two films it occurred to me how westerns are thematically very simple. so different from my normal cup of team, art house in the vein of early david gordon green, where the stories are slow and you kinda just think away while watching. but that can be a good thing. I could just kinda relax and enjoy the story unfold instead of analyzing everything.
I never enjoyed the western aesthetic, not the colored ones anyway (the garish 70s look). but I can learn to appreciate it if the stories are as good as clementine or red river.
going to plow through some john ford now.
i watched 37 westerns this summer so OBVIOUSLY I AM NOW AN EXPERT. here are my ten favourites:
THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (john ford, 1962)
WINCHESTER 73 (anthony mann, 1950)
THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (william a. wellman, 1943)
THE BIG COUNTRY (william wyler, 1958)
THE WILD BUNCH (sam peckinpah, 1969)
LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (david miller, 1962)
HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (clint eastwood, 1973)
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (sergio leone, 1966)
RIO BRAVO (howard hawks, 1959)
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (john sturges, 1960)
i wanna mention two really good ones i just saw recently
wellman’s yellow sky and mann’s bend of the river
@r stevens I’m using your westerns list as my guide.
xoxo
i need to track down the hired hand and tourneur’s canyon passage and wichita!
OMG ruby stevens, have you seen the other jimmy/anthony mann westerns??
i’ve seen all of them now but the far country. i think the man from laramie and bend of the river are my favorites. winchester ’73 is great of course but i’ve never been too crazy about the naked spur even tho i’m a big fan of robert ryan. arthur kennedy has really grown on me tho :) also need to get on with the rest of the ranown cycle: decision at sundown, buchanan rides alone, comanche station and westbound
i’m sadly lacking in fords too but the man who shot liberty valance will always be #1, loved it since i was a kid
Junderhump
Good to see Mr Boetticher around these parts – but I haven’t seen Seminole – what is that about – does it have Randolph Scott?:
The Tall T
Seven Men From Now
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Johnny Guitar
Rancho Notorious