My Top Ten Westerns

[johnnyflake]

I truly love a good Western! It's very hard to come up with a top 10, but for now, this is my list.

BTW, many movies that were listed, do not qualify as Western, in my humble opinion.

In no special order:

1. Gun Fighter Moon – a great not well known Western – Lance Hendrix
2. Magnificent Seven
3. Tombstone
4. Open Range
5. Unforgiven
6. The Outlaw Josey Whales
7. True Grit – both were good but the original was best!
8. Once Upon a Time in the West – best of the spaghetti Westerns
9. The Wild Bunch
10. Purgatory - another little know movie.

 

[Watchdog]

Sorry pilgrim I cant think of who Strother Martin is right now but I remember watching this movie on the table. V.with my dad..That was a good time

He was the warden in Cool Hand Luke.
Said - What we have here is a failure to communicate.
He was also the South American mine manager in Butch and Sunset.
They were hired to guard the payroll, Strother got shot.

Strother Martin also played the somewhat psychotic Coffer, one of the bounty hunters in The Wild Bunch.

 

[soFlaNative]

Strother Martin also played the somewhat psychotic Coffer, one of the bounty hunters in The Wild Bunch.

1969 was a good year for Mr. Martin.
He busted chops in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" when the two alerted before they got the payroll to guard.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt87mXL_ftg[/ame]



He also had that great role as the horse trader schooled by Mattie Ross in "True Grit".
"Wait a minute... are we trading again?"

 

[sheepdawg]

"That's my steak Valance,"

"I'll get it Liberty!"

Struther Martin's face met the toe of John Wayne's boot in this confrontation. Boy did it look like that would have hurt.

 

[ChuckS1]

"Will Penny" and of course, "The Three Amigos".

 

[rog8732]

The common thread of (most) all the westerns showing up here as favorites is the acting realism of the "black-hat"; or the bad man.

If it is Blue Duck from L D, Wilson from Shane, Liberty Valance, or "Little Bill" of Big Whisky WY in Unforgiven; I think we would all agree the degree of "bad-ness" in the bad guy is essential for a good western.

Even if the screen time is very short; for instance like "Lucky Ned Pepper" or "Tom Chaney" in True Grit, or maybe having almost as much dialog as the good guy, like Richard Boone in "Hombre"; if you do not have a great antagonist, you just can't have a great western.

 

[Watchdog]

1969 was a good year for Mr. Martin.

Strother Martin was an interesting guy. To me, at any rate. He'd been around in bit parts in films and on TV since the fifties. And he always seemed like an older guy to me, perhaps because his hair was prematurely grey.

I think he could've gone on to bigger and better things as a character actor...his abilities were really beginning to be noticed during the last ten years of his career.

Sadly, he died a fairly young man...he was only 61 when he passed away.

 

[vytoland]

the man with the black hat, black clothes, black horse, black whip....and his side kick.....

 

[Stan O]

Westerns

Another Western. Bone Tomahawk. Disturbing!

 

[crazyphil]

Fave 10 in order

10. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Coburn
9. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
8. The Outlaw Josey Wales
7. Wild Bill (Jeff Bridges)
6. Once Upon a Time In The West
5. The Westerner (Gary Cooper)
4. Lonesome Dove
3. Tombstone and Wyatt Earp (A Draw)
2. Unforgiven
1. The Shootist

 

[crazyphil]

What's up?

I can't believe I'm the only one with The Westerner on my list.
Is it because it is black & white? Or because I'm so damn old?
Gary Cooper was at his best. Walter Brennan won the Academy Award as Judge Roy Bean. If you haven't seen it give it a look. I guarantee a few chuckles.

 

[rick1085]

All my favorites are all ready listed except Nevada Smith, and The Shootist

 

[walkinghorse]

Samwood got one of my favorites, Valdez is Coming with Burt Lancaster.
Chato's Land with Charles Bronson.
The Ranger, The Cook, and the Hole in the Sky with Sam Elliot. The west in 1919!

 

[shotgun693]

'The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean', it was terrible historically but I love that movie.

 

[Ogandydancer]

El Dorado
The Cowboys
Bend Of The River
Open Range
Big Jake
Breakheart Pass
Crossfire Trail or Broken Trail (the one with Robert Duvall and the Chinese girls).
The Big Country.

As an aside Strother Martin was one of my all time favorite bit part actors whom I don't think near enough credit was given.

Richard Boone in Big Jake " I don't care what happens, your fault, my fault, no body's fault we'll just send that boy back to you in a basket".

 

[jimbo728]

As a sidekick, how can we forget Stumpy. The Dukes turn key in Rio Bravo. Or was it El Dorado. Walter Brennan was amazing.
Jim

 

[crazyphil]

Lee Marvin or Struther Martin? Liberty Valance was played by Lee Marvin.
Lee and Struther were both pretty good character actors. Walter Brennan
was the greatest character actor. Raquel killed Struther in Hannah Caulder.
Can't believe someone thought Hannah Caulder was bad. Just mute the
sound and enjoy the scenery.
Some on the worst list are on the best list over on another thread.
Opinions vary. If the movie starred John Wayne, Gary Cooper, or
Clint Eastwood, it couldn't be too bad.
I always wonder where those guys in the movies about and right
after the Civil War got all of those Peacemakers?

 

[OLDSTER]

Westerns

Seems like all the posts share a great core list. But I also need to throw in "The Big Country". Burl Ives was fantastic, and an A-list cast including Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carol Baker, Chuck Connors, and Charles Bickford. For you "oater" fans this is a must see

 

[Cpo1944]

This one might get me docked by the big gorilla,but I just gotta do it

BLAZING SADDLES !!!!!
there I did it!

 

[jimmyj]

The long riders & the professionals, for more trivia, who was the "gifted" Mexican actress that Burt Lancaster had the hots for in the Professionals, & wasn't she also in the wild bunch? (another great one) . All good choices! Ben Johnson was the Reb actor in yellow ribbon, if I was able to remember his characters name I might get some sleep tonight.

Sergeant Tyree

 

[Tom S.]

The take away from this thread is there isn't a top 10 Westerns list, more like top 100.

 

[eveled]

My two all time favorite movies, Outlaw Josie Wales, and Jeremiah Johnson. No movie ever made has more great quotes than Josie Wales.

 

[colkid]

No order:
Magnificent Seven
High Noon
The Shootist
Tom Selleck in Westerns,including Monte Walsh--Quigley Downunder
Rio Bravo
True Grit -John Wayne - Secondary the other True Grit
Support Your local Sheriff
Shane
My Darling Clementine- secondary-All the other major Wyatt Earp Films
Stagecoach John Wayne
The Wild Bunch
All the Clint Eastwood westerns
All Sergio Leone Westerns
Any Western Charles Bronson was in-including the early ones where he
was not the star.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

I'm glad to see one mention of McCabe and Mrs. Miller. The soundtrack is so dated, it almost kills the movie, but it is still one of the unknown classics.

My favorite is The Wild Bunch. I think it could have been cut down a little, but I think that of most movies. I think the TV series Deadwood was the pinnacle of TV westerns, although each season had its flaws.

 

[CajunBass]

I didn't read through the whole 17 pages, so I'll just list some of mine.

Magnificent Seven
Monte Walsh
Stagecoach (The "Nashville" version)
Lonesome Dove
Centennial (all 25 hours of it)
The Far Country
True Grit (both versions)
Barbarossa
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Red River

 

[johnnyflake]

I'm glad to see one mention of McCabe and Mrs. Miller. The soundtrack is so dated, it almost kills the movie, but it is still one of the unknown classics.

My favorite is The Wild Bunch. I think it could have been cut down a little, but I think that of most movies. I think the TV series Deadwood was the pinnacle of TV westerns, although each season had its flaws.

For me, the only flaw with the Deadwood Series, was that they shut it down about 3 seasons too early!

 

[the ringo kid]

I do love the Duke,
Going with Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, True Grit, Liberty Valance.
Like Josey Wales, Butch and Das Kid, Lonesome Dove,
And Unforgiven.
Sort of a Yellow Ribbon trivia question-
What was a Reb (like me ) who agreed to join the Union Army and go out West and fight Indians called?

I dont kknow if that is answered by now but: "Galvanized yankee." When you all finally see some more custom grips I had made? you will see what a "galvanized yankee" looks like. Think: James Garner and Jack Kelly.

 

[the ringo kid]

the man with the black hat, black clothes, black horse, black whip....and his side kick.....

Picture for me is too small to make out the lead-but the sidekick looks like either Al St.John or George Gabby Hayes. Ill have to get a bigger screen tomorrow or next day to see for sure.

 

[the ringo kid]

The Quick and the Dead. Just watched it again the other night.

You have my sympathies.

 

[Tom S.]

For me, the only flaw with the Deadwood Series, was that they shut it down about 3 seasons too early!

Deadwood was supposed to run one more season, but for some reason, either some key actors wanted out or the producer wanted to move on, it was cancelled. There was even talk (wishful thinking) that a final episode would be made, but it never happened and left a whole lot of stuff unanswered and up in the air. I've been mad at HBO ever since.