Glad to see some love for "The Gunfighter." That's a movie that definitely needs to be better known. And "Destry Rides Again" is one of my favorite movies ever.
20th Century Fox head Spyros Skouras went off on a vacation just as production was about to start, no doubt thinking "What can go wrong with a western?" When he returned and saw the daily footage he was unhappy that Gregory Peck had a moustache, a turnoff for some female moviegoers. Normally he would have shaved it off and re-filmed the existing footage, but so much had already been filmed that this would have been too expensive. He later told Peck, "That moustache of yours cost us $500,000 at the box office!"
I read the original story of "Destry", by "Max Brand" {pulp writer Frederick Faust's pseudonym for Western stories ... and, oddly, Doctor Kildare...} let's just say it'd DIFFERENT from the film. {Faust wrote under at least 13 pseudonyms, including "George Challis" for stories set in Renaissance Italy. See a pattern here?}
I grew up watching westerns with my grandfather and “THE OXBOW INCIDENT” was arguably life changing. My grandfather was a WWII Ranger and a judge and the conversation that followed the film was pivotal. 🙏🏽
Only one I never heard of is the Walking Hills. As for The Big Gundown, I make a point of avoiding ALL spaghetti westerns; I'm a purist, I find them insulting and a rip off of the western genre. The rest were A-movies and hits in their day. The kids today may not know these moves but true fans of westerns sure do.
@@Gloria-ro4vn Uh huh. Watch "Once Upon a Time in the West" - not just a LOT of people's pick for "Best Western EVER" {including mine} but a lot of people's all-time favourite film, EVER. {I won't go THAT far. Close, but...} If nothing else, after OUaTitW you'll look at Henry Fonda a bit differently...
One of my personal favorites is Hombre. It wasn't just Paul Newman's very subdued portrayal of a white man raised by Apaches, it was an absolutely fantastic supporting cast, including Fredric March, Barbara Rush, Martin Balsam, Diane Cilento, Cameron Mitchell, and the great Richard Boone.
@@kwmoore3464 on that theme, my dad's favorite line (and he's the only reason I ever watched this movie), "I have a question. What makes you think you're going to make it back down that hill?"
The music score for "The Big Country" is undoubtedly one of the best of all times, elevating an already great movie. That Jerome Moross, didn't win the 1959 Oscar for his score for "The Big Country" is one of the great injustices of the Academy Awards. (Dimitri Tiomkin's score for "The Old Man and the Sea" won instead.)
It's one of the first things a movie fan learns: The Oscars aren't about the art of cinema. They seem to be more about industry politics and popularity than anything. They're not a very good guide for what to watch. If a movie won an Oscar, it's probably worth watching, but there are lots of great movies that the academy completely overlooks. So thanks, this is a much better guide. Video is much appreciated.
I think you should consider doing a piece about all 5 of the James Stewart & Anthony Mann westerns: The Naked Spur, Winchester ‘73, The Far Country, Bend of the River, and The Man from Laramie. Mann was at the forefront of filmmakers who wanted to use the western as a vehicle to explore the depth of the psychology, morality, and motivations behind the actions of formerly 2-dimensional genre archetypes. He needed an actor who had a down to earth “everyman” appeal but could also realistically portray a character struggling with darker impulses when being pushed to extremes. He knew that Stewart was a bomber pilot during WWII and rightfully considered that even though he was best known for his folksy, comedic charm, by possessing the wherewithal to repeatedly brave that type of terror Stewart would be able to effectively be cast against type in more brooding and tense dramas. Alfred Hitchcock opened the door to this facet of Stewart’s range in 1948’s “Rope” but Mann more fully realized it in 1950’s “Winchester ‘73.”
@@peterburgh1818Ride Lonesome and The Naked Spur are quite similar. Though my top Randolph Scott film is The Tall T, utter simplicity in story and number of characters plus it has that great ending line from Scott "Come on now. It's gonna be a nice day."
"My Name Is Nobody" (1973) is a favorite of mine. Starring Henry Fonda and Terrence Hill. Quirky and amusing, with winning characters and a clever story. Very unique western, and not to be missed IMO.
One of the most underrated Westerns is 'McKenna's Gold' from 1969. It starred Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif. Critics panned it at the time because they felt the ending was too "Deus Ex Machina", but when it was shown on television a few years later, my 12-year-old self was glued to the TV that Friday night.
I was going to write the same thing. i never was a big fan of the genre but "Mckenna's gold" was the one that really got my attention. I also really enjoy "Once Upon a time in the west"
I love this movie as well. All that gold! And the silly ending with the Indians riding down into the canyon and then just as quickly high- tailing it out of there when the walls start tumbling down. I was 14 and my friend's mom worked at a movie theater, so I saw it first on the big screen and the nude swimming scene was an eye opener for me at the time. I think it was edited down for TV, LoL. I still watch it every now and then.
Maybe not a top ten Western movie of all time, but one no one has seen is the "River of No Return". Beautiful cinematography, directed by Otto Preminger, of all people. Any Western that has Robert Mitchem and Marilyn Monroe has got chemistry that burns the screen. The movie is definitely underrated.
I also like that movie. Preminger had a lot of problems, not with Marilyn Monroe, but with her dialogue coach who was on set the whole time and insisted on giving her "direction."
One of the greatest is Ulzanas Raid starring Burt Lancaster as a grizzled old cavalry scout called in to hunt down Ulzana and his braves who have broken out of the reservation and bring mayhem and murder, fantastic!!
@@marco-dn7kd Many of Burt's more famous roles were flamboyant larger than life characters, think Elmer Gantry or The RainMaker, in Ulzana's raid, the character McIntosh had a world weariness about him that was perfectly captured by Burt in his understated performance (not flamboyant but rather quiet, subdued and unembellished). It is indeed one of his better performances.
@@samuraidave2730 Okay ! To me understated can also mean underestimated reason why I did not understand your point until now... Lancaster could be both flamboyant and understated such as in The Leopard or The Train...
One minor correction: A few of the spaghetti westerns were filmed in central and southern Italy, but the great majority were filmed in southern Spain. Almost all of them were co-productions between Italian and Spanish companies, typically with an Italian director and an Italo-Spanish technical staff. Occasionally, a French, German, Portuguese, Greek, Israeli, or American company might also lend minor production support.
5 man army also had a japanese actor. there is a japanese pic called kill starring the great tatsuya nakadai that was a sort of samurai spagetti western in style.
@@arnoldpainal5885 all films have a lot of looping but as you say the Spaghetti's were filmed deliberately that way, it's one of the reasons why i struggle with them as the non English speaking actors seems to be dubbed so badly, tbh the only 4 i can stomach are the Fistful trilogy & once upon a time in the West because they are so good & made by a master.
@@charliemaguire2210 I tend to agree that, outside of Leone's stuff, it's hard to get past the terrible dubbing. I like Van Cleef, so I'll give that one a try.
Thanks for your post. William Wellman’s “Across the Wide Missouri” is a forgotten masterpiece and “Hombre” features probably the greatest, and most realistic, gunfight on film. In real life, those showdowns lasted seconds instead of minutes. Plus, Richard Boone may be the best villains ever! “Well, now, what do you think Hell is gonna look like?”
I would like to add "Will Penny" to the mix. Charlton Heston does a great in this film. The supporting cast does a great job too. by the way, I've seen them ALL!
Great list and could add these: 1) Major Dundee(the director’s cut) 2) The Stalking Moon 3) Jeremiah Johnson 4) Yellow Sky 5) Bone Tomahawk 6) The Horse Soldiers 7) Ride with the Devil 8) The Long Riders 9) Man From Snowy River 10) Rough Night in Jericho I am 73 years old and my favorite pastime is watching Westerns. I have seen every movie mentioned here and in the responses. So here is my take: I know that Jeremiah Johnson was a hit when it came out but it seems to have been forgotten. Will Geer is fantastic and this is Redfords best film IMHO. Stalking Moon is riveting and nail biting as the Apache stalking them is almost ghost like. Same with Bone Tomahawk. The cast in Major Dundee is stunning! There are so many great character actors in this movie that you can’t believe it. The storyline is also very good. Trust me Western fans, the movies on my list are great.
I've actually seen all of these westerns (but then again, I'm 70 years old as of this date.) I agree they they are must see classics. I saw many of them on AMC, back when they actually showed American Movie Classics. I humbly ask if you would add 'The Outlaw Josie Wales' to the list. As this is my all time favorite western.
Western that I think doesn't get enough attention is "One eyed Jacks" however it has been fully restored with the help of Martin Scorsese. Hope more people catch on to it
I have seen almost all of these, and the short clips makes me want to see them again. When I was a kid, the movie theater showed westerns on Saturday afternoons, usually a double. We saw so many great actors, and movies. Yes Lee Van Clef was among them. One Saturday evening, for some unknown reason, the theater had on High Noon, to which a took a beautiful young woman, and we had the theater to ourselves. It was my first time to see that movie, and it has remained among my favorites. Others include the usual, Red River, The Searchers, Angel and the Bad Man, She wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, North to Alaska--I could go on. thanks for putting this together. It was very enjoyable.
Yeah, the local TV station during my youth in the 80s, would show 2 Westerns after Saturday morning cartoons (between that, the cartoons, and a rerun of the old Addams Family before the morning cartoons, many a bad weather Saturday got used up.😁
"McCabe and Mrs. Miller" is one of my favorite westerns. It reflects upon the corporate development of the west. "Will Penny" is also an overlooked film in my opinion.
Always amazes me how often ‘The Big Country’ is left out of list of the all time best westerns. If it was not for ‘Shane’ it would probably be my favorite #1.
The original "Monte Walsh" with Lee Marvin & Jack Palance is sadly underrated & well worth seeking out if you haven't seen it... (there was a remake with Tom Selleck in 2003)
Fun fact. Charlton Heston didn't want to be in "The Big Country." He thought he was too big a star to play second fiddle in the film; but his agent knew Wyler, and threatened to quit Heston if Heston didn't take the job. Heston did, and it led Wyler to cast him as "Ben Hur."
I would have tossed in The Westerner. A 1940 film with Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean. It is rarely aired and few people today have seen it. The opera house scene is one of the best shoot-outs ever put on film.
@@lekmirn.hintern8132 ok I just finished watching "The Westerner" (1940) w Gary Cooper et als. That was a pretty good movie. I had never heard of it before.
I saw "The Naked Spur" as a boy in the theater. Loved it so much that later, as an adult, I bought the DVD. Probably my all time favorite Western. Great seeing Jimmy Stewart play a gritty type of character. Also enjoy Randolph Scott westerns. Have many on DVD as well.
My favorite seldom seen western is 'Yellow Sky', directed by William Wellman and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark and Ann Baxter. Everything about this movie is first rate but I rarely see it available on cable or streaming.
Very happy to see The Big Country on the list. I have never understood why it is never listed among the best westerns ever made. Great dialogue, acting, story, etc. Burl Ives won an Oscar but Heston was equally good. His performance landed him the Ben Hur role.
I have lost count of how many times I have seen “The Big Country”. Peck and Heston are magnificent, and play gif each other so well. The early morning fight scene is epic. Burl Ives is also great, and SO Oscar worthy. I would spoil it, but his sense of honor, although different, is just as strong as Peck’s character. Peck’s fiancée is the epitome of spoiled, entitled little princess but also has a wild side that epitomizes the rough nature of her native environment. My God, there is so much to like here. I even have the theme score on my Spotify playlist. Strangely enough, I also love “Giant” for many of the same reasons. Stark scenery, flawed characters, great acting. Whether you consider it a western (okay, modern western) is up to you.
Love The Big Country and especially Burl Ives as Rufus Hannassey, with great acting and great lines from him: "Treat her right. Take a bath sometime." "Teach your grandmother to suck eggs! I've been handling guns like this, flintlock and caplock, since before you were born." "If you ain't the mother and father of all liars." I'm smiling just thinking of him.
Need to add Ride the High Country to this list. Peckinpaugh's 1st film where he had script control. Starring the fabulous Joel McRrea and Randolph Scott. A much underappreciated film that is now in the National Film Registry recognizing films of great cultural significance.
@@AbrasiousProductions Yes, if you allowed it, they were distracting. I focused on Scott and McCrae instead. This movie is better than most on this list, much better than Naked Spur.
The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck is one of my all time favorite westerns. Saw it for the first time one summer when I was in High School and absolutely fell in love with it.
A very good list ...... one of my Favorite's is Glen Ford in Fastest Gun Alive in 1956 who was considered to be one of the Fastest along with Sammy Davis Jr , Jerry Lewis , Audie Murphy and Clint Eastwood from 50's and 60's
I had heard that Sammy Davis Jr and Jerry Lewis were the fastest ,Audie Murphy was very fast .It is not drawing the gun that is difficult ,it is cocking it and shooting it -without shooting yourself in the foot that is hard .
His role as Big Daddy in the movie version of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" was second to none too! It was SPOT-ON for how a southern Big Daddy should be in the 1950s🎯. How do I know? We had a southern "Big Daddy" in my family in the middle 1950s too. Like Ive's character, ours was also a high-powered businessman. Only thing is, Burl's character of Big Daddy operated a sprawling estate and business interests worth $30 million, if I remember correctly. While our real Big Daddy had a net worth of more like $6 million. He was more like a mini-Big Daddy in net worth, compared to Ive's Big Daddy character. But everything else about him was larger than life, just like Ive's Big Daddy. Still, no one should be deceived. $6 million dollars in net worth was also a heckuva balance sheet to be sporting around in 1956!
As a French woman, l’m a little proud of having watched half of these westerns : The Naked Spur Destry Rides Again The Big Country The Gun Fighter The Oxbow Incident This last one is my favourite, I love the actors you mentioned, specially Dana Andrews who always makes me cry… but I am also fond of Linda Darwell and Harry Davenport. I wish you had mentioned WESTWARD THE WOMEN witch has all the ingredients of a Western, but is far more than you can except from a classical Western, maybe because of the scenario suggested by Frank Capra ? Anyway the shot of Robert Taylor riding after Danon in the canyon is gorgeous, and every character, above all Hope Emerson, in this movie is amazing ! Wellman was a good director, too.
Since you are French. Watch The Jayhawkers with Nicole Maurey, Jeff Chandler and Fess Parker. Maurey’s Jeannie Dubois being a French woman is absolutely pivotal to this movie ( although Chandler dominates).
@@davidbrown386 I never heard of this movie, I know the director by « Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House », some films never cross the ocean that means, il we can get them, that they have no subtitles which is sometimes a real difficulty for me. I remember I had to see at least thirty times Ernst Lubitch’s « To Be Or Not To Be » because I couldn’t understand the dispute between Felix Bressart and Lionel Atwill ! By the way, have you seen this movie, one of the most hilarious I’ve ever seen ?
Clearly not a western, but close, is Last of the Mohicans with Daniel Day Lewis. Many great scenes with the French Army and natives in Canada. I'd love to know of a better one but I'm unaware of anything that approaches it. It's a shame really.
As a life long western fan I appreciate your list, certainly need to look out for The Big Gundown with Van Cleef. One movie that doesn’t get a lot of love but I think is really excellent is The Unforgiven with Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn, also has the excellent John Saxon in a small role. But really the standout in the movie is Audie Murphy, he plays a character very out of context from a lot of his other movies. He really holds his own and really brings his character to life. And for those who have never heard of it give it a chance.
Great cast, and I especially loved Joseph Wiseman as Abe Kelsey, the mystery man haunting Burt's family. Kelsey: "How do, Miss Zachary? I'd have come sooner, but I had a long way to ride. Seven years." And when the Kiowas make their war music, what the Zacharys do to make their own music. Greatness all around that movie.
Thanks for this list. Some of these I've never seen and will check out. As someone below mentioned, "One-Eyed Jacks," starring Brando and Karl Malden, would be a good addition to the list.
While I thoroughly enjoyed The Skin Game, in my opinion a better take on the Salt-n-Pepper Western was the 1968 The Scalphunters with Ossie Davis and Burt Lancaster. Talk about chemistry! Great supporting cast too!
Awesome selection of movies. Have seen three, and knew of a couple more. Only addition I'd make is John Ford's My Darling Clementine. It's a classic but I think it's overlooked by modern offcinados, Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Linda Darnell and Walter Brennan lead a sterling cast.
I discovered a movie with Tyrone Power, Susan Heywood called "Rawhide" not to be confused with the TV show of the same name. Directed by Henry Hathaway it's an amazing movie. Power who has played heroes can't seem to be a hero no matter how hard he tries. With Hugh Marlowe, Jack Elam, Edgar Buchanan, Dean Jagger. It' one of those westerns that nobody has seen. There's even a toddler in it. Big Country is definitely my all time favorite western, Jerome Moross makes the movie greater.
Recently discovered 'Rawhide' as well. Great movie. Also discovered one of a similar plot 'Day of the Outlaw' with Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, and Tina Louise. Burl Ives makes a great villain........Big Country is high on my list.
0:56 Skin Game 1:49 The Big Gundown 2:38 The Ox Bo Incident 3:29 The Walking Hills 4:30 The Naked Spur 5:37 The Gunfighter 6:51 Gunfight At OK Corral 7:36 Man of The West 8:20 The Big Country 9:26 Destry Rides Again
I’ve seen The Ox Bow Incident, the Naked Spur, The Gunfighter, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Big Country, and Destry Rides Again. I’ve seen The Big Country, in particular, many times. Sadly, I’ve never seen any of them on a big movie screen. But I love classic westerns, including the lesser known ones. If you are a fan of the genre, I recommend Rustler’s Rhapsody, a parody that makes gentle fun of all the westerns tropes, from the singing cowboys to the spaghetti westerns. It’s very clever and not well known, but it’s especially appreciated by fans of the genre who recognize the tropes.
I'd certainly agree with including "The Ox-Bow Incident" and "The Big Country" - two fantastic films that don't get the love they deserve. My nomination for inclusion on the list would be 1958's "The Bravados" with Gregory Peck and Joan Collins, with Peck as a man tracking down 4 men he believes killed his wife, but with a big twist at the end that elevates this film a step above your average revenge movie. .
I always felt that Paint Your Wagon a rare western musical, featuring Lee Marvin & Clint Eastwood both singing songs, showing their rare talent. Lee Marvin's song I Was Born Under A Wondering Star was a classic (1969).
Couldn't agree more! Westerns brought out the steel in Barbara Stanwyck. Check her out in Forty Guns (Sam Fuller). The unforgettable opening shot could not be more Freudian.
A few there that I hadn't seen and your ballyhoo was enticing. I am a fan of the genre and the only one I questioned was the spaghetti western, but I agree that Lee Van Cleif is exceptional, so I am going to track it down. Thank you for sharing your insight and knowledge!
"Gunfight At OK Corral" - you forgot to mention the MUSIC. Classic Dmitri Tiompin composition with Frankie Lane's vocals throughout the show! Yes, it's as historically wrong as any movie can be, but it is a guilty pleasure to watch. "The Big Country" is one of the best westerns IMHO, and works on so many levels in the story. Plus, as mentioned, an absolutely classic musical score (one of my favorite CDs). Another Peck classic not mentioned was "Yellow Sky", a real treat among old westerns.
'Night Passage", with Jimmy Stewart and Audie Murphy (as The Utica Kid, Stewart's younger brother), "The Tall Men", "Tribute To A Bad Man", "Jubal" , "A Thunder Of Drums" , "Warlock", and "Blood On The Moon". A lifelong fan of Westerns, my personal all time favorite, among many favorites, is 1966's "The Professionals". Lee Marvin has one of the best lines ever in that flick, posters who have seen the film will know what I mean.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller. I tried a few times to watch it. I don't understand what they are saying though most of the time they don't say anything. Also its pace is very slow. I know that many critics rate it and people think they have to say it's great but I consider it unwatchable.
@@user-tg3tj2nq6v Frankly, at age 60, I finally got around to McCabe. I thought it was not a good movie. Another one people rave about is "Silverado" and, other than the late Brian Dennehy being in the cast, I liked nothing about it.
@@teller1290 Silverado is OK. I think the good thing about it is that it was made during a time that westerns were box office poison and yet it did all right and it was descent. I didn't know people rave about it, that sounds strange!
I saw Duel at Diablo for the first time last week. It starred Sidney Potier and James Garner. I had never seen or heard of this film even though it came out in 1966…This film was excellent. Great dialogue and action from beginning to end!
Recently saw "The Gunfighter. Fantastic film. Thanks for this. Always looking for more Westerns to add my watchlist. "Gunfight At The O.K. Corral" is one of my favourite Westerns. Carries a great philosophical component. "The Big Country", another I absolutely love. As you allude to, the score is top notch.
Great selection ! but I would add 2 more…"Yellow Sky" 1948, with Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter and Richard Widmark, an incredible film, and also "The Westerner" 1940, with Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan, just outstanding, thanks
I had just watched "The Westerner", had never heard of it. Very good movie. I like most how it took its time on many scenes. You never see that in movies, always quick and edited to save time. I'm not sure if I have ever seen "Yellow Sky", maybe, I'll have to find it.
I grew up in the 50s - 60s. Westerns were in every direction, TV & movies, tried to see them all. Your analysis is perfectly on target, start to finish. Try Yellow Sky & The Hanging Tree. Although the ending to Sky went "Hollywood" , the film is excellent with stunning black & white contrasts. The Hanging Tree is one of the greats.
I would mention, Yellow Sky, a 1948 American Western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, and Anne Baxter, and one from Audie Murphy like The Texican or No Name on the Bullet. Can’t forget Randolph Scott either.
I watched that film a month ago with my pal and I loved it! I'm gonna briefly review it in an upcoming video "30 Films I Watched In 2023" be sure to catch it when it's released December 31st 2023
Go to "One eyed Jacks" if you want to see a great underappreciated western the last film shot in vistavision directed by Marlon Brando. Restored with the help of Martin Scorsese. With a great cast and great photography.
An "underrated Westerns" list that actually delivers!! Thanks so much for including Ox-bow and The Naked Spur. Two personal faves. Now I've got to check out The Rolling Hills. Too many people involved that I love.
Seen them all, being a real aficionado of the Western genre. The Oxbow Incident is one of the best films, goes far beyond its genre. And The Big Country is one of my favorite movies but you didn't mention Chuck Connors' outstanding acting in his role as the bad guy. Finally, I'll just say I agree wholeheartedly about The Naked Spur as well. But let me mention The Man from Laramie, another James Stewart Western, also much overlooked.
Of course, my being a southerner...I get to see yet another (post-war, no less) out of control southerner who can't wait to lynch someone. C'mon. And in Hollywood, off the rack, brand new dove grey uniform.
Ox bow incident was a great book. The vistas and the score of the Big Country plus the great cast make it one of my favorites. Love the gorgeous Jean Simmons. Fun trivia fact, Jimmy Stewart wore the same hat and rode the same horse in most of his westerns.
One thing I like about the title THE NAKED SPUR is its triple meaning: Jimmy Stewart's motivation spur, the spur where the climax takes place, and the spur he uses as a weapon!
I've been lucky enough to have seen more than half of these great movies, mostly watched with my dear dad. It wasn't till years later than I realised he was using them as a teaching tool for life lessons. Thanks dad ❤
Thanks for revealing the existence of "The Big Gundown" to me. I already own a copy of all of the other westerns you mentioned though I don't personally classify "The Walking Hills" as a western. I'm also glad you included "The Naked Spur". You could probably do an entire segment on Jimmy Stewart westerns like "Winchester 73", "Bend In The River", "The Man From Laramie" and "Broken Arrow". Thanks again.
Since it's remake in 2007 wih Russell Crowe, everyone seems to have forgotten the superior original (in my opinion) of "3:10 To Yuma" with Van Heflin and Glenn Ford in one of his rare 'bad guy' roles.
Great list! One or two of these are classics, of course, and would feature in most compilations of top westerns in my view. Well done on the excellent, informative and articulate commentary. A challenge - see if you can make a third ten without dropping the standard!
I think that the 0pening Credits sequence montage of the galloping horses of the stage coach along with the Jerome Moross score has to be one of the best of all time! The entire score is available on CD. Great film! Jean Simmons is one of my favs, also!
The Big Country is my all time favorite Western, followed closely by The Oxbow Incident. I have seen about half the Westerns in your list…can’t wait to find the rest! Thank you for this wonderful compilation!
Nice list. I have six of the ten in my DVD library. That says enough about your taste that I will check out the other four when I get a chance. Colorado Territory (1949) with Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo and Dorothy Malone is my lesser known pick for your list. It is a western treatment of the Bogart film, High Sierra. Excellent stuff. The story works better as a western in my opinion.
"The Skin Game", "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "Ox-Bow Incident" and "The Gunfighter" are brilliant. "The Walking Hills" with Randolph Scott. You can't go wrong with Scott!
Efectivamente la elección es muy buena pero te dejas en el olvido el western mas icónico de todos los tiempos, HING , NOON, Con la interpretación magistral y de mas credibilidad del western, La honestidad de GARY COOPER es un auténtico lujo para los mejores cinéfilos del universo, sencillamente 🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂
A couple you should add: A Big Hand for the Little Lady - 1966 Starring Henry Fonda and Joanne Woodward My Name Is Nobody - 1973 Starring Henry Fonda and Terence Hill
In 'The Big Gundown' you make reference to the gorgeous Italian Countryside but the movie, like most Spaghetti Westerns, was filmed in Spain. This is one of Lee Van Cleef's better performances. I have seen all of these movies and most of them are highly rated. What makes 'The Ox-bow Incident' so compelling is that the novel it is based on is itself based on a actual event.
Yes - The Big Gundown, like all the spaghetti westerns, was filmed in SPAIN, not in Italy !!! A few of these westerns had their interior scenes filmed at Cinecitta Studio in Rome. Some, like Once Upon a Time in the West and My Name is Nobody, had scenes filmed in USA.
The Big Country is a Must-Own on the 4K remastered Blu Ray . Jean Simmons was a sweetheart in this masterpiece . Thanks ! I have seen most of these . Born in Texas & military veteran .
Man, you nailed it! And of course there are more great one's as well. What one movie is my favorite of all time. Is the modern day western circa after the Korean war with Kirk Douglas (LONELY ARE THE BRAVE) In Douglas's biography and in person intervies, He said it was his favorite of all the movies he made. His son Michael said of his father's movies that he rated number one as Lonely are the Brave. A super Great movie. Thanks for this, hope you do more of this genre.
Half of them I hadn't seen. A couple I hadn't even heard of. Thanks for the list. Rewatched Ride in the Whirlwind recently (directed by Monte Hellman, written by and starring Jack Nicholson) and it belongs on one of these "NEVER Seen" lists. As would the westerns of Budd Boetticher (7 Men From Now, Comanche Station, Ride Lonesome, The Tall T...). And of course my personal favorite (and transition of sorts between the classics and the more off-beat New Hollywood wetsrens): Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country. Among the later 70s westerns I'd single out Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Arthur Penn's Missouri Breaks. Not sure how often talked about they are, though. Thanks again.
I've seen most of them. If cable TV would run a few of them instead of reruns , everyone could enjoy them. Red River was probably the best cattle drive movie ever made. Great stars. Good plot. And a great fist fight between father and son at the end. What more could you ask for ?
What an amazing list of great westerns! The fact that The Big Country isn't more widely known is disheartening. It should be on every Top 20 Western movie list. You made a great video!
Seen every one of these as a kid , My father spent many a Sunday afternoon watching westerns to the annoyance of my mother as we only had one TV ,his collection of paperback westerns was in the thousands. Just looked at some of the comments wow they brought back some memories and a few titles I didn't recognise that's going to sort my Sunday afternoons out.😊😊😊😊😊
hardly overlooked often on greatest lists mann been much written about and his dad's last with barbara stanwyck and walter huston interesting.senior moment sorry no title.
It is the greatest American film of all-time but not a western. It is set in the mountains of Mexico in the 1920s not in the American west of the 19th century. Just because they are not driving cars does not make it a western. Westerns are an American film genre.
What a great list! There are definitely a couple here that I have not seen and will definitely watch now, like The Skin Game. I stumbled across Gregory Peck’s The Gunfighter one night and found it fantastic. I saw the Oxbow Incident when I was very young and that movie was so depressing, to me, that I could never watch it again. A great cast including Harry Morgan.
The Big Sky with Kirk Douglas is one I dont see playing much through the years also Night Passage with Jimmy Stewart and a fast Audie Murphy but it is playing last week and this week on Grit TV...they are getting some more good ones on now.
You've included older classic westerns that any western fan has not only heard of but has probably seen more than once! 'The Oxbow Incident!' 'The Big Country!' Jimmy Stewart's 'The Naked Spur', one of his classic westerns with director Anthony Mann! 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.' THESE ARE NOT FILMS WE'VE NEVER SEEN OR HEARD OF! Your summaries of the films are excellent. I think you are just too young to appreciate that these classic films have been around for decades!
Geeez, Don’t let the critical comments get to you. Sure, there are always going to be movies on any list that other people have seen. And always people who have criticism for any list. I too am in my mid-70s and have seen a zillion westerns since the 50’s. And yes, even a couple of these. However, I thank you for introducing me to a bunch that I did not know of…and for your excellent reviews.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is in my mind the best Western ever made. Starred John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin. And it blew the lid off the lying media decades before anyone was talking about it.
My vote for a 'Top 10 You've Never Seen', 'Yellow Sky'. 1948 by William Wellman. A group of outlaws on the run including Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark and Harry Morgan, hide out in an abandoned mining town inhabited by Miranda and Prospero, er, Constance and Grandpa. Greed, lust, betrayal, and redemption follow. Beautifully shot in Death Valley. Definitely an 'A' list production, but one that is overlooked now. Another non-western western that probably should be included is 'Bad Day at Black Rock'. Too many of your picks are too common.
Superb list! I remember where I was when I first saw The Gunfighter, it instantly became one of my favourite films. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before. Then I realised that Bob Dylan had written about it in a song I knew, Brownsville Girl. ‘Well, there was this movie I seen one time About a man riding 'cross the desert and it starred Gregory Peck He was shot down by a hungry kid trying to make a name for himself The townspeople wanted to crush that kid down and string him up by the neck’ ‘Well, the marshal, now he beat that kid to a bloody pulp As the dying gunfighter lay in the sun and gasped for his last breath Turn him loose, let him go, let him say he outdrew me fair and square I want him to feel what it's like to every moment face his death’ ….. ‘Well, I'm standin' in line in the rain to see a movie starring Gregory Peck Yeah, but you know it's not the one that I had in mind He's got a new one out now, I don't even know what it's about But I'll see him in anything so I'll stand in line’ Me too
My favourite Randolph Scott western is The Tall T, which features the superb triple-villainy of Richard Boone (the master mind), Henry Silva (the sadist) and Skip Homeier (the thug) ... Alfred Hitchcock also used this villain formula to great effect in North By Northwest.
One Eyed Jacks 1961 with Marlon Brando. Beautifully filmed and nominated for cinematography. It is so far west it takes place at the ocean....can't get more west than that! No one ever talks about this movie.
Nice presentation! I've seen some of these and they are good recommendations. THE WALKING HILLS is really something. Some of your others are pretty well-known to westerns fans, but it's good to bring them to the attention of others. I'd like to add a couple THE CULPEPPER CATTLE CO. (1972), a great coming-of-age western, and THE GREY FOX (1982), a "north-western" set in Oregon, Washington and Canada, about an older train robber released from prison after many years, who must adjust to the 'modern world' of the early 20th century, and BAD COMPANY (1971) with very young Jeff Bridges---a really enjoyable film, with great atmosphere.
A great list! Some I'd not heard of, but I'll definitely be looking out for! I love Destry Rides Again and can also say you're right about The Naked Spur! Stewart is great in it and the ending is genuinely shocking and moving! One I'd add is the Tall T, with Radolf Scott, Maureen O'Sulivan and Richard Boone. It's well worth a watch!
Randolph Scott the gayest looking cowboy ever, never a hair out of place even after a big scuffle and not a mark on his always freshly laundered looking attire despite presumably rolling around in mud, dust horse shit and blood 😂
That fight scene in Man of the West between Gary Cooper and Jack Lord was really something.. Cooper kept knocking out Jack Lord and taking an article of clothing off of him each time he landed in the dirt. Lord did a great job showing surprise, shock, embarrassment and shame as Cooper stripped him down to his long johns drawers. Cooper did all this because Lord had tried to get Julie London to strip for him in the scene before.
Wonderful list which I spent a week exploring. What RUclips doesn't have, you can find everything on this list elsewhere on the internet without paying a cent. Each film was excellent with many, many surprises & twists & turns. Thanks so much for putting this together...
Thanks for such a great list Have gotten so tired of streaming services and their lack of access to great westerns, jumped right from your video to EBay and bought all the dvds Thanks again, subscribed and liked
The Grey Fox with Richard Farnsworth from 1982, great lead performance from one of the greatest western character actors to have ever lived.
How come this Gem of a Film is continually overlooked? It's terrific through and through.
You nailed it with The Big Country! Not only is it my favorite western, it is one of my favorite films of ANY genre of all time!
One of my favorites as well.
Yes, but what about 'Shane' ?
Harmut… the theme here is underrated or unknown westerns, not Shane. Not the magnificent seven. Not high noon. Are you catching the drift?
'You step foot in Blanco Canyon one more time this country's gonna run red with blood."
Glad to see some love for "The Gunfighter." That's a movie that definitely needs to be better known. And "Destry Rides Again" is one of my favorite movies ever.
I enjoy the Audie Murphy remake, 'Destroy, as well.
The Gunfighter is one of my top 5 favorite westerns
20th Century Fox head Spyros Skouras went off on a vacation just as production was about to start, no doubt thinking "What can go wrong with a western?" When he returned and saw the daily footage he was unhappy that Gregory Peck had a moustache, a turnoff for some female moviegoers. Normally he would have shaved it off and re-filmed the existing footage, but so much had already been filmed that this would have been too expensive. He later told Peck, "That moustache of yours cost us $500,000 at the box office!"
There are very few westerns I like, most are too dramatized or not much action in them at all.
I read the original story of "Destry", by "Max Brand" {pulp writer Frederick Faust's pseudonym for Western stories ... and, oddly, Doctor Kildare...} let's just say it'd DIFFERENT from the film.
{Faust wrote under at least 13 pseudonyms, including "George Challis" for stories set in Renaissance Italy. See a pattern here?}
I grew up watching westerns with my grandfather and “THE OXBOW INCIDENT” was arguably life changing.
My grandfather was a WWII Ranger and a judge and the conversation that followed the film was pivotal.
🙏🏽
100%. Indelibly imprinted on first viewing. What an incredible commentary on the nature of mankind. High Noon is another great example.
I only read the book but it was pretty amazing. not your ordinary western.
Only one I never heard of is the Walking Hills. As for The Big Gundown, I make a point of avoiding ALL spaghetti westerns; I'm a purist, I find them insulting and a rip off of the western genre. The rest were A-movies and hits in their day. The kids today may not know these moves but true fans of westerns sure do.
The Oxbow Incident has been one that I have loved for years (I am 77) II even hunted it down on the Net so I could watch it again.
@@Gloria-ro4vn Uh huh.
Watch "Once Upon a Time in the West" - not just a LOT of people's pick for "Best Western EVER" {including mine} but a lot of people's all-time favourite film, EVER. {I won't go THAT far. Close, but...}
If nothing else, after OUaTitW you'll look at Henry Fonda a bit differently...
One of my personal favorites is Hombre. It wasn't just Paul Newman's very subdued portrayal of a white man raised by Apaches, it was an absolutely fantastic supporting cast, including Fredric March, Barbara Rush, Martin Balsam, Diane Cilento, Cameron Mitchell, and the great Richard Boone.
"We all die, it's just a question of when". That's one of my favorite lines from this movie & there are many more. It's a great western.
I would like... to know.. his name.
His name was John Russell.
Great ending!
@@kwmoore3464 on that theme, my dad's favorite line (and he's the only reason I ever watched this movie), "I have a question. What makes you think you're going to make it back down that hill?"
Sorry, I just stepped on you!
It isa great film!
The music score for "The Big Country" is undoubtedly one of the best of all times, elevating an already great movie. That Jerome Moross, didn't win the 1959 Oscar for his score for "The Big Country" is one of the great injustices of the Academy Awards. (Dimitri Tiomkin's score for "The Old Man and the Sea" won instead.)
I have the original album and the CD. Great Score!
Totally agree. Dmitri Tiomkin’s score for OK Corral was superb too.
It's one of the first things a movie fan learns: The Oscars aren't about the art of cinema. They seem to be more about industry politics and popularity than anything. They're not a very good guide for what to watch. If a movie won an Oscar, it's probably worth watching, but there are lots of great movies that the academy completely overlooks. So thanks, this is a much better guide. Video is much appreciated.
Why would anyone tell you a movie doesn’t belong on the list. It’s your list! Thank you for presenting it!
I think you should consider doing a piece about all 5 of the James Stewart & Anthony Mann westerns: The Naked Spur, Winchester ‘73, The Far Country, Bend of the River, and The Man from Laramie. Mann was at the forefront of filmmakers who wanted to use the western as a vehicle to explore the depth of the psychology, morality, and motivations behind the actions of formerly 2-dimensional genre archetypes. He needed an actor who had a down to earth “everyman” appeal but could also realistically portray a character struggling with darker impulses when being pushed to extremes. He knew that Stewart was a bomber pilot during WWII and rightfully considered that even though he was best known for his folksy, comedic charm, by possessing the wherewithal to repeatedly brave that type of terror Stewart would be able to effectively be cast against type in more brooding and tense dramas. Alfred Hitchcock opened the door to this facet of Stewart’s range in 1948’s “Rope” but Mann more fully realized it in 1950’s “Winchester ‘73.”
Then the Radolph Scott Budd Boetticher films, The Tall T, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station, 7 Men from Now, and Decision at Sundown
They just put Mann's whole collection with Stewart on the Criterion Channel, I've been making my way through it! Just watched Bend of the River!
@@arnoldpainal5885 Nice call. I think Ride Lonesome is like an archtype of a western. Easily in my Top-3.
@@peterburgh1818Ride Lonesome and The Naked Spur are quite similar. Though my top Randolph Scott film is The Tall T, utter simplicity in story and number of characters plus it has that great ending line from Scott "Come on now. It's gonna be a nice day."
@@madnickmedia think it misses winchester 73 but a good start and they had the last scott boetticher ones earlier.
"My Name Is Nobody" (1973) is a favorite of mine. Starring Henry Fonda and Terrence Hill. Quirky and amusing, with winning characters and a clever story. Very unique western, and not to be missed IMO.
The Trinity movies with Terrence Hill are great.
Great soundtrack by Ennio Morricone
I would add Ulzana’s Raid which is one of the most gritty realistic westerns about fighting renegade Apaches. It stars Burt Lancaster.
Vastly overlooked. Great performance by Burt Lancaster.
One of the most underrated Westerns is 'McKenna's Gold' from 1969. It starred Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif. Critics panned it at the time because they felt the ending was too "Deus Ex Machina", but when it was shown on television a few years later, my 12-year-old self was glued to the TV that Friday night.
Interesting choice, but Omar was terribly miscast here.
I was going to write the same thing. i never was a big fan of the genre but "Mckenna's gold" was the one that really got my attention. I also really enjoy "Once Upon a time in the west"
I love this movie as well. All that gold! And the silly ending with the Indians riding down into the canyon and then just as quickly high- tailing it out of there when the walls start tumbling down. I was 14 and my friend's mom worked at a movie theater, so I saw it first on the big screen and the nude swimming scene was an eye opener for me at the time. I think it was edited down for TV, LoL. I still watch it every now and then.
oh god that sucked
I agree - and so many stars in this film (!) What a cast. Where else can you see Julie Newmar (sigh) and Edward G. Robinson in a Western ?
Maybe not a top ten Western movie of all time, but one no one has seen is the "River of No Return". Beautiful cinematography, directed by Otto Preminger, of all people. Any Western that has Robert Mitchem and Marilyn Monroe has got chemistry that burns the screen. The movie is definitely underrated.
I also like that movie. Preminger had a lot of problems, not with Marilyn Monroe, but with her dialogue coach who was on set the whole time and insisted on giving her "direction."
That is a personal favorite of mine. Interesting seeing Rory Calhoun as the bad guy
Yeah, finally saw that a few years ago, definitely better than expected.
Absolutely luv that movie!
I've seen it. I taped it off TV for my mother thirty years ago.
One of the greatest is Ulzanas Raid starring Burt Lancaster as a grizzled old cavalry scout called in to hunt down Ulzana and his braves who have broken out of the reservation and bring mayhem and murder, fantastic!!
Robert Aldrich !
Excellent movie with a great understated performance by Lancaster.
@@samuraidave2730 why understated !? It had been and still is célébrités as one of his best ever...
@@marco-dn7kd Many of Burt's more famous roles were flamboyant larger than life characters, think Elmer Gantry or The RainMaker, in Ulzana's raid, the character McIntosh had a world weariness about him that was perfectly captured by Burt in his understated performance (not flamboyant but rather quiet, subdued and unembellished). It is indeed one of his better performances.
@@samuraidave2730 Okay ! To me understated can also mean underestimated reason why I did not understand your point until now... Lancaster could be both flamboyant and understated such as in The Leopard or The Train...
One minor correction: A few of the spaghetti westerns were filmed in central and southern Italy, but the great majority were filmed in southern Spain. Almost all of them were co-productions between Italian and Spanish companies, typically with an Italian director and an Italo-Spanish technical staff. Occasionally, a French, German, Portuguese, Greek, Israeli, or American company might also lend minor production support.
What gets me about those fims is the audio dubbing. In italy, they film without sound then add it all in the studio.
5 man army also had a japanese actor. there is a japanese pic called kill starring the great tatsuya nakadai that was a sort of samurai spagetti western in style.
@@arnoldpainal5885 all films have a lot of looping but as you say the Spaghetti's were filmed deliberately that way, it's one of the reasons why i struggle with them as the non English speaking actors seems to be dubbed so badly, tbh the only 4 i can stomach are the Fistful trilogy & once upon a time in the West because they are so good & made by a master.
@@charliemaguire2210 I tend to agree that, outside of Leone's stuff, it's hard to get past the terrible dubbing. I like Van Cleef, so I'll give that one a try.
One thing I like about spaghetti westerns is that the Italian actors in the supporting cast look TWICE as Italian in a frontier setting!
Thanks for your post. William Wellman’s “Across the Wide Missouri” is a forgotten masterpiece and “Hombre” features probably the greatest, and most realistic, gunfight on film. In real life, those showdowns lasted seconds instead of minutes.
Plus, Richard Boone may be the best villains ever!
“Well, now, what do you think Hell is gonna look like?”
Yellow Sky to me is another Wellman's masterpiece.
Richards Boon , hmm, yes but Jack Palance in 'Shane' was never surpassed !
Yes Richard Boon's acting always had a 'real' nasty and violent edged style !
I would like to add "Will Penny" to the mix. Charlton Heston does a great in this film. The supporting cast does a great job too. by the way, I've seen them ALL!
I was going to suggest that nugget, as well as Ride the High Country. Scott and McCrea directed by Peckinpah. Wow.
100% good movie ! Joan Hackett is gorgeous !
Chato’s
Land , starring Charles Bronson
@@baileyboy5253
😅 6:10
All time favorite. The theme music is haunting and terrific. "That There'n Elk is Ourn!".
Great list and could add these:
1) Major Dundee(the director’s cut)
2) The Stalking Moon
3) Jeremiah Johnson
4) Yellow Sky
5) Bone Tomahawk
6) The Horse Soldiers
7) Ride with the Devil
8) The Long Riders
9) Man From Snowy River
10) Rough Night in Jericho
I am 73 years old and my favorite pastime is watching Westerns. I have seen every movie mentioned here and in the responses. So here is my take:
I know that Jeremiah Johnson was a hit when it came out but it seems to have been forgotten. Will Geer is fantastic and this is Redfords best film IMHO.
Stalking Moon is riveting and nail biting as the Apache stalking them is almost ghost like. Same with Bone Tomahawk.
The cast in Major Dundee is stunning! There are so many great character actors in this movie that you can’t believe it. The storyline is also very good.
Trust me Western fans, the movies on my list are great.
Not sure how "The Professionals" was left off this list. Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode, Jack Palance. Damn good movie.
A truly great film!
@@duncanbleak3819 👍
I've actually seen all of these westerns (but then again, I'm 70 years old as of this date.) I agree they they are must see classics. I saw many of them on AMC, back when they actually showed American Movie Classics. I humbly ask if you would add 'The Outlaw Josie Wales' to the list. As this is my all time favorite western.
It’s Josie Wales! One of my favorites too.
I agree about "outlaw Josey Wales" as it is my favorite western of all time, but it's not an unknown.
I've also seen these movies, but I am only 63.😊
Western that I think doesn't get enough attention is "One eyed Jacks" however it has been fully restored with the help of Martin Scorsese.
Hope more people catch on to it
I have seen 8 of 10 (7 and 9 on the list being the exceptions.) Age: 47.😁
I have seen almost all of these, and the short clips makes me want to see them again. When I was a kid, the movie theater showed westerns on Saturday afternoons, usually a double. We saw so many great actors, and movies. Yes Lee Van Clef was among them. One Saturday evening, for some unknown reason, the theater had on High Noon, to which a took a beautiful young woman, and we had the theater to ourselves. It was my first time to see that movie, and it has remained among my favorites. Others include the usual, Red River, The Searchers, Angel and the Bad Man, She wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, North to Alaska--I could go on. thanks for putting this together. It was very enjoyable.
Yeah, the local TV station during my youth in the 80s, would show 2 Westerns after Saturday morning cartoons (between that, the cartoons, and a rerun of the old Addams Family before the morning cartoons, many a bad weather Saturday got used up.😁
"McCabe and Mrs. Miller" is one of my favorite westerns. It reflects upon the corporate development of the west. "Will Penny" is also an overlooked film in my opinion.
Thanks for the reminder, you're right both are great fi
lms! 10:55
Two excellent choices. Both are very good often missed westerns
McCabe is boring, which moreless means “sh*t”
With Will Penny took a couple minutes to cope with Donald Pleasance in a Western. Especially since he played Blofeld at roughly the same time.😁
MCCABE & MRS. MILLER was filmed in British Columbia, and its snowscapes give it a rather Canadian look.
The Culpepper Cattle Company. A wonderful coming of age film with one of the toughest trail bosses you've ever seen.
bad company.
Always amazes me how often ‘The Big Country’ is left out of list of the all time best westerns. If it was not for ‘Shane’ it would probably be my favorite #1.
Ah, 'Shane" - most likely the best movie for many !
The original "Monte Walsh" with Lee Marvin & Jack Palance is sadly underrated & well worth seeking out if you haven't seen it... (there was a remake with Tom Selleck in 2003)
Yes, good movie!
Totally agree! Lee Marvin really hit the mark well on playing the lead character!
and Jack Palance doesn't ham it up ☺
👍
Fun fact. Charlton Heston didn't want to be in "The Big Country." He thought he was too big a star to play second fiddle in the film; but his agent knew Wyler, and threatened to quit Heston if Heston didn't take the job. Heston did, and it led Wyler to cast him as "Ben Hur."
I would add that the performance of Chuck Connors was probably his best... YP
@@yankeepapa304 Good call. He usually played heroes so he really must have wanted to work with Wyler and that cast to play such a loathsome character.
@@yankeepapa304 Absolutely, a fine performance by Connors indeed and I mentioned it in my post about this video as well.
Heston was one arrogant fellow
WHAT !!!? Moses wasn’t good enough for him !?😂😂😂
I would have tossed in The Westerner. A 1940 film with Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean. It is rarely aired and few people today have seen it. The opera house scene is one of the best shoot-outs ever put on film.
What about "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean", 1972, w Paul Newman, Jackie Bisset, and a young Victoria Principal?
One of my favorites.
@@aspenrebel Both are excellent.
@@lekmirn.hintern8132 ok I just finished watching "The Westerner" (1940) w Gary Cooper et als. That was a pretty good movie. I had never heard of it before.
Great movie, Walter Brennan is excellent playing against typecast.
I saw "The Naked Spur" as a boy in the theater. Loved it so much that later, as an adult, I bought the DVD. Probably my all time favorite Western. Great seeing Jimmy Stewart play a gritty type of character. Also enjoy Randolph Scott westerns. Have many on DVD as well.
‘Valdez is coming’ is my favourite unknown Western.
El Segundo is my favorite henchman ever!
My favorite seldom seen western is 'Yellow Sky', directed by William Wellman and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark and Ann Baxter. Everything about this movie is first rate but I rarely see it available on cable or streaming.
Right at the top of my list. William A Wellman directed
I suggested this as well, before I scrolled down and saw your comment.
Awesome film.
Yeah, I catch that every now and then
Just saw this for the first time about a month ago. It is great.
Very happy to see The Big Country on the list. I have never understood why it is never listed among the best westerns ever made. Great dialogue, acting, story, etc. Burl Ives won an Oscar but Heston was equally good. His performance landed him the Ben Hur role.
Yes, it is kinda odd. I have seen that movie but, unlike 'Shane' or 'High Noon', hardly remember it!
I have lost count of how many times I have seen “The Big Country”. Peck and Heston are magnificent, and play gif each other so well. The early morning fight scene is epic. Burl Ives is also great, and SO Oscar worthy. I would spoil it, but his sense of honor, although different, is just as strong as Peck’s character. Peck’s fiancée is the epitome of spoiled, entitled little princess but also has a wild side that epitomizes the rough nature of her native environment. My God, there is so much to like here. I even have the theme score on my Spotify playlist.
Strangely enough, I also love “Giant” for many of the same reasons. Stark scenery, flawed characters, great acting. Whether you consider it a western (okay, modern western) is up to you.
Love The Big Country and especially Burl Ives as Rufus Hannassey, with great acting and great lines from him:
"Treat her right. Take a bath sometime."
"Teach your grandmother to suck eggs! I've been handling guns like this, flintlock and caplock, since before you were born."
"If you ain't the mother and father of all liars."
I'm smiling just thinking of him.
Jerome Moross wrote the classic soundtrack after being inspired looking west from atop Sandia peak in Albuquerque!
Having been there, I can totally understand why.
@@Dave-hb7lx Burl Ives got the Oscar for Best Supporting Eyebrows . . .
The theme music is outstanding!💯
Good list. I've watched all but two of them. The Big Country is one of my all time favorite movies. An amazing cast, story, and soundtrack.
Need to add Ride the High Country to this list. Peckinpaugh's 1st film where he had script control. Starring the fabulous Joel McRrea and Randolph Scott. A much underappreciated film that is now in the National Film Registry recognizing films of great cultural significance.
i've seen that one. its a fabulous movie. i believe that it is also Scott's final movie before he retired.
First rate film, no question.
Ride the High Country, yep, a great movie indeed.
that film was pretty disappointing to me, I loved Scott & McCrea but the immense focus on the annoying teen couple bored and annoyed me, 6/10 flick
@@AbrasiousProductions Yes, if you allowed it, they were distracting. I focused on Scott and McCrae instead. This movie is better than most on this list, much better than Naked Spur.
The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck is one of my all time favorite westerns. Saw it for the first time one summer when I was in High School and absolutely fell in love with it.
What about 'Shane' ?
@@HartmutJagerArt to be honest, Shane never really grabbed my interest. For me it was just okay.
@@KyOty1- That's OK we all got different likes and dislikes! Would be a dull world if it were not so ! -
A very good list ...... one of my Favorite's is Glen Ford in Fastest Gun Alive in 1956 who was considered to be one of the Fastest along with Sammy Davis Jr , Jerry Lewis , Audie Murphy and Clint Eastwood from 50's and 60's
Yes , that is a good one !! You forgot Don Knotts in your Quick-Draw Line Up tho. !!
😉👍
I had heard that Sammy Davis Jr and Jerry Lewis were the fastest ,Audie Murphy was very fast .It is not drawing the gun that is difficult ,it is cocking it and shooting it -without shooting yourself in the foot that is hard .
So happy to know Burl Ives won an oscar for "The Big Country!" I have had a lifelong appreciation for his turn in "Our Man in Havana."
My favourite part of the film is a short scene between Ives and Chuck Connors
Connors "You want me Pa?"
Ives "Before you was born I did."
His role as Big Daddy in the movie version of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" was second to none too! It was SPOT-ON for how a southern Big Daddy should be in the 1950s🎯. How do I know? We had a southern "Big Daddy" in my family in the middle 1950s too. Like Ive's character, ours was also a high-powered businessman. Only thing is, Burl's character of Big Daddy operated a sprawling estate and business interests worth $30 million, if I remember correctly. While our real Big Daddy had a net worth of more like $6 million. He was more like a mini-Big Daddy in net worth, compared to Ive's Big Daddy character. But everything else about him was larger than life, just like Ive's Big Daddy. Still, no one should be deceived. $6 million dollars in net worth was also a heckuva balance sheet to be sporting around in 1956!
As a French woman, l’m a little proud of having watched half of these westerns :
The Naked Spur
Destry Rides Again
The Big Country
The Gun Fighter
The Oxbow Incident
This last one is my favourite, I love the actors you mentioned, specially Dana Andrews who always makes me cry… but I am also fond of Linda Darwell and Harry Davenport.
I wish you had mentioned WESTWARD THE WOMEN witch has all the ingredients of a Western, but is far more than you can except from a classical Western, maybe because of the scenario suggested by Frank Capra ? Anyway the shot of Robert Taylor riding after Danon in the canyon is gorgeous, and every character, above all Hope Emerson, in this movie is amazing ! Wellman was a good director, too.
Since you are French. Watch The Jayhawkers with Nicole Maurey, Jeff Chandler and Fess Parker. Maurey’s Jeannie Dubois being a French woman is absolutely pivotal to this movie ( although Chandler dominates).
I am a woman too! Bravo for us gals who like westerns!
@@davidbrown386 I never heard of this movie, I know the director by « Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House », some films never cross the ocean that means, il we can get them, that they have no subtitles which is sometimes a real difficulty for me. I remember I had to see at least thirty times Ernst Lubitch’s « To Be Or Not To Be » because I couldn’t understand the dispute between Felix Bressart and Lionel Atwill ! By the way, have you seen this movie, one of the most hilarious I’ve ever seen ?
Clearly not a western, but close, is Last of the Mohicans with Daniel Day Lewis. Many great scenes with the French Army and natives in Canada. I'd love to know of a better one but I'm unaware of anything that approaches it. It's a shame really.
Really liked Westward the Women. Only saw it once on TV, but would love to see it again.
I love the Western, but I'll bet you could make five more videos like this, filled with classics and forgotten gems I've totally missed.
As a life long western fan I appreciate your list, certainly need to look out for The Big Gundown with Van Cleef. One movie that doesn’t get a lot of love but I think is really excellent is The Unforgiven with Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn, also has the excellent John Saxon in a small role. But really the standout in the movie is Audie Murphy, he plays a character very out of context from a lot of his other movies. He really holds his own and really brings his character to life. And for those who have never heard of it give it a chance.
Yes!!
Yeah, i thought i had watched every Van Cleef until this, not sure how i never even heard of this one.
Yes, The Unforgiven is a classic.
It has a very good small role for the excellent character actor, Albert Salmi.
Great cast, and I especially loved Joseph Wiseman as Abe Kelsey, the mystery man haunting Burt's family.
Kelsey: "How do, Miss Zachary? I'd have come sooner, but I had a long way to ride. Seven years."
And when the Kiowas make their war music, what the Zacharys do to make their own music. Greatness all around that movie.
Thanks for this list. Some of these I've never seen and will check out. As someone below mentioned, "One-Eyed Jacks," starring Brando and Karl Malden, would be a good addition to the list.
There are just too many excellent movies to fit in, and to do them justice, on a small list !
While I thoroughly enjoyed The Skin Game, in my opinion a better take on the Salt-n-Pepper Western was the 1968 The Scalphunters with Ossie Davis and Burt Lancaster. Talk about chemistry! Great supporting cast too!
An excellent western from Burt Lancaster.
Great suggestion!!
In that vein, Bruce Campbell and Julius Carry were terrific frenemies in the lamentably short-lived Adventures of Brisco County Jr. series.
The Scalphunters is a very underrated western that is one of my my personal faves.
Ossie Davis what a great all around actor he was!!!
Awesome selection of movies. Have seen three, and knew of a couple more. Only addition I'd make is John Ford's My Darling Clementine. It's a classic but I think it's overlooked by modern offcinados, Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Linda Darnell and Walter Brennan lead a sterling cast.
'Shane' is missing !
I discovered a movie with Tyrone Power, Susan Heywood called "Rawhide" not to be confused with the TV show of the same name. Directed by Henry Hathaway it's an amazing movie. Power who has played heroes can't seem to be a hero no matter how hard he tries. With Hugh Marlowe, Jack Elam, Edgar Buchanan, Dean Jagger. It' one of those westerns that nobody has seen. There's even a toddler in it. Big Country is definitely my all time favorite western, Jerome Moross makes the movie greater.
Recently discovered 'Rawhide' as well. Great movie. Also discovered one of a similar plot 'Day of the Outlaw' with Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, and Tina Louise. Burl Ives makes a great villain........Big Country is high on my list.
Yeah , I seen all of these movies 20+ years ago , Jack Elam is one great villain ,
The Hanging Tree
and
The Westerner
with Cary Cooper
Angel and the Bad Man with John Wayne
@@jimthomas1989 Just watched 'The Hangin Tree' last night for the first time, BEFORE seeing your message. What are the odds!
I saw Rawhide just the other night.
0:56 Skin Game
1:49 The Big Gundown
2:38 The Ox Bo Incident
3:29 The Walking Hills
4:30 The Naked Spur
5:37 The Gunfighter
6:51 Gunfight At OK Corral
7:36 Man of The West
8:20 The Big Country
9:26 Destry Rides Again
I’ve seen The Ox Bow Incident, the Naked Spur, The Gunfighter, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Big Country, and Destry Rides Again. I’ve seen The Big Country, in particular, many times. Sadly, I’ve never seen any of them on a big movie screen. But I love classic westerns, including the lesser known ones.
If you are a fan of the genre, I recommend Rustler’s Rhapsody, a parody that makes gentle fun of all the westerns tropes, from the singing cowboys to the spaghetti westerns. It’s very clever and not well known, but it’s especially appreciated by fans of the genre who recognize the tropes.
I'd certainly agree with including "The Ox-Bow Incident" and "The Big Country" - two fantastic films that don't get the love they deserve. My nomination for inclusion on the list would be 1958's "The Bravados" with Gregory Peck and Joan Collins, with Peck as a man tracking down 4 men he believes killed his wife, but with a big twist at the end that elevates this film a step above your average revenge movie. .
Ooh, i remember the Bravados
Luv that movie! And the twist at the end!
I also had been wondering if The Bravados would make the list.
All in with these three titles, as would love to have 'Yellow Sky', also.
Holy cow! Rancho Notorious (1952, Marlene Dietrich, Mel Ferrer, Arthur Kennedy) had essentially the same plot.
I always felt that Paint Your Wagon a rare western musical, featuring Lee Marvin & Clint Eastwood both singing songs, showing their rare talent. Lee Marvin's song I Was Born Under A Wondering Star was a classic (1969).
The Furies. 1950
Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Huston, Wendell Corey, Gilbert Roland, Judith Anderson, Beulah Bondi...incredible.
that's it the furies. there'll never be another like me. how true. walter also played wyatt earp
Couldn't agree more! Westerns brought out the steel in Barbara Stanwyck. Check her out in Forty Guns (Sam Fuller). The unforgettable opening shot could not be more Freudian.
A few there that I hadn't seen and your ballyhoo was enticing. I am a fan of the genre and the only one I questioned was the spaghetti western, but I agree that Lee Van Cleif is exceptional, so I am going to track it down. Thank you for sharing your insight and knowledge!
"Gunfight At OK Corral" - you forgot to mention the MUSIC. Classic Dmitri Tiompin composition with Frankie Lane's vocals throughout the show! Yes, it's as historically wrong as any movie can be, but it is a guilty pleasure to watch. "The Big Country" is one of the best westerns IMHO, and works on so many levels in the story. Plus, as mentioned, an absolutely classic musical score (one of my favorite CDs). Another Peck classic not mentioned was "Yellow Sky", a real treat among old westerns.
I think this just came out thru kino lorber on 4k
'Night Passage", with Jimmy Stewart and Audie Murphy (as The Utica Kid, Stewart's younger brother), "The Tall Men", "Tribute To A Bad Man", "Jubal" , "A Thunder Of Drums" , "Warlock", and "Blood On The Moon". A lifelong fan of Westerns, my personal all time favorite, among many favorites, is 1966's "The Professionals". Lee Marvin has one of the best lines ever in that flick, posters who have seen the film will know what I mean.
Well I'll be damned, said Burt. Said Lee, Most of us are.
A few little gems to add to your list ..
.Meeks Cutoff, The Great Silence, The Ballad Of Cable Hogue, McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller. I tried a few times to watch it. I don't understand what they are saying though most of the time they don't say anything. Also its pace is very slow. I know that many critics rate it and people think they have to say it's great but I consider it unwatchable.
@@user-tg3tj2nq6v Frankly, at age 60, I finally got around to McCabe. I thought it was not a good movie. Another one people rave about is "Silverado" and, other than the late Brian Dennehy being in the cast, I liked nothing about it.
@@teller1290 Silverado is OK. I think the good thing about it is that it was made during a time that westerns were box office poison and yet it did all right and it was descent. I didn't know people rave about it, that sounds strange!
I saw Duel at Diablo for the first time last week. It starred Sidney Potier and James Garner. I had never seen or heard of this film even though it came out in 1966…This film was excellent. Great dialogue and action from beginning to end!
Recently saw "The Gunfighter. Fantastic film. Thanks for this. Always looking for more Westerns to add my watchlist. "Gunfight At The O.K. Corral" is one of my favourite Westerns. Carries a great philosophical component. "The Big Country", another I absolutely love. As you allude to, the score is top notch.
I first became familiar with the OXBOW INCIDENT when I read it in a comic book. I was blown away by the movie. Good pick for the list.
Great selection ! but I would add 2 more…"Yellow Sky" 1948, with Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter and Richard Widmark,
an incredible film, and also "The Westerner" 1940, with Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan, just outstanding,
thanks
I had just watched "The Westerner", had never heard of it. Very good movie. I like most how it took its time on many scenes. You never see that in movies, always quick and edited to save time. I'm not sure if I have ever seen "Yellow Sky", maybe, I'll have to find it.
What? No 'Shane' ! ?
I grew up in the 50s - 60s. Westerns were in every direction, TV & movies, tried to see them all. Your analysis is perfectly on target, start to finish.
Try Yellow Sky & The Hanging Tree. Although the ending to Sky went "Hollywood" , the film is excellent with stunning black & white contrasts. The Hanging Tree is one of the greats.
I would mention, Yellow Sky, a 1948 American Western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, and Anne Baxter, and one from Audie Murphy like The Texican or No Name on the Bullet. Can’t forget Randolph Scott either.
I watched that film a month ago with my pal and I loved it! I'm gonna briefly review it in an upcoming video "30 Films I Watched In 2023" be sure to catch it when it's released December 31st 2023
Plus, it has that gun barrel shot
no name on the bullet a good choice his best i think.ride clear of diablo too and it has dan duryea as the good bad outlaw
Go to "One eyed Jacks" if you want to see a great underappreciated western the last film shot in vistavision directed by Marlon Brando.
Restored with the help of Martin Scorsese. With a great cast and great photography.
To me, one of the best western ever was Tall in the Saddle, 1944, with John Wayne, Ella Raines. Everything on it is terrific and extremely well done
Boy oh boy has somebody come to town!
@@gnordt7519 Love that Gabby Hayes.
Will have to see this. Absolutely crazy about Ella Raines.
An "underrated Westerns" list that actually delivers!! Thanks so much for including Ox-bow and The Naked Spur. Two personal faves. Now I've got to check out The Rolling Hills. Too many people involved that I love.
Seen them all, being a real aficionado of the Western genre. The Oxbow Incident is one of the best films, goes far beyond its genre. And The Big Country is one of my favorite movies but you didn't mention Chuck Connors' outstanding acting in his role as the bad guy. Finally, I'll just say I agree wholeheartedly about The Naked Spur as well. But let me mention The Man from Laramie, another James Stewart Western, also much overlooked.
Of course, my being a southerner...I get to see yet another (post-war, no less) out of control southerner who can't wait to lynch someone. C'mon. And in Hollywood, off the rack, brand new dove grey uniform.
Ox bow incident was a great book. The vistas and the score of the Big Country plus the great cast make it one of my favorites. Love the gorgeous Jean Simmons. Fun trivia fact, Jimmy Stewart wore the same hat and rode the same horse in most of his westerns.
Even better than Conners ... Burl Ives
Connors was so good in his role I had a hard time ever accepting him again as a good guy in The Rifleman.
One thing I like about the title THE NAKED SPUR is its triple meaning: Jimmy Stewart's motivation spur, the spur where the climax takes place, and the spur he uses as a weapon!
I've been lucky enough to have seen more than half of these great movies, mostly watched with my dear dad.
It wasn't till years later than I realised he was using them as a teaching tool for life lessons.
Thanks dad ❤
“The Last Wagon “ Richard Widmark
The Big Country is one of my favorite (and one of the best) westerns ever!
I love GRIT TV. It shows lots of westerns. Great list. I would add WESTWARD THE WOMEN.
Thanks for revealing the existence of "The Big Gundown" to me. I already own a copy of all of the other westerns you mentioned though I don't personally classify "The Walking Hills" as a western. I'm also glad you included "The Naked Spur". You could probably do an entire segment on Jimmy Stewart westerns like "Winchester 73", "Bend In The River", "The Man From Laramie" and "Broken Arrow". Thanks again.
Since it's remake in 2007 wih Russell Crowe, everyone seems to have forgotten the superior original (in my opinion) of "3:10 To Yuma" with Van Heflin and Glenn Ford in one of his rare 'bad guy' roles.
Yes, but the character Glenn Ford played was not really that bad, unlike Jack Palance in 'Shane'!
Great list! One or two of these are classics, of course, and would feature in most compilations of top westerns in my view. Well done on the excellent, informative and articulate commentary. A challenge - see if you can make a third ten without dropping the standard!
All great movies. But I'm always amazed how " My Darling Clementine" never makes a list! Outstanding movie.
I think that the 0pening Credits sequence montage of the galloping horses of the stage coach along with the Jerome Moross score has to be one of the best of all time! The entire score is available on CD. Great film! Jean Simmons is one of my favs, also!
The Big Country is my all time favorite Western, followed closely by The Oxbow Incident. I have seen about half the Westerns in your list…can’t wait to find the rest! Thank you for this wonderful compilation!
Nice list. I have six of the ten in my DVD library. That says enough about your taste that I will check out the other four when I get a chance. Colorado Territory (1949) with Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo and Dorothy Malone is my lesser known pick for your list. It is a western treatment of the Bogart film, High Sierra. Excellent stuff. The story works better as a western in my opinion.
Seconded, i was going to mention that one myself.
"The Skin Game", "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "Ox-Bow Incident" and "The Gunfighter" are brilliant. "The Walking Hills" with Randolph Scott. You can't go wrong with Scott!
Randolph Scott! *Choir sings his name*
@@darthhauler9947 OK, but he always played Randolph Scott !
Efectivamente la elección es muy buena pero te dejas en el olvido el western mas icónico de todos los tiempos, HING , NOON,
Con la interpretación magistral y de mas credibilidad del western,
La honestidad de GARY COOPER es un auténtico lujo para los mejores cinéfilos del universo, sencillamente 🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🛤🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂
A couple you should add:
A Big Hand for the Little Lady - 1966 Starring Henry Fonda and Joanne Woodward
My Name Is Nobody - 1973 Starring Henry Fonda and Terence Hill
Nice list, good job. I’d like to add if I may, Audie Murphy in the “Texican.”
In 'The Big Gundown' you make reference to the gorgeous Italian Countryside but the movie, like most Spaghetti Westerns, was filmed in Spain. This is one of Lee Van Cleef's better performances. I have seen all of these movies and most of them are highly rated. What makes 'The Ox-bow Incident' so compelling is that the novel it is based on is itself based on a actual event.
Thank you for the info, I can't believe I didn't know that!
Yes - The Big Gundown, like all the spaghetti westerns, was filmed in SPAIN, not in Italy !!! A few of these westerns had their interior scenes filmed at Cinecitta Studio in Rome. Some, like Once Upon a Time in the West and My Name is Nobody, had scenes filmed in USA.
The cemetery set in Spain at the climax of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is still somewhat in tact
This was rebuilt/restored several years ago. The documentary is titled "Sad Hill Unearthed"
The Big Country is a Must-Own on the 4K remastered Blu Ray . Jean Simmons was a sweetheart in this masterpiece . Thanks ! I have seen most of these . Born in Texas & military veteran .
Man, you nailed it! And of course there are more great one's as well. What one movie is my favorite of all time. Is the modern day western circa after the Korean war with Kirk Douglas (LONELY ARE THE BRAVE) In Douglas's biography and in person intervies, He said it was his favorite of all the movies he made. His son Michael said of his father's movies that he rated number one as Lonely are the Brave. A super Great movie. Thanks for this, hope you do more of this genre.
Totally agree. A shame It's not shown more often enough on TCM.
...and the soundtrack (add The Shootist music as well)
Half of them I hadn't seen. A couple I hadn't even heard of. Thanks for the list. Rewatched Ride in the Whirlwind recently (directed by Monte Hellman, written by and starring Jack Nicholson) and it belongs on one of these "NEVER Seen" lists. As would the westerns of Budd Boetticher (7 Men From Now, Comanche Station, Ride Lonesome, The Tall T...). And of course my personal favorite (and transition of sorts between the classics and the more off-beat New Hollywood wetsrens): Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country. Among the later 70s westerns I'd single out Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Arthur Penn's Missouri Breaks. Not sure how often talked about they are, though. Thanks again.
I've seen most of them. If cable TV would run a few of them instead of reruns , everyone could enjoy them. Red River was probably the best cattle drive movie ever made. Great stars. Good plot. And a great fist fight between father and son at the end. What more could you ask for ?
What an amazing list of great westerns! The fact that The Big Country isn't more widely known is disheartening. It should be on every Top 20 Western movie list. You made a great video!
Seen every one of these as a kid , My father spent many a Sunday afternoon watching westerns to the annoyance of my mother as we only had one TV ,his collection of paperback westerns was in the thousands. Just looked at some of the comments wow they brought back some memories and a few titles I didn't recognise that's going to sort my Sunday afternoons out.😊😊😊😊😊
elmore leonard got his start writting them such as the tall t valdez is coming. lived in detroit read arizona highwys mag as reference
Loved your list, especially #1 #2, couldn't agree more. I watch Big Country and Rio Bravo at least once a year.
I would include "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" on this list an often overlooked classic.
hardly overlooked often on greatest lists mann been much written about and his dad's last with barbara stanwyck and walter huston interesting.senior moment sorry no title.
It is the greatest American film of all-time but not a western. It is set in the mountains of Mexico in the 1920s not in the American west of the 19th century. Just because they are not driving cars does not make it a western. Westerns are an American film genre.
If for nothing else, to see Bogart's masterly portrayal of coming-apart-at-the-seams Fred C. Dobbs.
McCabe & Mrs Miller; Missouri Breaks, Grey Fox, Going South, Hallelujah Trail...
What a great list! There are definitely a couple here that I have not seen and will definitely watch now, like The Skin Game.
I stumbled across Gregory Peck’s The Gunfighter one night and found it fantastic.
I saw the Oxbow Incident when I was very young and that movie was so depressing, to me, that I could never watch it again.
A great cast including Harry Morgan.
The Big Sky with Kirk Douglas is one I dont see playing much through the years also Night Passage with Jimmy Stewart and a fast Audie Murphy but it is playing last week and this week on Grit TV...they are getting some more good ones on now.
You've included older classic westerns that any western fan has not only heard of but has probably seen more than once! 'The Oxbow Incident!' 'The Big Country!' Jimmy Stewart's 'The Naked Spur', one of his classic westerns with director Anthony Mann! 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.' THESE ARE NOT FILMS WE'VE NEVER SEEN OR HEARD OF! Your summaries of the films are excellent. I think you are just too young to appreciate that these classic films have been around for decades!
Amen!!
Geeez, Don’t let the critical comments get to you. Sure, there are always going to be movies on any list that other people have seen. And always people who have criticism for any list. I too am in my mid-70s and have seen a zillion westerns since the 50’s. And yes, even a couple of these. However, I thank you for introducing me to a bunch that I did not know of…and for your excellent reviews.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is in my mind the best Western ever made. Starred John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin. And it blew the lid off the lying media decades before anyone was talking about it.
You hit the nail on the head, but don't forget there was also woody strode,struther Martin and lee van cleef. This was a star packed classic western.
My vote for a 'Top 10 You've Never Seen', 'Yellow Sky'. 1948 by William Wellman. A group of outlaws on the run including Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark and Harry Morgan, hide out in an abandoned mining town inhabited by Miranda and Prospero, er, Constance and Grandpa. Greed, lust, betrayal, and redemption follow. Beautifully shot in Death Valley. Definitely an 'A' list production, but one that is overlooked now.
Another non-western western that probably should be included is 'Bad Day at Black Rock'.
Too many of your picks are too common.
Superb list! I remember where I was when I first saw The Gunfighter, it instantly became one of my favourite films. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before. Then I realised that Bob Dylan had written about it in a song I knew, Brownsville Girl.
‘Well, there was this movie I seen one time
About a man riding 'cross the desert and it starred Gregory Peck
He was shot down by a hungry kid trying to make a name for himself
The townspeople wanted to crush that kid down and string him up by the neck’
‘Well, the marshal, now he beat that kid to a bloody pulp
As the dying gunfighter lay in the sun and gasped for his last breath
Turn him loose, let him go, let him say he outdrew me fair and square
I want him to feel what it's like to every moment face his death’
…..
‘Well, I'm standin' in line in the rain to see a movie starring Gregory Peck
Yeah, but you know it's not the one that I had in mind
He's got a new one out now, I don't even know what it's about
But I'll see him in anything so I'll stand in line’
Me too
My favourite Randolph Scott western is The Tall T, which features the superb triple-villainy of Richard Boone (the master mind), Henry Silva (the sadist) and Skip Homeier (the thug) ... Alfred Hitchcock also used this villain formula to great effect in North By Northwest.
One Eyed Jacks 1961 with Marlon Brando. Beautifully filmed and nominated for cinematography. It is so far west it takes place at the ocean....can't get more west than that! No one ever talks about this movie.
The restored version of it is all over RUclips now. The picture quality is spectacular. Perhaps now more will realize how great is.
Nice presentation! I've seen some of these and they are good recommendations. THE WALKING HILLS is really something. Some of your others are pretty well-known to westerns fans, but it's good to bring them to the attention of others. I'd like to add a couple THE CULPEPPER CATTLE CO. (1972), a great coming-of-age western, and THE GREY FOX (1982), a "north-western" set in Oregon, Washington and Canada, about an older train robber released from prison after many years, who must adjust to the 'modern world' of the early 20th century, and BAD COMPANY (1971) with very young Jeff Bridges---a really enjoyable film, with great atmosphere.
A great list! Some I'd not heard of, but I'll definitely be looking out for! I love Destry Rides Again and can also say you're right about The Naked Spur! Stewart is great in it and the ending is genuinely shocking and moving! One I'd add is the Tall T, with Radolf Scott, Maureen O'Sulivan and Richard Boone. It's well worth a watch!
Randolph Scott and Buu Boetticher made some great, inexpensive westerns.
Randolph Scott the gayest looking cowboy ever, never a hair out of place even after a big scuffle and not a mark on his always freshly laundered looking attire despite presumably rolling around in mud, dust horse shit and blood 😂
That fight scene in Man of the West between Gary Cooper and Jack Lord was really something.. Cooper kept knocking out Jack Lord and taking an article of clothing off of him each time he landed in the dirt. Lord did a great job showing surprise, shock, embarrassment and shame as Cooper stripped him down to his long johns drawers. Cooper did all this because Lord had tried to get Julie London to strip for him in the scene before.
Wonderful list which I spent a week exploring. What RUclips doesn't have, you can find everything on this list elsewhere on the internet without paying a cent. Each film was excellent with many, many surprises & twists & turns. Thanks so much for putting this together...
I must recommend Four Faces West. Great cast, characters who are not always what they seem, and a few surprises.
Thanks for such a great list
Have gotten so tired of streaming services and their lack of access to great westerns, jumped right from your video to EBay and bought all the dvds
Thanks again, subscribed and liked