40 of my favorite Western Movies
by mookiemueller | created - 07 Sep 2011 | updated - 07 Sep 2011 | PublicA list of 40 of my favorite Western Movies in no particular order
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1. Sabata (1969)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Drama, Western
A master gunfighter sides with a banjo-playing drifter and a Mexican tramp to foil the dignitaries of Daugherty, who want to use stolen army money to buy land that the railroad will cross.
Director: Gianfranco Parolini | Stars: Lee Van Cleef, William Berger, Ignazio Spalla, Aldo Canti
Votes: 5,649 | Gross: $0.23M
2. Adiós, Sabata (1970)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Drama, War
Sabata helps a band of Mexican revolutionaries steal a wagon-load of gold from the occupying Austrian forces of Emperor Maximilian I.
Director: Gianfranco Parolini | Stars: Yul Brynner, Dean Reed, Ignazio Spalla, Gérard Herter
Votes: 2,305 | Gross: $0.55M
3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 811,485 | Gross: $6.10M
4. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
R | 132 min | Drama, Western
Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a gang of outlaws led by a psychotic Mexican bandit, who is plotting an audacious bank robbery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mara Krupp
Votes: 274,766 | Gross: $15.00M
5. Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
GP | 116 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
When a former Civil War soldier saves a nun from a gang of bandits, they team up to help the Mexicans in their war against the French.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Shirley MacLaine, Manolo Fábregas, Alberto Morin
Votes: 30,576 | Gross: $11.50M
6. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
PG | 135 min | Western
Missouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George, Bill McKinney
Votes: 79,870 | Gross: $31.80M
7. Paint Your Wagon (1969)
PG-13 | 164 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg, Harve Presnell
Votes: 14,879 | Gross: $31.68M
8. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
R | 99 min | Action, Drama, Western
A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy
Votes: 232,785 | Gross: $14.50M
9. Shenandoah (1965)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, War, Western
A Virginia farmer who has vowed to remain neutral during the Civil War is spurred into action when his youngest son is taken by Union soldiers.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen | Stars: James Stewart, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne
Votes: 9,629
10. 4 for Texas (1963)
Approved | 124 min | Comedy, Western
Zack Thomas is a tough guy who hooks up with Joe Jarrett to open a casino.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anita Ekberg, Ursula Andress
Votes: 3,656
11. Showdown (1973)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Western
Two men who have been friends since childhood find themselves on opposite ends of the law.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: Rock Hudson, Dean Martin, Susan Clark, Donald Moffat
Votes: 1,226
12. Rio Bravo (1959)
Passed | 141 min | Western
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson
Votes: 68,088 | Gross: $12.54M
13. Blazing Saddles (1974)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Western
In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman
Votes: 152,543 | Gross: $119.50M
14. Giant (1956)
G | 201 min | Drama, Western
Sprawling epic covering the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker
Votes: 42,257
15. The Lawless Breed (1952)
Approved | 83 min | Biography, Western
After being released from prison, former gun-fighter John Wesley Hardin hopes to have his autobiography published in order to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Rock Hudson, Julie Adams, Mary Castle, John McIntire
Votes: 1,418
16. Tomahawk (1951)
Approved | 82 min | Drama, Western
In 1866 Wyoming, a frontier scout tries to prevent a war between the Sioux and the U.S. after the Army builds a road and a fort on territory previously ceded to the Sioux by treaty.
Director: George Sherman | Stars: Van Heflin, Yvonne De Carlo, Alex Nicol, Preston Foster
Votes: 1,044
17. The Man from Snowy River (1982)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1880s Australia, after young Jim Craig's father dies, he takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch, where he is forced to become a man.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Tom Burlinson, Terence Donovan, Tommy Dysart
Votes: 10,033 | Gross: $20.66M
18. Return to Snowy River (1988)
PG | 99 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Young Jim Craig returns to his home in the Australian high country. He finds that things are not as he left them - his girlfriend, Jessica, is being pursued by another man, and her father, Harrison, doesn't want him back into her life.
Director: Geoff Burrowes | Stars: Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton, Brian Dennehy, Nicholas Eadie
Votes: 2,802 | Gross: $13.69M
19. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Passed | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Western
Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet
Votes: 17,446 | Gross: $11.75M
20. The Big Sky (1952)
Approved | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
The success of the journey focuses on keeping the Indian girl alive as well as themselves to complete trade with the Blackfeet.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Dewey Martin, Elizabeth Threatt, Arthur Hunnicutt
Votes: 4,751
21. Winchester '73 (1950)
Passed | 92 min | Action, Drama, Western
A cowboy's obsession with a stolen rifle leads to a bullet-ridden odyssey through the American West.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally
Votes: 21,987
22. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,788
23. The Hallelujah Trail (1965)
Approved | 165 min | Comedy, Western
On its way to Denver, a cargo of whiskey destined for the miners, is sought after by the Temperance League, the U.S. Cavalry, the local Indians and the miners themselves.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Jim Hutton, Pamela Tiffin
Votes: 4,436 | Gross: $8.72M
24. Valdez Is Coming (1971)
PG-13 | 90 min | Drama, Western
A Mexican-American sheriff (Burt Lancaster) must resort to violence against a powerful rancher (Frank Tanner, played by Jon Cypher) in order to get just compensation for the pregnant Indian widow of a wrongly killed black man.
Director: Edwin Sherin | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Susan Clark, Frank Silvera, Jon Cypher
Votes: 4,533 | Gross: $0.06M
25. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, Western
A senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
Votes: 82,319
26. Rawhide (1951)
Approved | 89 min | Drama, Romance, Western
A stagecoach stop employee and a stranded woman traveller find themselves at the mercy of four desperate outlaws intent on robbing the next day's gold shipment.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger
Votes: 3,139
27. The Wild Bunch (1969)
R | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien
Votes: 90,390 | Gross: $12.06M
28. High Plains Drifter (1973)
R | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Western
A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan
Votes: 64,552 | Gross: $15.70M
29. Tombstone (1993)
R | 130 min | Biography, Drama, History
A successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.
Directors: George P. Cosmatos, Kevin Jarre | Stars: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton
Votes: 166,367 | Gross: $56.51M
30. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
Broke small-time rancher Dan Evans is hired by the stagecoach line to put big-time captured outlaw leader Ben Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma but Wade's gang tries to free him.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Glenn Ford, Van Heflin, Felicia Farr, Leora Dana
Votes: 21,656
31. Shane (1953)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Western
A weary gunfighter in 1880s Wyoming begins to envision a quieter life after befriending a homestead family with a young son who idolizes him, but a smoldering range war forces him to act.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde
Votes: 44,154 | Gross: $20.00M
32. Hud (1963)
Passed | 112 min | Drama, Western
Honest, hard-working Texas rancher Homer Bannon has a conflict with his unscrupulous, selfish, arrogant, egotistical son Hud, who sank into alcoholism after accidentally killing his brother in a car crash.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal, Brandon De Wilde
Votes: 23,946 | Gross: $10.00M
33. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,765 | Gross: $102.31M
34. High Noon (1952)
PG | 85 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 110,206 | Gross: $9.45M
35. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Western
Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado
Votes: 21,093 | Gross: $0.95M
36. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Approved | 128 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Seven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach
Votes: 102,568 | Gross: $4.91M
37. The Man from Laramie (1955)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Western
Newcomer Will Lockhart defies the local cattle baron and his sadistic son by working for one of his oldest rivals.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O'Donnell
Votes: 12,012
38. Hang 'Em High (1968)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, Western
When an innocent man barely survives a lynching, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes to justice.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Pat Hingle, Ed Begley
Votes: 43,115
39. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
Passed | 75 min | Drama, Western
When a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn
Votes: 24,960 | Gross: $1.64M
40. The Gunfighter (1950)
Approved | 85 min | Western
Notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo rides into town to find his true love, who doesn't want to see him. He hasn't come looking for trouble, but trouble finds him around every corner.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker
Votes: 12,530
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