Famous Westerns List!
In this list I include some of the great Movie & TV Westerns I have seen or currently seeing....it will be updated continually as I watch more and more classics of the Old West.
List activity
3.4K views
• 2 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
31 titles
- DirectorParis BarclayStarsSinbadJames CoburnGregory HinesA child's parents are killed by a vicious land-grabber but years later the child grows into a man ready for revenge.Also Starring: Ernie Hudson, Mark Pellegrino, Hal Williams, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Burt Reynolds, Obba Babatunde, Reginald T. Dorsey, Dawn Lewis, Gary Carlos Cervantes, Walton Goggins, Herb Jeffries, Angela Means, June Kyoto Lu, Tim Kazurinsky, Bob Minor, Christopher Liam More, Jeff O'Haco, Roy Fegan, Kareem R. Woods, W. Earl Brown
Both Angela Means and Roy Fegan who had small bit roles in this film, had two years earlier starred together( but also did not have any scenes together) in House Party 3. In that film, Angela had a co-starring role as Christopher 'Kid' Reid's fiance "Veda" and Roy had a small but amusing bit role as one of the singing acts of Christopher 'Play' Martin as a character named "MC Can't C".
W. Earl Brown's character "Calloway" is named for the high school he went to, Calloway County High School in Murray, Ky. - DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodGian Maria VolontèMarianne KochA wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.Co-starring: Sieghardt Rupp, Antonio Prieto, José Calvo, Margarita Lozano, Mario Brega, Bruno Carotenuto
Besides Clint Eastwood of course, actors Mario Brega, Benito Stefanelli, Aldo Sambrell, and Antonio Molino Rojo are the only actors to appear in all 3 of the "Dollars Trilogy" movies.
The theme song was originally composed by Ennio Morricone as a lullaby. Sergio Leone insisted that he wanted the "deguello" trumpet dirge - played by Mexican troops before a battle to signify to the enemy that there will be no quarter given - that was used in Rio Bravo (1959), believing it was a "public domain" piece. Finally, he settled for a "Mexican trumpet" arrangement of the original Morricone piece.
Gian Maria Volontè reportedly did not get along with Sergio Leone, who found Volonté's theatrical acting style and arrogant on-set manner tiresome. Volonté tried to become friendly with Clint Eastwood, but the language barrier and political differences (Eastwood was a conservative Republican, while Volonté was a committed leftist) prevented their striking up a rapport.
Clint Eastwood wore the same boots that he did in Rawhide (1959).
This was the first time that Sergio Leone and composer Ennio Morricone worked together. Initially Leone was not keen on using Morricone for this film. Lacerenza's initial trumpet performance of the score made Leone quickly set aside any reservations. Leone and Morricone, who had known each other since 3rd grade, would develop a close working relationship that would last through all of Leone's future films.
When the film made its U.S. network television debut on "The ABC Sunday Night Movie" in February 1975, a new prologue was added in which an unidentified lawman or politician (played by Harry Dean Stanton) orders "Joe" to get rid of the gangs of San Miguel in return for a pardon. Neither Eastwood nor Leone were involved in the shooting of this additional footage. A double with his face hidden and stock footage of Eastwood were used. Monte Hellman directed the new footage. This prologue is now available on the Special Edition released in 2005.
Clint Eastwood's contract for Rawhide (1959) prohibited him from making movies in the United States while on break from the series. However, the contract did allow him to accept movie assignments in Europe.
The Man With No Name is actually called "Joe" in the film's dialog (by the undertaker) and in the closing credits.
This has been described as the first "spaghetti western", but when this film was made, there had already been about 25 such westerns produced in Italy. This was, however, the first to receive a major international release.
A remake of Yojimbo (1961), which itself was based on the as yet unadapted 1929 novel "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett. In fact, the film's US release was delayed when "Yojimbo" screenwriters Akira Kurosawa and Ryûzô Kikushima sued the filmmakers for breach of copyright. Kurosawa and Kikushima won, and as a result received 15% of the film's worldwide gross and exclusive distribution rights for Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Kurosawa said later he made more money off of this project than he did on Yojimbo (1961).
Clint Eastwood's trademark squint was caused by the combination of the sun and high-wattage arc lamps on the set.
Clint Eastwood helped in creating his character's distinctive visual style. He bought the black jeans from a sport shop on Hollywood Boulevard, the hat came from a Santa Monica wardrobe firm and the trademark black cigars came from a Beverly Hills store. Eastwood himself cut the cigars into three pieces to make them shorter. Eastwood himself is a non-smoker.
After considering Henry Fonda, director Sergio Leone offered the role of the Man With No Name to James Coburn, who proved too expensive. Charles Bronson then turned it down after describing it as the "worst script I have ever seen". Third choice Richard Harrison also declined the role but pointed Leone in the direction of Rawhide (1959). Leone then offered the part to "Rawhide" star Eric Fleming, who turned it down but suggested his co-star Clint Eastwood for the part. The rest, as they say, is history. - DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanFredric MarchRichard BooneJohn Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Native Americans, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.Co-starring: Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Rush, Peter Lazer, Margaret Blye, Martin Balsam, Frank Silvera, David Canary, Val Avery, Larry Ward
The photo in the closing credits of the film was taken in 1886 by Camillus Fly, the famous Tombstone (AZ) photographer. The white boy in the photo is Jimmy (Santiago) McKinn, captured by the Apaches in 1885. Like the Paul Newman character in the film, McKinn was totally assimilated in the tribe and was rescued against his will when Geronimo surrendered in 1886.
Filming on "Hombre" coincided with that year's Academy Awards. Co-star Martin Balsam was a Best Supporting Actor nominee for A Thousand Clowns (1965), and not having received permission to leave the set, Balsam sneaked off to attend the ceremony. He won the Oscar.
David Canary's film debut.
When Richard Boone was cast, Elmore Leonard had hoped that Boone was getting the title role. - DirectorCraig R. BaxleyStarsCasper Van DienBruce BoxleitnerErnest BorgnineAlready taking a gamble settling in the uncharted west, the peaceful settlers of a town destined for railroad greatness suddenly find themselves being ruthlessly gunned down. With no law and order to be found, justice falls onto the shoulders of an elderly rancher and an accomplished but retired gunslinger.Also Co-starring: William Atherton, Deirdre Quinn, Alan Fudge, Ron Roggé
Aces and Eights is known as the "Dead man's hand". It was purportedly the hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was shot in the back of the head at the table. - DirectorVern PiehlStarsRay DantonDewitt LeeTroy NaborsIn the western desert a young brave avenges the deaths of his tribe in a massacre by the US Army.Filmed in 1971 under the title "Sh'e ee Clit Soak", which translates as "A Man Called She", retained as the title song.
Basically a grade Z western and very low budget version of the superior "The Naked Prey" (1965). - DirectorJohn WayneStarsJohn WayneRichard WidmarkLaurence HarveyIn 1836, a small band of soldiers sacrifice their lives in hopeless combat against a massive army in order to prevent a tyrant from smashing the new Republic of Texas.Also co-starring: Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Chill Wills, Joseph Calleia, Ken Curtis, Denver Pyle, Hank Worden, Richard Boone, Ted White and Wayne family members: Aissa, Pilar and Toni Wayne.
Davy Crockett: Republic. I like the sound of the word. It means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. Some words give you a feeling. Republic is one of those words that makes me tight in the throat - the same tightness a man gets when his baby takes his first step or his first baby shaves and makes his first sound as a man. Some words can give you a feeling that makes your heart warm. Republic is one of those words.
John Wayne originally intended that Richard Widmark should play Davy Crockett, while Wayne himself would have taken the small role of Sam Houston so he could focus his energy on directing the picture. However, Wayne was only able to get financial backing if he played one of the main parts, so he decided to play Crockett and cast Widmark as Jim Bowie.
John Wayne partially financed this film himself. During shooting, the film was delayed due to various production problems. Wayne was under so much pressure, he smoked cigarettes almost non-stop when not acting.
Charlton Heston was among the actors who were sent the script and John Wayne wanted him to play Jim Bowie. Heston later said there seemed good reasons for him not to do the film and, when pressed further, stated having John Wayne as director to be one of them.
Sammy Davis Jr. managed to obtain a copy of the script and asked John Wayne if he could play the straight role of a Negro slave. Wayne considered him but eventually declined Davis' offer. Davis recalled, "There were a lot of influential Texans investing in the film and they didn't like the idea that I was seeing [his future wife] May Britt at the time. They disapproved of a man of color going out with a girl who was white, though Duke [Wayne] was upfront with me about it and I respected him for it".
John Wayne and Richard Widmark famously did not get along during filming. Since Widmark was a liberal Democrat who opposed blacklisting and supported the civil-rights movement and gun control - positions diametrically opposed to Wayne's - it was long rumored that politics had been the cause of the problem. However, Widmark later cited Wayne's lack of directing skills as the reason for the feud. This was something Ken Curtis agreed with, since he remarked that Wayne had no ability to motivate an actor for a scene.
John Wayne, in good fellowship, would reportedly refer to Richard Widmark by the nickname "Dick" when filming began, to which Widmark icily replied "It's Richard." After this, Wayne constantly and sarcastically emphasized Widmark's formal first name on the set, as in "Oh, RICHARD, are you ready for the next take, RICHARD?"
Director John Ford showed up on the set, and let John Wayne know that he wanted to direct some of the picture. Wayne sent him out with a small crew to do some second-unit work, mostly of Mexican cavalry riding through the countryside as they approached the Alamo, and Frankie Avalon estimated that the footage filmed by Ford made up approximately 10%-15% of the finished film. Other sources, however, have said that Wayne eventually deemed most of Ford's footage unusable, and little if any of it made it into the final cut of the film. According to these sources, the footage that Ford believed he shot of the Mexican cavalry patrolling the countryside was actually re-shot by a second-unit director, although Wayne didn't have the heart to tell Ford.
Originally to save on expenses, director John Wayne planned to shoot the film in Mexico. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas (the custodians of the real Alamo) sent him a letter that if he pursued that course of action, he had better not show the film in Texas. Consequently Wayne found an amenable landowner, Happy Shahan, who allowed the production to film on his 20,000-acre ranch in Bracketville, Texas. When Wayne asked to meet the builder, he was introduced to a Mexican immigrant. A rather dubious Wayne asked him, "Do you think you can build the Alamo?" to which the Mexican replied, "Do you think you can make a picture, Mr. Wayne?"
The climactic battle scenes involved 7,000 extras, 1,500 horses and 400 Texan longhorn cattle.
At the start of production on location just a few miles from the historic battle site, John Wayne had a clergyman say a prayer for the movie in front of the assembled cast and crew of 342, asking God to bless their work and help them produce a fitting testament to the brave men who died for the cause.
In the mid 1990s, a private Canadian film collector discovered what was believed to be the last surviving print of the 70mm premiere version in pristine condition. MGM used the print to make a digital video transfer of the roadshow version for VHS and LaserDisc but unfortunately stored it improperly in an archive where it dramatically deteriorated.
John Wayne lobbied hard for Republic Pictures to fund a big-budget epic about the Alamo. Republic, which specialized in low-budget B-movies, turned him down, so Wayne was forced to finance much of the film himself. He took out a second mortgage on his homes and secured loans on his cars and yacht.
Clark Gable and Charlton Heston, the two actors John Wayne wanted most to do the film, both expressed regret at not taking the parts they were offered. Heston declined the role of Jim Bowie out of political ideology--he was a liberal Democrat at the time and Wayne was an ultra-conservative Republican; later when Heston diametrically changed his political views he said he regretted turning down the role), and Gable passed due to to the age difference between himself and William Travis and also because he didn't want to commit himself to a big-budget picture with a first-time director. Gable's family later said that he wanted to do the film as a way to do "a macho film" to escape the typecasting of Gone with the Wind as a romantic lead. ” - DirectorRay EnrightStarsRandolph ScottBarbara BrittonGeorge 'Gabby' HayesCole Armin, recruited by his corrupt uncle as heir apparent to his freight-hauling empire, defects to his honest rival.Cole Armin: What's the matter with these folks? You'd think I had smallpox!
Juke: Son, I'd rather have smallpox than the name of Armin in this town.
One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Possibly because of legal complications, this title was not included in the original television package, and may never have been actually shown. It has since been released by Universal on DVD. - DirectorDelmer DavesStarsAlan LaddErnest BorgnineKaty JuradoReleased from the Yuma Prison in 1898, ex-killer John McBain wants to go straight while ex-robber Peter Van Hoek seeks revenge but their destinies eventually converge in the mining town of Prescott.Also starring: Kent Smith, Nehemiah Persoff, Robert Emhardt, Anthony Caruso, Adam Williams, and UNCREDITED: Roberto Contreras, Richard Devon, Ann Doran, Sam Edwards, Karl Swenson
Ernest Borgnine met his future wife Katy Jurado while working on this film. A reporter saw the two laughing over lunch one day and started a rumor that the two were involved romantically, which Borgnine insisted for the rest of his life was not true. The story persisted, though, and Borgnine's wife ended up divorcing him because of it. Ironically, he and Jurado grew closer and closer because of this trouble, and ended up marrying in 1959.
When Alan Ladd observes Sam Edwards being flogged inside the Arizona Territorial Prison, he does so with a practiced eye having been flogged himself in "Two Years Before the Mast" (1946) and "Botany Bay" (1953).
The opening scene, of Alan Ladd's character being released from prison, was, as scripted, actually filmed at the Yuma Territorial Prison in Yuma, Arizona.
Ernest Borgnine, introduced to Yuma through the opening scene setting of this movie (Yuma Territorial Prison), heard there was superb small bird hunting in the area. For years afterwards , he stayed at the old Stardust Hotel while he went bird hunting. - StarsGene BarryAllen JaffeAllison HayesBat Masterson roams The West and defends the innocent."Bat Masterson"
(theme song)
Words and music by Bart Corwin and Havens Wray
Sung by Mike Stewart - DirectorSam WanamakerStarsYul BrynnerRichard CrennaLeonard NimoyAn outlaw tries to avoid interference as he journeys to Mexico to pull off a $2,000,000 gold robbery.Also starring: the late great Jeff Corey and Alan Ladd's son, David Ladd.
A OK Western with a decent cast. Nimoy does a good villian and Crenna does a good supporting role to Brynner. Not a classic in any sense of the word but nice ,at least for me, to see these greats working together for the 1st time. - StarsClint WalkerClyde HowdyChuck HicksAfter the Civil War, nomadic adventurer Cheyenne Bodie roamed the West looking for fights, bad guys to beat up, and women. His job changed from episode to episode.This was US TV's first hour-long western.
Cheyenne gets his name from the Cheyenne Indians, who killed his parents, but then took him in, and raised him.
It was the longest running of the Warner Brothers family of westerns lasting seven seasons.
Contrary to popular belief, 'Clint Walker' did not take his shirt off in every episode of "Cheyenne". For example, in the 15 shows which constituted the first season of "Cheyenne," Walker appeared bare-chested in only 6 of them: "The Argonauts", "The Storm Riders", "Rendezvous at Red Rock", "Quicksand", "Fury at Rio Hondo", and "Johnny Bravo".
Cheyenne started out with a sidekick named Smitty, played by L.Q. Jones. He was dropped after three episodes, and Cheyenne went the rest of the way alone.
On the series, Cheyenne many times takes various temporary law enforcement positions. Prior to becoming an actor, Clint Walker was a deputy sheriff.
Many of the Indian characters on the series were actually played by white people. - DirectorRobert E. PearsonStarsCody BearpawJohn F. GoffGeorge 'Buck' FlowerLeroy Bassett and his dim-witted brothers go on the lam after freeing their friend Keema from jail.Wilbur Bassett: I don't feel so good Leroy.
Leroy Bassett: You should a took the medicine the doctor gave you for the worms like you was suppose to Wilbur.
Wilbur Bassett: But it taste so bad Leroy. I rather have them worms! - DirectorDon SiegelStarsAudie MurphyFaith DomergueStephen McNallyMarshal Tyrone and the Silver Kid form an uneasy alliance against a gang of claim jumpers.Also co-starring: Gerald Mohr, Eugene Iglesias, Lee Marvin and uncredited voice of Stanley Blystone.
Marshal Lightning Tyrone: Just a minute! I'm probably wasting my breath, but I'm going to give you some advice. Get out of town pronto. Get yourself a job and quit poker. Poker is a man's game.
Luke Cromwell - The Silver Kid: I can take care of myself.
Marshal Lightning Tyrone: Oh sure, I know you're fast with your guns, but sooner or later you'll meet a man that's faster or that doesn't fight square and then you're off to Boot Hill. No, you're bucking a sucker's game, Kid. You can't beat it.
Luke Cromwell - The Silver Kid: I guess that's good advice, Marshal, but I ain't takin' it. Besides, how to handle a six-gun and poker is all I know. - DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJamie FoxxChristoph WaltzLeonardo DiCaprioWith the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.Also co-starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Dennis Christopher, James Remar, Laura Cayouette, Don Johnson, Franco Nero, James Russo, Tom Wopat, Don Stroud, Russ Tamblyn, Amber Tamblyn, Bruce Dern, M.C. Gainey, Cooper Huckabee, Jonah Hill, Lee Horsley, Michael Bowen, Robert Carradine, Ted Neeley, Michael Parks, Tom Savini, John Jarratt, Rex Linn, Todd Allen, Lewis Smith, Gary Grubbs and Quentin Tarantino.
[from trailer]
Django: [upon being asked his name] Django. The D is silent.
Dr. King Schultz: How do you like the bounty hunting business?
Django: Kill white people and get paid for it? What's not to like?
The title and setting of the film was inspired by the 1960s spaghetti western Django, with the original Django actor Franco Nero having a small role in the film.
Will Smith, Idris Elba, Chris Tucker, Terrence Howard, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Tyrese Gibson were all considered for the role of Django. Quentin Tarantino actually wrote the role with Smith in mind, and Smith's agents and manager wanted him to accept it, but Smith ultimately decided to pass. Tarantino then offered the part to Jamie Foxx, who accepted.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast in a minor role as Jano, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with his directorial debut.
Kevin Costner was cast as Ace Woody, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
Kurt Russell replaced Kevin Costner. Russell and Costner appeared together in 3000 Miles to Graceland, and have both played lawman Wyatt Earp, in Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, respectively.
Sacha Baron Cohen was cast as Scotty and Kurt Russell was cast as Ace Woody but both dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
Jamie Foxx used his own horse, Cheetah, in the movie.
This is the second time Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington have portrayed a married couple. The two previously starred as Ray Charles and Della Bea Robinson in Ray.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who portrays villain Calvin Candie in this film, was originally the first actor choice for the role of antagonist Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's previous film Inglourious Basterds. However, Tarantino decided that a fluent German-speaking actor should portray the character, and the part went to Christoph Waltz, who portrays Dr. King Schultz in this film, marking Waltz's second film collaboration with Tarantino. DiCaprio can however speak some German.
This film marks Samuel L. Jackson's sixth film collaboration with director Quentin Tarantino. Jackson had previous roles in True Romance Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, and Inglourious Basterds, all written by Tarantino.
Director Quentin Tarantino revealed at Comic-Con that Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington's characters are meant to be the great great great grandparents of the character John Shaft from the Shaft movies. An overt reference to this connection can be found in Kerry Washington's character's full name: Broomhilda Von Shaft.
Russ Tamblyn, whose character in this movie is named "Son of a Gunfighter," starred in the 1965 movie Son of a Gunfighter. Tamblyn's real-life daughter, actress Amber Tamblyn plays a character in Django Unchained named "Daughter of a Son of a Gunfighter".
Calvin Candie refers to Samson as "Black Hercules." This was the real life nickname of Ken Norton, actor/boxer who starred in Mandingo.
Leonardo DiCaprio, whose role in the film marked the first time him playing a villain, was uncomfortable with how horrible and explicitly racist his character was. However, Quentin Tarantino convinced him to be as menacing as possible saying that if he didn't take it all the way, people would hold it against him forever.
Calvin explains that via the study of Phrenology, he is able to find the three dimples on Bens skull, which represent submissiveness. Phrenology was an ill-fated phase of real Psychology when it was actually believed bumps on different skull locations represented different traits like creativity, athletic ability and so forth.
In the scene where Leonardo DiCaprio confronts Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx's characters he actually cuts his hand when slamming it into the table. Leo continued on with the scene which Quentin Tarantino called "mesmerizing".
Franco Nero, making his cameo in the film, is seen wearing white gloves. This may be a reference to the original Django film where at the end Nero's character has his hands smashed by the Mexicans for being a thief. However; this should not be seen as him being the same character in both movies, as Django takes place around the time of the Mexican Revolution, 53 years after the events of Django Unchained.
The men in hoods organized by Big Daddy represent a group known as "The Regulators" - spiritual forebears of the later post-civil war KKK formed in 1865.
After an accident in training where Christoph Waltz was thrown off his horse and broke his pelvis, Jamie Foxx gave him a gift to make him feel better about riding a horse: a saddle with a seat belt.
James Remar has two roles: One as Butch Pooch and other as Ace Speck.
After the actors left the project, the minor roles that were going to be played by Michael Kenneth Williams, Sacha Baron Cohen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were removed from the film.
The last name of Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) is a reference to Paula Schultz, the name on the gravestone that the Bride (Uma Thurman) is buried alive under in Kill Bill: Vol. 2.
Special Cameo:Franco Nero.
The lead actor from Django, the movie which inspired this one, has a cameo as a bar patron (the screenplay gives his character the name Amerigo Vassepi). After being asked to spell his name, Django explains, "The 'D' is silent". Nero replies, "I know".
Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz) reminds Monsieur Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) that his slave d'Artagnan (Ato Essandoh) is named for the hero of 'Alexandre Dumas pere''s novels. Waltz and DiCaprio have both appeared in adaptations of those novels: Waltz played Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, and DiCaprio played King Louis XIV and his brother Phillippe in The Man in the Iron Mask.
The white men playing poker towards the end of the film are using severed ears from slaves as their currency. - DirectorDon SiegelStarsElvis PresleyBarbara EdenSteve ForrestWhen fighting breaks out between two cultures in West Texas, the mixed-blood Pacer tries to act as a peacemaker, but the "flaming star of death" pulls him irrevocably into the deadly violence.Co-starring John McIntire, Karl Swenson, Richard Jaeckel, L.Q. Jones, Tom Reese, Perry Lopez and Roy Jenson(uncredited bit)
An excellent Western/Action film. With a perfectly cast Elvis as a half-breed Indian dealing with racism in Texas. Excellent support from Forrest as his step-brother and McIntire as their "pa" and Del Rio as their "ma" .
Pacer Burton: All Ma and me ever got from Whites is mean looks and don't get uppish with us.
Roslyn Pierce: Oh, that's not true.
Pacer Burton: You were the worst. You made me feel it the worst. When I was little I liked you a lot. You were the only girl I ever liked a whole lot. But ever since you've been old enough to know, you never looked at me once without saying something in the back of your head. "He's Kiowa. Clint's all right, but watch out for Pacer."
The original title for this movie was "Black Star". Elvis Presley even recorded a song by that name. When the title was changed he re-recorded the song, using the same words and melody but changing the word "black" to "flaming". The song "Black Star" was unreleased for years, until it appeared on the Elvis boxed set "Collectors Gold" in 1991.
Elvis Presley was inducted into the Los Angeles Indian Tribal Council by Native American Wah-Nee-Ota after portraying the son of an Indian and a white settler in this film.
Elvis Presley had another song in the film, "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears", which was cut after preview audiences laughed at the staging (Elvis singing to the Indians around a campfire, accompanied by a chief on war drums). A studio version of the tune was recorded, but the original "Indian" version was only resurrected recently on the German "Elvis: Double Features" CD collection.
A song called "Britches" was recorded for the movie, It was meant that Elvis Presley would sing it while riding his horse to the crossing together with his brother Clint. Elvis, however, didn't want to perform a song while riding because it would look too dumb.
In May 1958 The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Nunnally Johnson had been slated to write, direct and produce the film. During the same month, Daily Variety wrote that Johnson wanted Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra to play the brothers. Eventually Johnson only worked as a writer on the film.
In the early frames of the movie, Angus Pierce (Richard Jaeckel) has no partner with which to dance, so he grabs a wooden chair. The warden said, "Hey, buddy, don't you be no square. If you can't find a partner use a wooden chair." This line is from an earlier Elvis Presley film, Jailhouse Rock.
Barbara Steele walked off the picture after an argument with director Don Siegel. She was replaced by Barbara Eden. - DirectorClay BorrisStarsArt HindleReiner SchöneAnthony AddabboThe Everetts, two brothers and a cousin are trying to make a go of their ranch in Kansas, but Deke Turner, someone who wants to see them fail, is doing everything he can to see that happen. Featuring George Kennedy.The great Native-American actor Will Sampson's final screen appearance.
- DirectorLarry FergusonStarsLance HenriksenKay LenzDavid McIlwraithA notorious gunfighter returns to his ex-wife, who only wants him to save her sheriff husband from being killed by gunmen out to free his condemned prisoner.Also starring: Ivan Sergei, James Victor, Brent Stait, Yareli Arizmendi, Matthew Walker, Walter Marsh, Kevin McNulty, John Payne, Dave 'Squatch' Ward, Thell Reed, Byron Chief-Moon, Reese McBeth, Jed Dixon, Fabricio Santin and Harley the Dog
A legend has met his match - himself.
Old Harry: "Calling Frank Morgan just a gunfighter, is like calling the desert dry! He more than some kind of gunfighter. He's a honest to God, walking around legend!" - StarsHugh O'BrianJimmy NoelEthan LaidlawLoosely based on historical fact, the series portrays the gunslinging Wyatt Earp and his successful determination for law and order.From 1956 until 1959 the show was set in Dodge City, which was also the setting for Gunsmoke. Marshall Matt Dillon is never mentioned, but in one episode Earp makes a passing reference to the Longbranch Saloon, a setting for much of the action on "Gunsmoke".
This show, along with Gunsmoke helped launch a great era of the TV western. Westerns became so popular on TV that by the end of the 1950s, there would be as many as 40 Westerns in prime time.
The role of Wyatt Earp was originally offered to George Montgomery, but he turned it down because he had commitments for several western films and couldn't get out of them. Hugh O'Brian was then awarded the part. - DirectorJohn SturgesStarsYul BrynnerSteve McQueenCharles BronsonSeven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.Also starring: Horst Buchholz, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, Jorge Martinez de Hoyos, Vladimir Sokoloff, Enrique Lucero, Robert J. Wilke, Val Avery, Whit Bissell, Bing Russell, Jose Chavez Trowe (uncredited) Robert Contreras (uncredited) Jim Davis (uncredited) Victor French (uncredited) Joseph Ruskin (uncredited) Rosenda Monteneros, Rico Alaniz, Pepe Hern, John A. Alonzo
- CreatorRoy HugginsStarsJack KellyJames GarnerRoger MooreBret and Bart Maverick are well-dressed gamblers who migrate from town to town always looking for a good game.Bret Maverick: As my old pappy used to say, "Son, stay clear of weddings because one of them is liable to be your own."
During the first season, James Garner filmed several vignettes that aired at the beginning of the Jack Kelly only episodes, where he would introduce the evening's story. This was done in order to get viewers used to the idea of a second Maverick.
After Adam West made several guest spots as various villains on this show, Jack Kelly would later return the favor by playing a villain on Batman (1966). He guest starred as Jack O'Shea, a crooked newspaper columnist that was secretly employed by Catwoman.
While running for mayor of Huntington Beach, California, Jack Kelly used the slogan, "Let Maverick Solve Your Problems."
Rod Taylor and Stuart Whitman were considered for the role of Bart Maverick.
The producers cast Robert Colbert as Brent Maverick due to having a similar look to James Garner, and they even ordered him to wear a costume identical to that worn by Garner. Because of the obvious comparisons this would bring, Colbert told them, "Put me in a dress and call me Brenda, but don't do this to me!"
On April 21, 2006, a ten foot tall statue of James Garner as Bret Maverick was unveiled in Garner's hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. Garner was on hand for the festivities.
Roger Moore left the series after his contract ended. However, there were still episodes left to filmed for season four. So the producers cast Robert Colbert as the youngest Maverick brother Brent.
In addition to making regular appearances as Big Mike McComb, Leo Gordon, also wrote several episodes of the series.
Even though Bret was older than Bart, Jack Kelly was nearly seventh months older than James Garner.
During season one, Bret competes in a boxing match, and uses the "rope-a-dope" strategy (letting the other fighter tire himself out and them coming back to beat him), several years before Muhammad Ali made it famous.
By adding the Bart Maverick character (and later cousin Beau and brother Brent) this allowed for more episodes of the show to be filmed each season.
Jack Kelly was the only Maverick star to appear in all five seasons of the series.
Jack Kelly's role as Bart Maverick was originally supposed to be just a one shot deal. However, the producers saw the great chemistry that he had with James Garner, and decided to keep him as a regular.
Series creator Roy Huggins never received on-screen credit for this show. In the 1950s Warner Bros. wanted to avoid paying royalties to creators and wanted all television projects to be based on properties held by the studio. The "pilot" episode was based on a Warners-held book, "War of the Copper Kings"; Huggins' script became episode 1.2. Huggins wouldn't get credit until Maverick (1994), the film version with Mel Gibson.
Sean Connery was originally offered the role of Beau Maverick, but turned it down. As a sign of things to come, Roger Moore would once again replace Connery years later in the James Bond franchise.
James Garner claimed that during filming one day they had less than an hour until overtime would have to be paid, but they still needed to shoot a complicated fight scene. Spying a group of tall weeds, he suggested that he throw his opponent into the weeds and have the fight proceed with much shaking of the weeds, and people being ejected from the weeds, only to immediately run back in. The results were extremely funny, and thus the cast and crew began to look for "funny" ways to cut corners, turning the show into a semi-comedy. - DirectorRon HowardStarsTommy Lee JonesCate BlanchettEvan Rachel WoodIn 1885 New Mexico, a frontier medicine woman forms an uneasy alliance with her estranged father when her daughter is kidnapped by an Apache brujo.Also starring: Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer, Sergio Calderón, Eric Schweig, Steve Reevis, Jay Tavare, Simon Baker, Max Perlich, Ray McKinnon, Clint Howard, Rance Howard
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsClint WalkerMartha HyerKeenan WynnEx-lawman Jim Cole retires to Wyoming to farm his land, but a land-greedy neighbor, an ex-con turned bounty hunter, and a vicious grizzly bear upset his retirement plans.Also co-starring: Nancy Kulp, Ellen Corby, Jack Elam, Ron Ely, Med Flory, Leo Gordon and Regis Toomey
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneDean MartinRicky NelsonA 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.Also starring: Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, John Russell, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez,Claude Akins, Malcolm Atterbury, Harry Carey Jr. (scenes deleted),
And uncredited :Walter Barnes, Gordon Mitchell, Bob Steele, Bing Russell
Feathers: I thought you were never going to say it.
John T. Chance: Say what?
Feathers: That you love me.
John T. Chance: I said I'd arrest you.
Feathers: It means the same thing, you know that.
Malcolm Atterbury is listed in the credits (Jake, the stage driver), but like Harry Carey Jr., does not actually appear in the final cut of the movie.
This was Howard Hawks' first film in four years. After the critical and box office failure of Land of the Pharaohs (1955), Hawks took a break from directing and lived in Europe.
Montgomery Clift turned down the role of Dude, because he didn't want to work again with John Wayne and Walter Brennan. They had previously worked together in Red River (1948).
Howard Hawks always wanted someone who would connect with teenagers to play Colorado. Reportedly, his first choice was Elvis Presley, who was enthusiastic about the opportunity. Unfortunately, Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, wanted too much money and top billing. Neither Hawks nor Wayne would have any of it, so the search continued. Presley joined the US army in March 1958, two months before filming began.
John Wayne and Ward Bond's 22nd and final movie together.
The movie had an interesting preview trailer. In the trailer, Ricky Nelson finishes playing his guitar, then he turns to the camera and talks about the exciting nature of the film. After some clips are shown, they cut back to Nelson who lists the cast members. When he does not mention his own name, we hear the voice of Dean Martin say off camera "What about Rick Nelson"?
Although Harry Carey Jr. was listed in the credits on-screen, he does not appear in the picture. Carey had a drinking problem at the time. He called director Howard Hawks "Howard" instead of "Mr. Hawks" on one of his first days on the set, infuriating Hawks. His contract, including his pay and his screen credit, was honored, but his part (a townsman) was cut.
Claude Akins recalled that during filming all the actors found themselves starting to talk like John Wayne. Wayne was not impressed by this.
The movie was made by Howard Hawks and John Wayne as a counter-response to the underlying theme and point of view of High Noon (1952). - DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneJorge RiveroJennifer O'NeillAfter the Civil War, Cord McNally searches for the two traitors whose treachery caused the defeat of McNally's unit and the loss of a close friend.Also co-starring: Christopher Mitchum, Victor French, Susana Dosamantes, Sherry Lansing, David Huddleston, Mike Henry, Jim Davis, George Plimpton, Peter Jason.
And uncredited: Don 'Red' Barry, Sondra Currie, Bob Steele, Hank Worden and Ethan Wayne.
Cord McNally: Do you think you could sneak up on the fella at the gate?
Phillips: I could sneak up on a *coyote* if I've a mind to!
Cord McNally: Did you get that fella at the gate?
Phillips: He's at *another* gate now, lookin' fer *Saint Peter*!
Cord McNally: Whitey's *dead*.
Phillips: [delighted] *That's* the best news I heared all *year*! Who killed 'im?
Cord McNally: [referring to Shasta] *She* did!
Phillips: [amazed] Well, I'll be a suck-egg mule-! Legs like *that*, and she can *shoot*, too!
Howard Hawks's final film.
Howard Hawks later said, "I didn't think it was any good." He also blamed the film's poor critical and commercial performance on John Wayne, saying that at 63 the star was now too old to carry a movie.
Robert Mitchum declined an offer from Howard Hawks to reprise his El Dorado role in this film. He told Hawks the script was "an even bigger piece of crap than 'El Dorado'."
When John Wayne visits Bill Williams in the sheriff's office, there is a wanted poster on the wall for Hondo Lane, the character Wayne played in Hondo.
John Wayne was in poor health during filming, and had great difficulty getting on and off his horse.
Jack Elam, playing the "Old Man", was more than a decade younger than John Wayne.
During a break in filming John Wayne collected his Best Actor Oscar for True Grit from Barbra Streisand at The 42nd Annual Academy Awards. When he returned, every member of the cast was wearing an eye patch - including his horse!
Film debut of Peter Jason and Sondra Currie.
Writer and reporter George Plimpton was cast in a minor role in this film (4th Gunman) while collecting research on the film industry. In a TV documentary shown during this time he commented that John Wayne kept calling him "Pimpleton" as a joke. - DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA 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.Also starring: Thomas Mitchell, George Bancroft, Louise Platt, Donald Meek, Tim Holt, and UNCREDITED: Dorothy Applegate, William Hopper, Theodore Lorch, Mickey Simpson, Hank Wordan ,Woody Strode.
John Ford declined to use John Wayne in any of his projects during the 1930s despite their close friendship, telling Wayne to wait until he was "ready" as an actor. In 1938, Ford gave Wayne a copy of the film's script with a request to recommend an actor to play the Ringo Kid. After reading it, Wayne suggested Lloyd Nolan for the part, but Ford was non-committal to the idea. The next day however, Ford announced to Wayne that he wanted him to play the role. The offer left Wayne feeling as if he had been "hit in the belly with a baseball bat" ... and fearing that Ford would change his mind and hire Nolan instead.
The first of three films in which John Wayne and Claire Trevor were paired as a romantic team.
The original negatives of Stagecoach were either lost or destroyed. John Wayne had one positive print that had never been through a projector gate. In 1970, he permitted it to be used to produce a new negative, and that is the film seen today at film festivals. UCLA fully restored the film in 1996 from surviving elements and premiered it on cable's American Movie Classics network. The previous DVD releases by Warner Home Video did not contain the restored print, but rather a video print held in the Castle Hill/Caidin Trust library.
John Ford employed scores of local Indians to play Apache warriors and the various Indian tribes of many of his other Westerns. More than 200 were hired to film the climactic attack on the stagecoach alone. For his commitment to providing them with much needed work (paying them on a union scale no less), the Navajos called Ford "Natani Nez," which means "tall leader."
John Ford originally wanted Ward Bond to play Buck the stage driver but gave the role to Andy Devine when he found that Bond couldn't drive a "six-up" stagecoach and there wasn't time to teach him.
Near the end of the movie, Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler) has a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This is the notorious "dead man's hand" supposed to have been held by Wild Bill Hickok before he was killed.
John Ford liked to bully actors on the set, and this was no exception. At one point he said to Andy Devine, "You big tub of lard. I don't know why the hell I'm using you in this picture." Undaunted, Devine replied, "Because Ward Bond can't drive six horses." Likewise he attacked Thomas Mitchell, who eventually retorted, "Just remember: I saw Mary of Scotland (1936)," effectively humbling the director. Worst of all was Ford's treatment of John Wayne. He called him a "big oaf" and a "dumb bastard" and continually criticized his line delivery and manner of walking, even how he washed his face on camera. However, at least part of this was to provoke the actor into giving a stronger performance; Claire Trevor recalls how Ford grabbed Duke by the chin and shook him. "Why are you moving your mouth so much?" he said. "Don't you know you don't act with your mouth in pictures? You act with your eyes." Wayne tolerated the rough treatment and rose to the challenge, reaching a new plateau as an actor. Ford helped cement the impression that Wayne makes in the film by giving him plenty of expressive reaction shots throughout the picture.
Orson Welles privately watched this film about 40 times while he was making Citizen Kane (1941).
Asked why, in the climactic chase scene, the Indians didn't simply shoot the horses to stop the stagecoach, director John Ford replied, "Because that would have been the end of the movie." In addition, Apaches would have stolen the stagecoach horses because, in their culture, horses were valuable in calculating a warrior's worth.
A device known as a "Running W" was used on the Indians' horses during the sequence where they are chasing the stagecoach. Strong, thin wires are fixed to a metal post, then the other end of the wires are attached to an iron clamp that encircles the legs of a horse, and the post is anchored into the ground. The horse is then ridden at full gallop, and when the wire's maximum length is reached--just when the rider is "shot"--the animal's legs are jerked out from underneath it, causing it to tumble violently and throw the "shot" rider off. The trouble was that the rider knew when the horse was going to fall but the horse didn't, resulting in many horses either being killed outright or having to be destroyed because of broken limbs incurred during the falls. The use of the "Running W" was eventually discontinued after many complaints from both inside and outside the film industry.
The hat that John Wayne wears is his own. He would wear it in many westerns during the next two decades before retiring it after Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (1959), because it was simply "falling apart." After that, the hat was displayed under glass in his home. - CreatorJames GunnKathleen HiteStarsRory CalhounRegis PartonDuncan LamontThe Texan, a Civil War Veteran whose reputation of being the fastest gun in the west precedes him, roams across Texas from town to town, not looking for trouble, but trouble finds him.Bill Longley, The Texan, was a Southern Captain during the Civil War, and returning home after the war, he learned that his wife had died, a victim of scarlet fever. Placing a makeshift marker next to his wife's tombstone, Longley declared himself dead as well, and thus began his wanderlust that took him across Texas and the rest of the West.
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosKevin JarreStarsKurt RussellVal KilmerSam ElliottA successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.Also co-starring: Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley, Jon Tenney, Stephen Lang, Thomas Haden Church, Dana Delany, Joanna Pacula, Michael Rooker, Harry Carey Jr., Billy Bob Thornton, Paul Ben-Victor, John Philbin, Robert John Burke, Billy Zane, John Corbett, Buck Taylor, Terry O'Quinn, Frank Stallone, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Christopher Mitchum, and the voice of Robert Mitchum.
[Wyatt Earp has just found out that the devil in a play was performed by a woman]
Wyatt Earp: Well, I'll be damned.
Doc Holliday: You may indeed, if you get lucky.
The real Wyatt Earp's fifth cousin, Wyatt Earp, plays Billy Claiborne.
Robert Mitchum was signed on to star as Old Man Clanton. On the first day of shooting he fell from his horse and injured his back, forcing him to quit the part. Instead, Mitchum provides the narration at the beginning and end of the film. The part of Old Man Clanton was eliminated from the script.
In an interview with True West magazine (Oct. 2006), star Kurt Russell admits that after original director Kevin Jarre was fired, he directed a majority of the picture. According to Russell, credited director George P. Cosmatos served merely to make things run smoothly. Also in the True West interview, Kurt Russell states that the film was nearly cast with Richard Gere as Wyatt Earp and Willem Dafoe as Doc Holliday.
Longtime veteran western actor Glenn Ford had originally signed on as a cameo role in this film; however, poor health forced him to withdraw.
"I'll be damned" really are the final words of John "Doc" Holliday. To this day, historians have debated on why Doc said that. The main theory is that Doc had become a gunfighter hoping that someone would kill him and spare him the effects of tuberculosis and that he was amazed that the disease is what killed him: not the drinking, gambling, or gunfighting. Doc Holiday's last words "I'll be damned" were uttered when he realized he had bare feet. Doc swore he would "die with his boots on".
Then-72-year old Harry Carey Jr. played Marshal Fred White in spite of the fact that the real Fred White was about 31 years old at the time of his murder.
Val Kilmer plays Doc Holliday, a role previously played decades earlier by Adam West. It was upon seeing this film that Joel Schumacher was inspired to cast Kilmer as Batman - which was West's most famous role.
When Wyatt is at the train station standing on the loading platform, giving Ike Clanton his "you tell em' I'm comin', and hells comin' with me" speech, really going crazy on Ike, he's standing in front of train car #5150 (the California police code for a crazy person).
The role of Johnny Ringo was originally offered to Mickey Rourke, who turned it down.
As extraordinary as the scene is in which Wyatt kills Curly Bill Brocius in the creek, it is true. During the shootout in the creek when Wyatt kills Curly Bill, the next person he shoots is Johnny Barnes (the cowboy who yells "JESUS CHRIST!!"). As in real life, Wyatt shoots Barnes in the stomach. However, Barnes was not killed on site. He managed to escaped and died in a farmhouse. However, before dying, he told the story of how Wyatt REALLY did walk into a hail of Curly Bill's gunfire unscathed and walked right up to Bill and shot him point blank with both barrels of a double-barreled shotgun. - DirectorRobert AldrichStarsGary CooperBurt LancasterDenise DarcelDuring the Mexican Rebellion of 1866, an unsavory group of American adventurers are hired by the forces of Emporer Maximilian to escort a countess to Vera Cruz.Also starring: George Macready, Jack Elam,Ernest Borgnine, James McCallion, Morris Ankrum,Henry Brandon, Archie Savage, Jack Lambert, Charles Bronson (as Charles Buchinsky), Sara Montiel (as Sarita Montiel)
Clark Gable warned Gary Cooper not to work with Burt Lancaster, saying, "That young guy will blow you off the screen." Ironically, Gable himself later worked with Lancaster in Run Silent Run Deep (1958).
In his biography Ernest Borgnine reports that, during the shooting, Burt Lancaster brought his children on the set and all of them laughed at Jack Elam, because of his walleyed eye. Elam of course was upset because of this and he had a tough argument against Lancaster in a fierce fist fight.
Gary Cooper was 52 at the time of filming, although his character was only supposed to be a couple of years older than Burt Lancaster's character. Joe Erin was meant to be 40, Lancaster's actual age.
The Mexican authorities were appalled at the way their citizens were depicted in the film so any subsequent Hollywood productions had to conform to some strict rules. This explains why in The Magnificent Seven (1960), the locals are all wearing pristine white clothes.
In her biography "Playing the Field," Mamie Van Doren claimed Burt Lancaster interviewed her for the role of the Countess and attempted to seduce her. She told him she did not wish to get the part in that way and that her mother was waiting for her outside in the car. Lancaster told her she was right and gave her the script to study, and although she officially auditioned, she didn't get the part.
Although portrayed by 54-year-old George Macready, the real Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico was only 34 when he died.
This film is sometimes called the "first spaghetti western," due to its reputed influence on the Italian directors such as Sergio Leone who popularized the genre.
Gary Cooper was badly hurt when he was struck by fragments from a bridge that had been blown up and the special-effects team had used too much explosives.
The film was shot entirely on location in Mexico. One day during a break in filming Charles Bronson and Ernest Borgnine decided to go to the nearest town for cigarettes. This meant saddling up in costume, sidearms and all, and riding to town. On the way the pair was spotted by a truck full of "federales"--Mexican federal police--who, mistaking them for bandits, stopped them and held them at gunpoint until representatives from the film company showed up to vouch for them. - StarsSteve McQueenWright KingOlan SouleA Civil War veteran with a sawed-off rifle as a holstered weapon makes a living as a bounty hunter in the Wild West of the 1870s.Steve McQueen's characterization of a sympathetic bounty hunter was first tested in an episode of the Western series, "Trackdown," which starred Robert Culp as a Texas Ranger.
According to several episodes, Josh Randall was a war veteran having served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
The Mare's Leg weapon carried by Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) is a cut down Winchester model 1892 carbine in 44-40 caliber, but the bullets in his cartridge belt are 45-70 caliber rounds used in the larger, more powerful rifles of the day. The producers wanted to use the 45-70s because they were more visually impressive than the relatively small, pistol sized rounds actually used in the 1892 carbine. The use of the 1892 carbine is itself an anarchism as the series is set in the 1870s.
Initially, the creators of the series had a hard time selling the show because bounty hunters were thought to be unsavory characters and have been portrayed as such in numerous western shows and movies. The creators overcame this obstacle by having Josh Randall give most, sometimes ALL, of his earnings to help people such as the families of people murdered by the men Randall brings in, thus making Randall a sympathetic and likable character.
According to the A&E Biography profile of Steve McQueen (featured in the Season ONE DVD Set), McQueen took the role of Josh Randall because his prospects for acting in movies were drying up. When the series started becoming hit, McQueen began getting more and more noticed by the film industry. So much so that director John Sturges, who'd used McQueen in the war movie Never So Few cast McQueen in the western hit The Magnificent Seven, the movie that launched McQueen's rise to stardom. After making "Mag-7", McQueen began to get more and more movie offers again and decided to quit the show to pursue his film career, thus canceling the series.
After getting offered the chance to star in The Magnificent Seven, McQueen found out that the only way he could do the film, which was being shot simultaneously with "Wanted: Dead or Alive", was to fake an accident or illness and get a medical leave from the series. According to his first wife, Nellie, McQueen accomplished this feat by "faking" a car crash in which he merely crashed his car into a tree, receiving minor cuts, muscle pulls, and bruises, and getting his medical leave. The series' production went on temporary hiatus while McQueen filmed "The Magnificent Seven" - DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsMaureen O'HaraJeff ChandlerJohn McIntireMajor Howell Brady arrives in Indian Territory in hopes of recruiting peaceful, relocated Seminoles to help the army fight rampaging Kiowas.Also co-starring: Noah Beery Jr., Dennis Weaver, Jay Silverheels, Henry Brandon.
Sgt. Augustus Wilks: I'm beginning to feel a little foolish.
Sgt. Luke Schermerhorn: You got the face to go with it.
Major Howell Brady: You can't treat him like that! He's a chief!
Col. Jackson Meade: [Contemptuously] Of what? - DirectorSamuel FullerStarsRod SteigerSara MontielBrian KeithWhen the South loses the war, Confederate veteran O'Meara goes West, joins the Sioux, takes a wife and refuses to be an American but he must choose a side when the Sioux go to war against the U.S. Army.Also co-starring: Jay C. Flippen, Charles Bronson and the uncredited voice of Angie Dickinson as "Yellow Moccasin"
Blue Buffalo: [addressing the village] He wants to become a Sioux. To take Yellow Moccasin as his squaw and to adopt Silent Tongue as their son. But his skin is enemy!
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: I'm not an American.
Blue Buffalo: But your skin is white!
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: But my heart is with the Sioux.
Blue Buffalo: Why?
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: Because I love your people. I've learn from Yellow Moccasin that a man cannot live alone. he must have allegiance to a people... to a nation. In my heart my nation is Sioux.
Blue Buffalo: Would you kill the Americans in battle?
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: [pauses for a moment] Yes.
Blue Buffalo: Are there any objections?
[waits for a reply, there is none]
Blue Buffalo: Mix the blood!
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: Before you mix the blood, I must speak of my faith.
Blue Buffalo: Faith? What do you mean?
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: I'm a Christian. I will live as a Sioux... I will hunt as a Sioux... I will fight and I will even die as a Sioux. But my God is a Christian God. I can't serve your greater spirit.
Blue Buffalo: We respect a man who respects his faith. This God of yours is He... the giver and creator of all life? Do you look to Him for the cure of disease and illness to make you strong and healthy?
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: I do. Yes.
Blue Buffalo: How many Gods do you serve? Do you have more than One?
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: No, no. Just one.
Blue Buffalo: Just one. Americans, are they all Christians?
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: No, some are and some are other denominations like your religions.
Blue Buffalo: You are a Christian? Will you kill Christians in battle?
Pvt. O'Meara, 6th Virginia Volunteers Sharpshooter: [pauses] Well... my nation... fought... for liberty against the United States... And Christianity is always the brother of liberty in all wars.
Blue Buffalo: We have the same God but a different name... Mix the blood!
At the time of its release, many critics commented favorably on director Samuel Fuller's "artistic" decision to concentrate on the feet of the participants in the actual "run of the arrow" rather than showing them in their entirety. In an interview, Fuller said there was a very simple reason for his decision: star Rod Steiger had badly sprained his ankle just before the scene was to be shot and wasn't able to walk, let alone run, so Fuller got one of the Indian extras who was built somewhat like Steiger to run in his place, which is why he shot only feet instead of close-ups or medium shots.