My Top 10 Westerns List
Because of space, I can’t get into specifics with long explanations and proper citations; hence, this has to be an authoritative list. With this being said, Bad Day at Black Rock and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (and others of that type) do not fit into the purist sense of the look and feel of the Western genre. We all know what the Western genre encompasses and I don’t want to get into a long philosophical discussion on this subject (by the way, both of those movies are in my personal top 100 all-time). One thing is for sure, as Ernest Borgnine stated in his introduction to The Wild Bunch, great movies have to fulfill two requirements to achieve greatness: 1. stand the test of time and, 2. warrant repeated viewings. All of the following movies fall into that category. As a Western fanatic, I know which movies I have left off of this list. I hope my list spurs on dialogue and I hope you take my comments with the same reverence I put into writing them. Enjoy.
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- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsYul BrynnerSteve McQueenCharles BronsonSeven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.10. The Magnificent Seven
It’s so easy for the top nine; the tenth spot was tough to fill. There are so many great Westerns and you’ve seen the lists and you’ve seen those movies, but when a movie is part of the American iconographical landscape, it’s tough to let go. Let’s start with a classic story that is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. The cast is incredible (except of course Horst Buchholz). Good usage of humor combined with a straight forward dialogue, kept the cornball factor to a minimum. The plot also explores the end of the era of the gunfighter and the modernization of the old west. And who could forget one of the greatest motion picture scores of all time. Elmer Bernstein’s score is instantly recognizable and makes the soul soar every time we hear it! Ask any couch potato/western loving real man if he had his choice between The Magnificent Seven and Dances with Wolves, we all know what will be the answer!! - DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodVerna BloomMarianna HillA 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.9. High Plains Drifter
Critics and audiences made a huge deal over Unforgiven as being innovative and being a modern Western. Clint Eastwood did this in 1973 with High Plains Drifter. With set designs harkening back to German Expressionism and filming techniques that employ Surrealism, this film was lost in the 70’s cynical treatment of the Western as a genre and never got it’s just dues. Those of us who love the Western will never pass up a chance to watch it in reruns. This was a Western that pulls no punches and all of the characters are despicable. Innovative, provocative, and uncompromising, High Plains Drifter was way ahead of its time for its filming technique, treatment of the anti-hero and the forerunner of many “revisionist” Westerns to come. - DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsHenry FondaDana AndrewsMary Beth HughesWhen a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.8. The Ox-Bow Incident
“Hangin' is any man's business that's around.” Henry Fonda’s father took him to the site of a lynching that occurred the previous morning and told young Henry that statement, and that line was used in the movie at Henry Fonda’s insistence. It’s hard to watch movies like this because it exposes the soul of every man. At a tight 75 minutes, the plot and dialogue move along at a good pace. Beautiful performances by Dana Andrews and Anthony Quinn along with the reaction shots of the mob after the final realization of their lynching leave an indelible mark on the watcher. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and in 1998 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". - 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.7. Stagecoach
Relegated to B-movie status, the Western was Hollywood’s stepchild and was never thought of as a serious movie. Stagecoach changed all of that and movie history was made. Moral ambiguity abounds as a cast of disparate characters are put together in claustrophobic environments and forced to deal with each other in the ultimate road trip movie (still used today: Rain Man, Little Miss Sunshine). Orson Welles watched Stagecoach over 40 times while filming Citizen Kane and incorporated scenes with ceilings (a practice rarely used). Akira Kurosawa was inspired so much by this movie he went on to make The Seven Samarai. Stop and think about this for a minute, Stagecoach was responsible for two of the greatest movies ever made!! Combine this with being John Ford’s first talking film, his first time filming in Monument Valley and John Wayne’s star-making role makes this not only an influential Western genre film but also one of the most influential films of all time. - DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsWilliam HoldenErnest BorgnineRobert RyanAn aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.6. The Wild Bunch
It’s long and the whorehouse scene really bogs down the narrative flow, but no Western’s best list can be complete without this movie. Hitchcock has nothing on Peckinpah when it comes to editing a movie. The Academy made one of the biggest mistakes in history by not at least nominating this movie for best editing. Of course the moral ambiguity themes, the demystification of the West and the end of the era of the aging gunfighter are themes that have been explored before, but it’s the controversial handling of violence, slow-motion bloodletting and the parallel with the Vietnam War that makes this a provocative Western that stands along with other great movies. Bloody Sam comes through in living color. - DirectorGeorge StevensStarsAlan LaddJean ArthurVan HeflinAn ex-gunfighter defends homesteaders in 1889 Wyoming.5. Shane
This movie has it all…action, family values, gunfights, fist fights, great humor, great dialogue, incredible editing (saloon fight and final shootout), beautiful Teton locations, breathtaking cinematography, incredible cast and incredible acting. As a Librarian, I usually say that the book is better than the movie, however, the book comes nowhere near the character development or having the reader visualize the locale. George Stevens accomplishes this and more. This movie operates on so many levels that it takes repeated viewings to understand all of the subtleties (especially in the actor’s choices). Just like The Searchers, the sexual tension between the main character and the female lead contributes to a multi-layered screenplay that would make Freud proud. There are so many great moments in this film (Stevens is a master of great movie moments): Dixie on the harmonica, Shane’s first dinner and the reaction of Joey when Shane gets jumpy, the stare-down between Shane and Jack Wilson when they meet for the first time, the fist fight in the saloon, Stonewall’s death scene in the horse *beep* and mud and the subsequent scene at the Reb’s funeral and his dog at the gravesite (the crew wept while filming this scene) and of course the final scene. In 1993, Shane was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” - DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA 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.4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
An epic masterpiece of tremendous proportions. Sergio Leone is a genius at directing this movie and employed innovative usage of extreme close-ups, unusual camera angles, extended sequences and amazing action that changed how films were made after that. What keeps us coming back to this movie time and time again is the wry humor and the MUSIC!! Along with Jaws, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly elevates itself to the level of the greatest motion picture score of all time. It has become a cliché now when the opening whistle melody embodies the Western shootout in movies, TV, commercials, you name it. Keep in mind, before this, the western ideal for music was always the large orchestral scores with sweeping melodies ala Copland, Korngold, Moross, Elmer Bernstein, etc. Ennio Morricone used electric guitars, whistling and hyena howls!! Talk about innovative!! The Ecstasy of Gold sequence is a cinematic clinic on how to unite editing with music. - DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodSondra LockeChief Dan GeorgeMissouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.3. The Outlaw Josey Wales
“Are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?” To some of us, we quietly get together in closed-door sessions and hushed tones and truly believe that this is the greatest western of all time. It certainly is Clint Eastwood’s favorite movie. However, for the sake of our classic western fans, I put it in third place. It has stood the test of time and true Western fanatics quote lines from this movie. “Not a hard man to track. Leaves dead men wherever he goes.” Eastwood runs the full gamut of his emotions and turns in a great job of acting including spittin’ chaw on everything that moves. Rottentomatoes.com has a perfect 100% score on the critics “Tomatometer” with Roger Ebert stating, ” Eastwood is such a taciturn and action-oriented performer that it's easy to overlook the fact that he directs many of his movies -- and many of the best, most intelligent ones. Here, with the moody, gloomily beautiful photography of Bruce Surtees, he creates a magnificent Western feeling.” It was also one of the few Western movies to receive critical and commercial success in the 70’s at a time when the Western was thought to be dying as a major genre in Hollywood. Orson Welles while on Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson proclaimed Josey Wales the best Western ever made and admitted to seeing it over 4 times!!! Jerry Fielding was nominated for an Oscar in the best motion picture score category. In 1996, this film was placed in the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry. “Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy.” - DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA 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.2. High Noon
Before I even start, one thing has to be set straight from the get-go. Howard Hawks and John Wayne hated this movie and made Rio Bravo as a right-wing response to blacklisted screenwriter Carl Foreman and the film’s message to Hollywood for the failure of the Hollywood people to stand up to the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era. Wayne and Hawks hated that Will Kane ran around town like a “chicken with his head cut off.” Wayne’s political views aside, the plot stands up. Spineless townspeople is a Western staple, Kane could not run away because the killer would catch up to him and kill his new wife, too (is it really so terrible that the hero is not super-human?). So, after calling in favors that didn’t come through, he stands alone in one of the most famous shots in cinematic history (the crane shot of Kane standing alone in the middle of the street). Shot in real-time, Fred Zinnemann created tempo and mood with the ever-present ticking clock and Dimitri Tiomkin’s Oscar-winning song “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin.’” Add to this, Gary Cooper’s Oscar-winning performance (when everybody thought he was all washed-up) makes High Noon one of the great movies of all time (AFI’s list of “America’s 100 Greatest Movies”, High Noon is ranked #33). Registered as a national treasure by the Library of Congress. - DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.1. The Searchers
Monument Valley never looked better in VistaVision’s three strip filming process. Roger Ebert stated, “John Ford’s ''The Searchers'' contains scenes of magnificence, and one of John Wayne’s best performances. There are shots that are astonishingly beautiful.” The only Western in history to be placed in the top 10 Sight & Sound Poll as among the greatest films of all time. AFI ranked The Searchers #12 in their all-time list and in 1989 the United States National Film Registry’s first year of selecting films for preservation, chose The Searchers as one of the first 25 films to be deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” The Searchers has influenced films as diverse as Star Wars, Taxi Driver, Hardcore, Dances with Wolves, Saving Private Ryan, The Wind and the Lion and Apocalypse Now. David Lean studied The Searchers in preparation for Lawrence of Arabia and as a result movie history was made with that famous shot of the across-the-desert entrance of Sherif Ali. Sergio Leone listed The Searchers as one of his favorite films. Much has been made of the film’s racist overtones, but both sides were equally represented and based on historical fact. The basis of Ethan Edward’s obsession is clearly stated when Debbie hides next to a tombstone that states the massacre of Ethan’s mother at the beginning of the film. Not so obvious is John Ford’s hidden subtext about Ethan’s affair with his brother’s wife and that Lucy or Debbie could possibly be Ethan’s children. The thirst for vengeance makes total sense especially with the prospect that Debbie’s been “living with a Buck.” So many great scenes (the wedding scene, the letter reading scene) and lots of comic relief (“That’ll be the day!”), keep the viewer’s interest throughout. As far as I’m concerned, this is John Wayne’s greatest acting triumph. When Ethan has to explain to Brad that Lucy was dead and he says, “What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more,” is delivered with such harrowing conviction by Wayne, it gives me goose bumps. Then there is the scene when Ethan sees two white women who were raped by Indians and regressed to their childhood, Ethan says, “They aren’t white. Not anymore.” As Ethan exits we are given one of the greatest close-ups in movie history (seen over and over again in motion picture retrospectives). John Ford was sparse with camera movements and so when he employs camera movements, there is a heightened sense of drama. Ford’s camera rapidly tracks in on Wayne’s face to that close-up and reveals Ethan’s total contempt—a chilling moment. Every shot is framed. I’ve never seen a movie that did this so effectively and with such beauty. It’s like Frederic Remington painted each shot. Keep in mind, this is all before CGI. The cinematography is stunning. Then there is that incredible final shot, perfectly framed again with awesome cinematography and John Wayne’s personal tribute to Harry Carey. I am in awe every time I watch this movie.
Robert Beck