Yore Movie Swells: The Best Westerns

Wilson: They named alot of Southern tr**h after Stonewall Stonewall: Who did they name YOU after, or would you know?

Ryker: We made a safe range out of this. Some of us died doing it, but we made it

Shane: A gun is a tool, no better, worse than any other, as good or bad as man using it

Stars Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur (finale), Ben Johnson, Jack Palance, Elisha Cook and Emile Meyer as “Ryker” the cattle king who has a story to tell. On another gorgeous Victor Young score (♫), director Stevens masterfully works a dichotomy of duel between good and greed, cowardice an courage. Panoramic back-drop highlights young de Wilde’s call to stranger turned family friend Shane. Heartfelt, with a haunting camera close (Griggs) (Oscar), Ladd’s noir pedigree perfectly suits this genre crossover.

Low-key and standing 5’6,” Ladd projected a giant onto film‘s dreamscape, having ushered-in noir (The-Glass-Key This-Gun-For-Hire {42} The-Blue-Dahlia), then giving us Shane, maybe the most beloved cowboy of them all. Sadly, Alan couldn't fathom his enormity, riding off before the Classic revival. In reflecting with TCM's Bob Osborne on his work with the aging star (The-Badlanders), Ernest Borgnine knew what Alan didn't seem to know himself, that his big-hearted, brave gun-fighter stands tall with the greatest male roles in film history, parts that elevated their performers to a revered status. Names like Rhett (Gable) and Robin (Flynn), Thackeray (Poitier) and Malloy (Brando), Kelp (Lewis) and Del (Candy), Dorothy (Hoffman) and Dr Strangelove (Sellers), Lucky (Astaire) and the Lover (Valentino), Machin (Harris) and Manuel (Tracy), Quint (Shaw) and Spade (Bogart), Sam-the-Lion (Johnson) and Shannon (Burton), Lt Dunbar (Costner) and Lt Maréchal (Gabin), Jim (Dean) and Papillon (McQueen), Joe Buck (Voigt) and Buddusky (Nicholson), Clyde (Beatty) and Tom (Fonda), McKay (Peck) and Kimble (Ford), Kambei (Shimura) and The Monster (Karloff), Stryker (Duke) and the Tramp (Chaplin), Vincent (Douglas) and Roy (Taylor), Wonka (Wilder) and Boris (Walbrook), Bob (Drugstore) and Ramón (Bedoya), Andy (Rooney) and Santa (Bardem), Sefton (Holden) and Gus (Duvall), Marty (Ernie) and Lonesome (Andy), Luke (Newman) and Jeremiah (Redford), Patton (Scott) and the Chief (Steiger), Geo Bailey (Stewart) and Geo Cohan (Cagney) (I keep adding names!). Watch Shane and you'll know why he rates, and hope Alan finally knows now, too (4★/4).

PS: If you're a fan of Shane, Westerns, any of the Stars or the many artists involved in its making, treat yourself to the Trivia notes at IMDb (#79). Just joyful.

Cherry: Only 2 things better than a good gun: a Swiss watch & woman from anywhere

Teeler: This herd don't belong to you, it belongs to everyone in Texas. I shouldn't've run, I should've stayed, put a bullet in you. I signed a pledge, but you ain't who I signed with!

Lotsa' hat and enough cattle to fill fifty freight cars. Howard Hawks directed, Borden Chase / Charles Schnee written, Dimitri Tiomkin scored (♫) and loaded with sagebrush cinema regulars, including the big guy, John Wayne (Tom Dunson), his impressive co-star in newcomer Monty Clift (Matt Garth), old-hand Walter Brennan (Groot), a young Noah Berry Jr (Buster & 70s TV dad Rocky to Jim Rockford), Silent superstar Harry Carey (Melville) & Son (Dan), John Ireland (Cherry), his soon-to-be wife, Joanne Dru (Tess), Paul Fix (Teeler) and "a cast of thousands" in doggies that put on one hellacious stampede.

The domineering Millay rubs the wrong way, an odd piece jammed into the puzzle late, her act feeling forced, as too the goo-goo eyed cowboy she lassos. But all’s forgiven in the final frames as Dru turns her swell spigot on high. And equal to the action in what could be called the greatest Western ever filmed is pretty as all get-out, Coleen Gray, playing the ephemeral "Fen" whose early passion plea to corral the Duke ensouls this entire Chisholm Trail tale: “Sun only shines half the day, Tom, the other half is night (4★/4)."

Often overlooked by classic fans, even those with a Western bent, TBC is not your typical sagebrush saga for it runs wide and deep. It's also a long one, projecting for the good part of 3 hours. And like all great epics, every scene will engage, i.e., no dry spells.

Once again we find the music (♫), a Moross score that sets your spurs to spin right from the opening credits (Bass), is essential to the story and feelings co-producers Wyler and Peck seek to elicit from viewers. It's a full flavored feature with strong-willed men, equally determined women, a moonlight fist-fight, good natured hazing, a clever horse (Old Thunder) and insightful vaquero in Al "Badges" Bedoya making his finale (d.57) (“A man like {Jim} is very rare”). Grudges and non-conformity are its over-riding themes but water rights and the intoxicating nature of the American West are its under-currents.

And while Pat's parental passion (her black & mesh Santiago-Wood number worn at the shindig is just divine) made Jim's choice-of-partner crystal clear, deciding between lovelies Jean Simmons and Carroll Baker on looks alone is like having to choose between food and water, something sensible humans are loath to do.

In the end, we discover a pairing (Jim & Julie) as pleasing as any of the great, unlikely loves in film. If it's not Wyler's (Miniver Best-Years) or Heston's best (Ben-Hur Apes Soylent), it's certainly best for the rest. This one's a real beauty (UA) (4★/4).

An Orion picture release, directed and co-produced (Wilson) by its star, Kevin Costner, written for the screen by the book’s author, Michael Blake, and co-stars Mary McDonnell, Rodney Grant, Graham Greene, Wes Studi, Bob Pastorelli and Maury Chaykin as Major Fambrough. One of the decade’s best (The-Fugitive JFK Ronin), Dances is a brilliant blend of romantic-realism, action-drama and handfuls of charm (‘Here, have some sugar in your coffee!’), depicting the culture clash that accompanies the inevitable expansion of humanity throughout the post-Columbus Americas.

The movie opens on a Civil War battlefield in Tennessee. A stalemate exists and badly injured Union officer Dunbar (Kev) needs an amputation (Sgt Pepper {Everett}: "Better take cover Lt., those boys are shooters") but decides on a reckless act of diversion, one almost certain to result in his death, riding between the armies in hope of ending the impasse. With the grim-reaper ready to swing (a Rebel sharpshooter has Dunbar sighted), “fate moves its huge hand,” sparing the suicide who inspires his blue-coat brethren to rout the Confederates into frantic retreat. As reward, the hero receives proper medical care and is granted a wish, a repost out West “before its (natural state) is all gone.” Arriving at Fort Hays (KS), Dunbar reports to fussy, fragile Major Fambrough who nonetheless is impressed with the new arrival’s mission statement and sends him, unofficially, “on a knight’s errand to the farthest reaches of the realm,” that being Fort Sedgwick, now a deserted post and the lieutenant’s odyssey begins.

There are moments uniquely Costnerian (“Your name is Stands?” teamings with Smiles-A lot & telling of tatonka), coming across as contemporaneous, yet, the story is so strong, Barry’s music so majestic, he whose key so often unlocked the door to our hearts and scored range epics Born-Free (66) and Monte-Walsh (70), Semler’s camera so well-aimed (his frame of proud Pawnee Studi is 24k gold), that it detracts not the least from the historical context, an achievement most modern westerns, policed by PC mandates, fail at miserably. Pulling off that rare film feat, Dances scored big at the box-office ($22M > $424) AND the award galas, winning seven (7) Oscars in categories picture, director, score, camera, screen-play, sound and editing, three (3) Golden Globes and numerous other picture-director accolades, with only BAFTA voters baffled, never calling out Dances title on trophy nite with zero (0) wins. Bloody ridiculous.

A bison hunt, a spirited shindig where “good trade(s)” are made, a clever horse (Cisco), playful wolf (Two Socks), Pawnee angst (“He'll get us all killed”), an Army more confused (Cargill) than evil (Bauer Spivey), all making indelible marks. The opening War scene is as poignant as it is exhilarating while the closing river raid and last goodbye (“You are my friend!”) tie-up this rolling masterpiece nicely (4★/4).

Like watching an old photo come to life. Not just a great range-noir, a great film, period.

Though it wouldn't go over well today as audiences are much less sentimental, less searching than days past, Peter knew in 71 what Billy knew in 59 and convinced Marilyn of in Hot, that some scripts must be shot in B&W for full desired effect. That effect was an armload of Oscar nods, receipts and critical acclaim for both. The tale of a year in the lives of a small, fading Texas town that centers on two classmates and the knowing adults who shape their lives. Think of a dustier, more interesting Peyton Place.

More best parts than the big bucket at KFC. Scenes like Sonny standing in the deserted doorway of the pool hall, wind whipping through the emptiness; every shot Ruth is in; Sam's water-tank testament while Crawford listens like it’s a voice from above, knowing he’s in presence of greatness; the speechless cafe patron (Brown) standing over the boys in plumb digust after their football fiasco; the little girl rescued who almost gets left behind as they haul off the twisted teen and the old guys keep jawing; Gen letting Sonny back into the cafe with Sam signing on and Peter’s use of Howard Hawks' Red-River for the Royal finale as a nice closing touch. There are not enough digits on my hands and feet to recount all of the moments, human, humorous and heart-warming. Picture Show is peerless, with Oscar-caliber acts all around, including 1946 Miss Chicago Cloris Leachman as Ruth-the-Wildcat (BSA-Oscar), Tim Bottoms stars as Sonny (Johnny-Got-His-Gun), Jeff Bridges his best friend (Lebowski), Clu Gulager the town Don Juan (The-Tall-Man), Cybill Shepherd (Taxi-Driver) is the good girl with “♪ a cold cold heart ♫,” Ellen Burstyn is Jacy's "smell good" mom and Mr. Farrow's bored wife, Lois (The-Exorcist), Eileen Brennan is the femme swell café sage, Genevieve (The-Sting), Texas-native John Hillerman is the teach (Chinatown), Jessie Fulton as Miss Mosey who tries to keep the Royal lights on and real cowboy Ben Johnson as Sam-the-Lion (Shane The-Getaway) who reminisces at the water-tank like he exhales rolled smokes, nice 'n easy (BSA-Oscar). The teens get top bill and perform like pros, but it’s the grown-ups who bring this one home, their stories, their dreams turned to dust that'll strum your heart-cords.

So, thank you Bogdanovich & friends, including author Larry McMurtry, Sal Mineo for pitching the paper-back to Peter and his then wife, Polly Platt (The-Bad-News-Bears), Orson Welles who recommended B&W print, Columbia Cufflinks (Steve Friedman), BBS, Archer City ("Anarene"), the federal District Court which ruled the film not obscene (pool scene) and the grand State of Texas (Columbia) (4★/4)

Directed by Simon Wincer and stars Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Rick Schroder, Bob Urich, Dan Glover, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, Angelica Huston, Fred Forest, Tim Scott, DB Sweeney, Barry Corbin, Glenne Headly & Steve Buscemi. Four-episode mini-series based on a book written by Pulizer Prize author Larry McMurtry (Hud Last-Picture-Show) about a troop of retired Texas Rangers who embark on an ambitious cattle drive to Montana, battling the elements and assortment of foes along the way, most notably an Indian bandit named Blue Duck. Wildly popular and, excepting the awkward Clara sidetrack, the story & characters are so engaging you’ll most certainly last the entire 6 hour view-a-thon, over several nites, AND likely make it an annual event. Bonus insight: don’t bother with the sequels, all Western enough but charmless and harmless (CBS) (4★/4).

Tuco: "When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk" “Even a tramp like me, I know there's a brother who'll never refuse me a bowl of soup”

Blondie: "There are those with loaded guns, and those who dig .. you dig."

First released in Rome (12-66), home of director Leone, its USA premiere a year later (12.29) to complete the PEA-UA trifecta which began with A-Fistful-of-Dollars (Jan-67), then A-Few-Dollars-More (May), serving a full plate of the new spaghetti Western to audiences who feasted, turning the leads of its third entry into international stars.

The year 1939 is tabbed film's best and it’s hard to dispute with makes like GWTW The-Wizard-of-Oz The-Women Goodbye-Mr-Chips Stagecoach & Hunchback-of-Notre-Dame. Then there’s 1967, no runner-up as it produced more game-changers than any other: Guess-Whos-Coming-To-Dinner In-the-Heat-of-the-Night Bonnie-&-Clyde The-Graduate To-Sir-With-Love Cool-Hand-Luke and The-Good, a Western like no other, featuring an anti-hero that made the rest look like boy scouts. Filmed in Italy & Spain, terrain that compares to the southwest US, and scripted by a team of writers (Incrocci Leone Donati Scarpelli Vincenzoni Knox), Good had the biggest Produzioni budget and it shows.

Set during the Western phase of the Civil War, it follows 2 non-combatants, Blondie the good (Clint) and Tuco the ugly (Eli) who partner in scam of criminal justice, then have a falling out, only to tenuously re-team in necessity when each is given partial clue to locating a buried Confederate gold shipment, swag also being sought by a well-informed, third gunslinger, the “tidy” bandito known as Angel Eyes (Lee). Shaky alliances form and fade, encountering family (Tuco’s priestly brother) (Pistilli) and fighting along the way (a war weary Union Captain) (Giuffrè), culminating in a triangulated, graveyard showdown with only spirits of the dead in attendance to beckon new members. Most noteworthy for its performances in lead, signature English dubbing, epic length (177m), Ennio Morricone’s singular score (♪ Ah-eh-a-eh-aaaaaa, waaah WAAAAA waaah ♫), advanced sound effects (Pacella DeSisti) and a persistent brutality, mitigated by a Tuco-Blondie entente that emerges late. The trouble today is too MUCH epic. Adding back edits merely to boost DVD sales or turn a Classic into a new movie so fiddlers can make it into the credits, is becoming a real problem. In what is known as the American Edition, 15 minutes in three needless scenes were added back: Tuco at his hideout talking to a dead chicken, lead-up to the monestary and Angel Eyes visits a CSA camp to pump a wine-dribbling Rebel. More is not always better. The presumption should be to protect earlier edits, whatever their motive, be it choisis or finance. They are the movie.

The best Civil War treatment to date, Dances-With-Wolves the best opener (“Get down Lieutenant, these guys are shooters!”), by an Italian in Spain, no less. The Good is that rarity where a series finale, typically when the story's been milked dry (Terminator-3 Alien-3), is instead the best of the bunch, a film fantasy where bad guys aren’t all bad, good guys have demons and YOU decide the moral. Is Good the best western ever made? After writing this review, I might say, yes, until I see Shane or Red River or Lonesome-Dove or The-Big-Country or Little-Big-Man or The-Searchers or Winchester-73 or Last-Picture-Show or, you get the idea. In a crowded field, it's certainly most unique (4★/4)

Chet to Monte: “Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever

Monte to Shorty: I rode down the gray. You have to ride him high”

You are mining a hidden gem when you begaze upon director Wm Fraker's masterwork in melancholy. Like Polanski-Evans-Towne-Huston did for film-noir in Chinatown (74), the Coen brothers (Millers-Crossing) and Scorsese (GoodFellas) (90) for ganster movies, Fraker & Company did earlier with their resurrection of the Western genre that seemed to have run its course, yet, all of these films, entirely successful, entirely unique, stand alone productions in subject matters we never thought we'd enjoy again. The cast is starry, full of familiar faces in Marvin Moreau Palance Ryan McLerie Gehrig Davis Spraldin Clark Hopkins Guth Conrad Farnsworth Bush & Tyner, leading some to expect this just another movie relying on celebrity in substitute for story. No way, Jose, this one clicks from beginning to end (106m), with a John Barry score (♫) (Midnight-Cowboy Dances-With-Wolves) that helps keep the whole rousing ride, saddle-sore free.

The premise is a late 19th century liquidation of the ranching business by absentee ownerships, forcing two conjoined cowpokes to play out their string in the changing job market of the old West. It was a way of life that had flourished for 100 years but succumbed, like so many do, to the cost cuts of monopoly and "capital" consolidation. Monte tries to stay in the saddle without “spitting on his life,” Chet makes adjustments (marriage & store-keeper) and Martine concessions. Sounds pretty dour and dusty but a more colorful range drama you'll never see, with two of the most poignant scenes on film. The first, a weary Civil War vet (McLiam) "riding fence" to oblivion, the second, as Walsh discovers too late what he had and what might have been, left with only a comb on which to dream. A rare air on TV, Shorty (Ryan) serves a template for McMurtry's Jake Spoon character in Lonesome-Dove (89). Marvin's best movie (National General) (4★/4).

Cogburn: "Cats don’t belong to nobody!"

When the propertied father of a spunky young lass is killed by a hired loafer (Corey), she pays an aged, ornery Marshal to bring the varmint to justice, the pair joined by a green Ranger who seeks the same quarry. Director Hathaway's quirky dialogue delivery takes some getting used to, but like the dubbing in Italian-made The-Good-the-Bad-and-the-Ugly (66) (Leone), it endears itself, so much so, you can't imagine Grit without it, and yet, there it is (2010). Co-star Kim Darby (Mattie) is especially quirkified yet won't distract with the industry standard model looks, winning you over instead on her smile, willfulness & wherewithal (Stonehill scene), while vocal-artist Glen Campbell in his first role is entirely believable as the "Texas brushpopper," LaBoeuf. And like all good Westerns (Blondie-Tuco), the friendships forged in the long, gritty journey, cantankerous they may turn at times, are oh-so satisfying by movie's end. Wayne had many memorable parts (Stryker Dunson Sean Ethan Ringo Steve Breck Tom), so it’s fitting he'd finally Oscar in his most revealing role as rough-around-the-edges, soft-in-the-middle, Marshal Cogburn, where his full range of acting skills fly free like a wise old owl on the prowl (4★/4).

This one hits the target, dead center. Location scenes filmed in Mescal & Old Tucson (Rio-Bavo). The team of Jim Stewart and director Tony Mann re-worked the former's film image and produced some top Westerns (The-Far-Country The-Naked-Spur Bend-of-the-River), but this was their first and their masterpiece. Resplendent with an all-star cast including big stars (Stewart Winters), nifty support (McNally Duryea Flippen McIntire Best Mitchell Brodie Geer Drake) and future first-bills in Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis. Family feud is the focus between Lin (Jim) and estranged brother Dutch Henry (McNally) and how the new Winchester repeat rifle, won in contest, then stolen, serves as a connector, passing through sets of hands loath to let it go. The hate displayed by the siblings is intense with another nice call on B&W (Some-Like-It-Hot {59} The-Longest-Day {62} The-Last-Picture-Show {71}), but it’s Daniels' lens and the rockfaced ricochet of bullets (DeWeese-Carey / Western-Electric) that authenticates this beauty and leaves its mark on your mind. Part of the next wave in noir, a clear indication of how dark, twisted, hero-laden themes in post-War were not confined to concrete curbs and cocktail lounge but also found a home on the range. Don’t miss this one (Universal International) (4★/4).

Before there was Dances-With-Wolves there was the sprawling Western, Little-Big-Man. Directed by Arthur Penn, it's the story of an "Indian fighter" named Jack Crabb (Hoffman) who claims to be 121 years of age and, among his many adventures recounted, to be a survivor of the Litttle Big Horn (1876). Based on the Tom Berger book (64) & Willingham screenplay, it's a starry cast not generally associated with laughs but who perform their roles with a flair for the art. Dustin’s best? Tootsie (82) is a topper but it’s blue-ribbon apples to gold-medal oranges. Support in Dunaway (Mrs-Pendrake) (“Poor Jack”), Balsam (“Every business has its particle of risk”), George (“Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn’t”), Androsky ("Men!"), Corey (Wild-Bill-Hickok), Eccles (Sunshine), Peters (Olga) and Bellini (“Next time I can kill you without being an evil person”)” are all superb. Noted for its comical yet harsh portrayal of Custer (Mulligan), the truth falling somewhere between They-Died-With-Their-Boots-On (41) and this less generous film. Big budget ($15M) but no Oscars for this tour-de-force. A picture that may've surprised viewers in 1970 with its combination of humor and new perspectives on the American West, including its aboriginal inhabitants. Aging make-up on centenarian Jack (Miles & Smith) couldn't be better today while creator’s refusal to sanctify the Sioux brilliantly brings out the human in the beings (National General) (4★/4).

Based on LeMay's captivity novel of the same title, director Ford's Liberty-Valance (62), How-Green-My-Valley (41) & Grapes-of-Wrath (40) are all more nuanced and sentimental, so then his Searchers is best known for its Monument Valley panorama (Hoch), iconic scenes (Edwards massacre, blue-ribbons, Ethan-&-Debbie), one of film's greatest exits (no one steps on the Plain like Wayne) and a reciprocating, viewer palpable hatred between Comanche Indians & Texican Settlers. But I favor Ford's harken back to the days of serenade as Charlie (Curtis), written a dullard when he comes a-courtin ("Haw haw!"),' once John puts a guitar in his hands, you'll see the rival suitor turn virtuoso, filling the void in lonely Laurie’s heart: "♪ Gone again, skip to my Lou, gone again, skip to my Lou, gone again, skip to my Lou, skip to my Lou my dar-ling ♫ (Warner Bros) (3.5★/4).

Having just mustered out of the Army (Mex-Am War), lonewolf & nature novice Jeremiah Johnson engages a new front, doing battle with mother nature & Indian braves (Crow) to make his home in the Rocky Mountains. Based on the life of the legendary trapper, this film marks the second in the Redford-Pollack catalog (7), some so-so (Property Electric The-Way Havana), one well feted (Africa) and two terrifics, the super spy-thriller, Three-Days-of-the-Condor (75) and this earlier snow cinema. Bob was in the midst of his great ten year run of reels, starting with Barefoot (67), ending on All-the-Presidents (76) and never looking more handsome, if you like rugged Redford, while his low-key persona was a nice fit for the hirsute hermit. Support is superb: Geer is the senior English, specializing in bear matters and shows Jay-Jay the ropes (“Watch your top-knot”); Gierasch is the voice of the Rockies, short on hair, long on bull; Clark & McLerie head separate settler parties, both traumatized by Blackfoot savageries, the latter forcing her lone, surviving child (Albee) into the blonde’s custody; and ephemeral film femme Delle Bolton as Swan, given in tribal gift to Johnson to make his new house complete. A visceral film and, at times, a moving one with it‘s charm (J.J. pries a Hawken rifle from the cold, dead hands of Hatchet Jack, then the Swan unveiling {“Dear Lord!"}), it was a hit with the public and backers ($3M >> 45), yet, award folk did what they always do with movies where Indians are portrayed realistically and gave it the snub (See also; Little-Big-Man), only Cannes showing any awares with a nomination (Palme d’Or) (Warner Bros) (4★/4).

Resveratrol for the soul. Like an evolving species, now the Western hero has a family, picks fruit, drives a truck, packs no pistol but still buries his dead along the way and won’t abide a bully. The Dust Bowl and its corporate sponsor, banking, force the Joad clan off their Oklahoma farmstead to embark on a precarious journey Westward in a converted Hudson filled fuller than a bounty-laden bushel basket, dreaming of California, land of milk and honey and 100,000 cops, public and private varieties. Studio chief and producer Darryl Zanuck (20CF) wasted no time in buying the rights to John Steinbeck’s 1939 best-selling, highly-acclaimed novel (Pulitzer / Nobel 62) that promoted people over gross profits, then picked Nunn Johnson (Three-Faces-of-Eve) to convert it to film, John Ford to direct, he finishing the 4-state shoot in about the same time (one month) it took the over-load of Joad to navigate the road to a pickers paradise by the Pacific.

An indictment of the unregulated greed that led to the Great Depression and left untrained, a farming population whose tilling techniques saw their top-soil turn to black tornado, Grapes was well received by viewers ($800k 1.6M) and media critics, taking two prestigious Best Film awards (NBR NYFC) and seven Oscar noms (Zanuck Fonda Johnson Toland Hansen Simpson), wins for its director and literal leading lady Jane Darwell (Ma) (BSA), the movie’s sage & spiritual center (“We keep a-comin!’), her soup-ladle & keep-sake scenes some of filmdom’s best. This film is also part of Ford-Zanuck’s ‘We the People’ picture pool which make statements on the trials of democracy and serves a warning to the Axis powers that the Allies were up to the challenge, with Mom out front on both sides of the Pond (How-Green-Was-My-Valley) (41) (Allgood). And contrary to what at least one favored critic claimed (Ebert), it was not the onset of WW2 which sold the mass of America on Grapes’ themes in labor & freedom of interstate, its declaration of war nearly two years away, but rather, their satisfaction with six years under the New Deal, made clear by FDR’s landslide re-election to a second (Jan 37) of what would be four terms, a President who, had he sought divine authority, could’ve been made king (4★/4).

"Didn't spill a drop, all because of a song." It's a powerful scene 2/3rds in as borrachón, aka, the Dude, puts on his big-boy pants and pours back the last whiskey he didn't have. Today's critic might be surprised to hear that many a sagebrush saga (Lonesome-Dove Shane The-Searchers) will have its share of charming moments and Howard's retort to Stan's tale of a stand-alone sheriff (High-Noon) (52) has plenty such scenes, along with some pretty nifty life-lessons. The story's a bit thin (a senseless killing {Russell} committed by the town brute {Akins} pits an honest, sharp-witted Sheriff {Wayne} and his eclectic team of deputies {Deano Nelson Brennan} against the local land baron determined to free his brother from captivity) but tops the same-movie-different-titte El Dorado (Caan: “Mississippi”), while its likeability and lyrics (♫ My Rifle, My Pony & Me ♫) will hit your high notes and keep you coming back. And while they offer no lesson, Golden Globe winner Angie Dickinson's lovely legs get an A+ from this grader (3★/4).

RKO Radio Pictures: There's no Joey nor off-limits married woman (Marian), but before Alan Ladd cleared the Wyoming valley of guns and greed, Robert Mitchum did the same in Arizona. Super cinematography courtesy of Nick Musuraca. An early range-noir.

Alma to Hud: "Someone in this car smells like Chanel No.5. It's not me cuz I couldn't afford it." A bit of a hit at the 1964 Academy Awards, taking home three Oscars (Howe Douglas Neal) on seven nominations, including husband and wife writing team of Irving Ravetch and Harriett Frank. Hud is author Larry McMurtry's preview to another of his celebrated black-&-white range noirs, The-Last-Picture-Show (71).

Paul Newman plays a smooth operator and sometimes cowboy cad who just wants to poke holes, in the soil, for drums of oil, but has a classic Dad (Douglas), who's more bitter than mad, wishing he'd had a goil (Paramount) (3.5★/4). Also stars Brandon deWilde of Shane fame as Newman’s nephew, Lon, who aspires to his uncle’s self-assured gait but wisely does so at arms-length. The Hud persona is reprised by blue-eyes good buddy Robert Redford (Butch-Cassidy The-Sting) in the much less celebrated but curious motorcycle racing reel, Little-Fauss-And-Big-Halsy (70) (Pollard).

Seven-Arts / UA bring together a curious crew of well-seasoned film vets in tell Arthur Miller’s tale of a Reno rebound, when a recently divorced bombshell quickly hitches her wagon to a weathered stallion who, being averse to “wages,” rounds-up wild horses for ready cash with help of an aviator. Stars Marilyn Monroe as that divorcee (Roselyn) and the king, Clark Gable as a cock-sure yet rather philosophical wrangler (Gay). Support comes from Thelma Ritter as a forever single sidekick, Eli Wallach a woebegone widower who flies too close to the sun, Monty Clift who’d a flair with chaps (Red-River) is Gay's colleague and may break every bone in his body before breaking his bronc-riding habit, and Kevin McCarthy as the ex-husband who couldn’t corral his blonde beauty.

John Huston directs this tense, tearful range-noir in class of Ray’s Lusty-Men (52) and McMurty’s Hud (63) and Picture-Show (71), most often noted for marking Clark (d. 60) and Marilyn‘s (d. 62) final shows on screen. Gable is 100% cowboy, Wallach bears the crumby part (Guido), as he usually did until Tuco (66), Clift’s Perce is poignant as an aged Matthew Garth and Roz gets the best line: “If I could be anyone, a child who could be brave from the beginning.” Amen, sister (3.5★/4).

An aged marshal must, by his lonesome, protect a town of mostly cowards from the Miller gang bent on revenge, a prospect at which his pretty new bride bristles, his former flame admires. Stars Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado, Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney Jr and other familiars in support. Though it's a word that is over-used in film review much as awesome is in praise, haunting here is a perfect description of Dimitri Tompkin's sad, sentimental theme song sung by Tex Ritter (♫) (lyrics Ned Washington) that rides the reels with a reverence you won't soon forget.

Believed to be Stan Kramer & Co's veiled response to the fear being fostered during what was then the peak of the political Red Scare. John Wayne hated the ending but the Duke never wrote a good script. The public and trophy-set were deeply moved and sent their own message to Red-baiter Joe McCarthy & Co, awarding Noon 4 Oscars and 4 Globes. Too tall to remake for the big screen, and thank heavens (UA) (3.5★/4).

Everybody loves a treasure film and Warner Bros made one of the best, down Mexico way. The cast includes Humphrey Bogart, range hero Tim Holt, hard-luck Bruce Bennett (Mr Mildred Pierce), tough guy Barton MacLane, Alphonso Bedoya & José Torvay as badge-less banditos and even the director’s dad, Walter Huston, again (The-Maltese-Falcon), who nabbed a Best-Support Oscar® as grizzled prospector, Howard.

Watch when democracy fails as Cody (Bruce) makes a fair offer but gets voted into oblivion by the greed-meisters (0-3), the banditos are served some civil summary justice but no "bowl of soup (Tuco the Ugly)" and the earliest episode of Chico-and-the-Man (74). Before the perilous trek begins, tenacious ticket-hawk and minor irritant Bobby Blake (“Always winners!”) nearly steals the show after getting a bath for failing to heed storm warnings from a bristling Bogie (I’ll throw this water!), but hangs tough, melts Dobbs' heart and sets in motion the hunt for The-Treasure-Of-The-Sierra-Madre (3.5★/4).

A Western love triangle with war over statehood as its backdrop, one pitting cattlemen against settlers. The geometry: Tom (Wayne) loves spirited Hallie (Miles), then steps aside for tenderfoot turned crusading attorney, Ranse (Stewart) who unwittingly steals her heart after becoming Shinbone's first teacher, while Doniphon puts aside his pain to instruct the lawyer on Rule #1 of the Old West: carry a gun and be ready to use it.

Another black & white beauty from director John Ford (The-Grapes-of-Wrath How-Green-Was-My-Valley), the film is an adaptation (Goldbeck Bellah) of a Dorothy Johnson short story, scored by sounds in the dark specialist, Cyril Mockridge (Nightmare-Alley) and what became John's standard song in elicitation of sentiment, Alfred Newman's Ann Rutledge Theme (♫) (Young-Mr-Lincoln Belle-Starr). Co-stars Edmond O'Brien as the town "conscience," aka, newspaper publisher, John Carradine is the rancher’s mouthpiece, Woody Strode as Pompey, Doniphon's trusty adjutant, Andy Devine the shy sheriff who‘s only appetite for flap-jacks, John Qualen & Jeanette Nolan are pioneer restaurateurs and Lee Marvin plays one of film's best bad guys in hired gun, Liberty Valance. The movie opens in the present as the now US Senator Stoddard and wife Hallie have returned to Shinbone to mourn the death of friend Tom and, in placation of a pressing news reporter (Young), explain their presence by recounting the true tale of who really did shoot the villainous Valance. After appreciating one of filmdom’s saddest endings, viewers will reflect and consider these Paramount lessons: 1) love is fleeting so don't dilly-dally (Tom), and 2) if it works, don't fix it, i.e., "legend" rocks (4★/4).

Many RKO make-overs and acting classes away from her polished Las-Vegas Linda (52), then plain Jane Russell in her first film role and green as the jolly giant, bears little like-ness to racy Rio of The-Outlaw’s erotic advertisements. But Tom Mitchell, Walter Huston & Jack Buetel (Hawks first choice for "Matt Garth" in his Red-River until Howard Hughes nixed) all split the pot on terrific performances, the latter playing the quintessential Kid, skillfully selling the clever persona that is key to Billy's legend (3★/4).

Believing it will put him in contact with the men who murdered a fellow trapper the year prior, avenging Breck (Wayne) agrees to act as scout for a settler wagon-train moving westward in blaze of the Oregon Trail. Over-looked early talkie from Fox Studio, The-Big-Trail was billed as the “most important picture ever produced." Take a gander and you'll see why, and the potential for greatness in young John who plays his first lead, while lovely co-star Marguerite Churchill proves pretty spiffy herself.

The Duke has a set of cinema now standard fare (Rio-Bravo Yellow-Ribbon Sands-of-Iwo-Jima Searchers McLintock! Quiet-Man Liberty Big-Jake True-Grit), some super, some not so super, but Big-Trail rates with his best. From famed director Raoul Walsh (High-Sierra White-Heat), the epic reviewed well at its release but its advanced production out-paced theater design and industry trends that owners were not prepared to accomodate and box office suffered. A hidden treasure for fans of the genre (3.5★/4).

The place, New Mexico, the time, early 60s and Earth is still recovering from its biggest trauma since the big meteor slammed into the Yucatan. Big changes are happening, some good (UN penicillin Civil-Rts), of necessity (nukes jets), double-edged (plastics chemicals) and some just plague (heroine HFCS smog). But there’s one man riding a “pretty little fuzz tail (Douglas)” who won’t be fenced in by consumer culture, too sentimental to change. When Jack pays a visit to old friends Jerry (Rowland) & Paul (Kane), he learns the latter has been jailed for aidng illegal aliens and hatches a crazy plan to bust him out.

Based on Abbey's novel, The-Brave-Cowboy, Lonely is part of the realism wave washing over all of cinema, here, the good guys very good (Sheriff Matthau) and the bad, oh so (Deputy Kennedy), including one-armed force-of-fierceness, Bill Raisch of TV’s The-Fugitive who, had he met Tracy’s Macreedy (Bad-Day), the outcome would’ve been anybody‘s guess. Tension-filled and a real tear-jerker in closing, the disenfranchised Monte-Walsh (Marvin) (70) will be another version. And according to son Michael, this Western was Dad’s favorite Douglas film. After viewing, you'll understand why (3.5★/4).

Three Big Apple buds in mid-life malaise sign-on to a dude ranch featuring a Red-River reinactment, i.e., cattle drive (NM > CO) in hopes of recharging their batteries. When the lead cowboy (Palance) dies en route, the remaining staff of que caballeros abandon the greenhorns, most who ditch the herd as well, leaving the three New Yorkers to bring the doggies home. A Columbia release, it stars Billy Crystal in his next movie after the well-received, When-Harry-Met-Sally (89), along with Sally co-star Bruno Kirby and Daniel Stern as the three pals who get more than they bargained for. Scenes with Norman choke me up (Moo!), but, like Lombardi said, “If you’re gonna get in this business (NFL) you best bring your emotions.“ So bring 'em. Nominated for Globes in Best Picture (comedy), Actor (Billy) and Support (Jack), veteran film artist Palance hoisted a Golden and Oscar® in a semi-revival of his wicked Wilson character in Shane (50), delivering to Crystal one of filmdom's dirtiest lines: “I CRAP bigger’n you (3★/4).

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Notes: 1) The order of listing is random and not a ranking; 2) this Western perspective is of course relative to my own land (USA) with exceptions in The Treasure, set in Mexico, and Italian-Spanish TGBU. Another more informed version could go global to include greats like Seven Samurai (54) set in 1500s Japan but with a Western flavor in themes of tumult, weapon-play & community, where the relevant region in need of justice (or song ♫) might instead be known as Eastern, Northern or Southern.

Jeff on rodeo: “For a bit, you're alot more than you are just walkin’ down the street"

The most Mitchum you’ll ever see, in Nicholas Ray’s look into the beastly life that is the rodeo circuit, one packed full of keen customers and clever cowboy quips (“it’s a different kinda’ buzz”). Stars Bob as an ex-saddle bronc champ turned vagabond who is pulled back into the business by a ranch-hand (Kennedy) with big dreams of grabbing that brass ring but in need of a guide to show him the ropes, while his pretty, patient wife (Hayward) stands by her man against all admirers and adversaries (Todd).

It's super sap Jeff Bailey (Past) who’ll typically motif the Mitchum highlight reel, but the best Bob is nobody's fool, if not a hero, a survivor: Mike (Undercurrent), Paddy (Sun-downers), General Cota (Longest) & Jim in the oft overlooked range-noir, Blood-On-The-Moon (48). The ending will throw you (Rusty mouthing ‘I love you‘ is incredible) but it's a lively ride and THIS Jeff knows a great gal when he sees one (3.5★/4).