THE BIRTH OF A NATION: HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1865-1889)
The early history of the U.S. through movies and tv series. Since the expansion into the western territories, the California Gold Rush, railway construction, the colonization of Alaska and the Indian Wars, until the characterizations of legendary characters of the Wild West: General Custer, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley, Sheriff Wyatt Earp, Belle Starr, the Judge Roy Bean, Indian chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Geronimo and Cochise and mythical bandits: Jesse and Frank James, Billy the Kid and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
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- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsGilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' AndersonA.C. AbadieGeorge BarnesA group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsGeorge O'BrienMadge BellamyCharles Edward BullAfter witnessing the murder of his father by a renegade as a boy, the grown-up Brandon helps to realize his father's dream of a transcontinental railway.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsBarbara StanwyckJoel McCreaAkim TamiroffIn 1862, Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads compete westward across the wilderness toward California.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRobert YoungRandolph ScottDean JaggerWhen Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsRandolph ScottJane WyattJ. Carrol NaishA surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railroad must fight fur trappers who oppose the building of the railroad by stirring up Indian rebellion.
- CreatorRobert A. CinaderStarsJeff MorrowJudson PrattSusan CummingsBart McClelland supervises rail construction for Union Pacific west of Omaha dealing with everything from marauders to land issues. He's aided by surveyor Billy Kincaid and Georgia who runs the mobile Golden Nugget saloon.
- CreatorJoe GaytonTony GaytonStarsAnson MountColm MeaneyRobin McLeavyThe Civil War is past, but former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon can't put it behind him. Fresh are the memories of the death of his wife, killed at the hands of Union soldiers, an act that sets him on a course of revenge.
- DirectorJohn FordHenry HathawayGeorge MarshallStarsJames StewartJohn WayneGregory PeckA family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the 19th century, including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.
- DirectorBernard McEveetyStarsJames ArnessEva Marie SaintBruce BoxleitnerZeb Macahan returns to the farm of Macahan to take his family to Oregon.
- CreatorJim ByrnesAlbert S. RuddyStarsJames ArnessBruce BoxleitnerKathryn HolcombThe Macahans, a family from Virginia, headed by Zeb Macahan, travel across the country to pioneer a new land and a new home in the American West.
- StarsJoseph M. MarshallIrene BedardGil BirminghamTales from the American West in the 19th century, told from the perspective of two families, one of white settlers and one of Native Americans.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsRichard DixIrene DunneEstelle TaylorA newspaper editor settles in an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife at the end of the nineteenth century.
- DirectorAnthony MannCharles WaltersStarsGlenn FordMaria SchellAnne BaxterThe Oklahoma Land Run of April 1889 sets the stage for an epic saga of a frontier adventurer, his wife and family and their friends.
- CreatorChristopher KnopfStarsStuart WhitmanPercy HerbertRandy BooneThe western adventures of tough, but fair, Marshal Jim Crown.
- DirectorScott PembrokeStarsJohn WayneAnn RutherfordJoseph W. GirardU.S. Army Captain John Delmont takes a leave of absence to find out what happened to his missing father. Later he leads a wagon train to California and goes after the bad guys involved in his father's disappearance.
- DirectorGene Fowler Jr.StarsFred MacMurrayWilliam BishopNina ShipmanIn 1846, a newspaperman joins an Oregon Trail wagon train to verify rumors about the U.S. government sending troops disguised as settlers there in order to claim Oregon.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsRandolph ScottAnn DvorakEdgar BuchananA sheriff tries to stop homesteader conflicts in the West after the Civil War.
- DirectorHoward HawksArthur RossonStarsJohn WayneMontgomery CliftJoanne DruDunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
- DirectorJames L. ConwayStarsRobert FullerAndrew PrineMichael CallanA grim incident from American pioneer history is recreated as a determined group of settlers, facing almost insurmountable odds, struggles to reach California in 1846. Already divided by internal dissension over the choice of a leader and the selection of a route, the wagon train is soon decimated by Indian raids, a scarcity of food and water, and the unrelenting forces of nature. Finally after months of hardship, the party reaches the High Sierras, only to be stranded in the middle of the pass by an early snowstorm. And as fear of an agonizing death from starvation forces the abandonment of conventional rules of human behavior, the pioneers face a new enemy - each other.
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsKris KristoffersonChristopher WalkenJohn HurtDuring the Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, a sheriff born into wealth does his best to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.
- StarsRobert DuvallTommy Lee JonesDanny GloverTwo former Texas Rangers renew their spirit of adventure as they and several other residents of a small Texas town join a cattle drive to the Montana Territory.
- StarsJon VoightBarbara HersheyRicky SchroderHead back to Lonesome Dove in this sequel to one of the most-loved miniseries of all time.
- CreatorBrian SuskindStarsScott BairstowChristianne HirtEric McCormackThe life and times of Newt Call as he set out to make his way in the world. Newt took part in some of the major events of the Western era, while meeting some of the legendary figures of the frontier.
- DirectorNancy KellyStarsRosalind ChaoChris CooperMichael Paul ChanIn 1880s China, a girl is sold into marriage by her father. Rather than becoming a bride, Lalu ends up in a gold-mining town where she forges a path for her own freedom and, ultimately, true love.
- DirectorElmer CliftonStarsRex LeaseNancy CaswellReed HowesA mystical medicine arrow, the key to a lost gold treasure, is lost in one of many Indian attacks. It is recovered by the only two survivors, a Major and his daughter, who become the targets of those who wish to possess it.
- DirectorPaul SloaneStarsPreston FosterEllen DrewAndy DevineThe army's effort to capture Apache chief Geronimo, who is leading a band of warriors on a rampage of raiding and murder, is hampered by a feud between two officers--who are father and son.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandArthur KennedyA highly fictionalized account of the life of George Armstrong Custer from his arrival at West Point in 1857 to his death at the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsLucille BallJames CraigCedric HardwickeIn the Arizona Territory of 1868, a fugitive army scout and a crooked Indian Agent lock horns over the treatment of the cheated Natives and over the affections of a local beauty.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJeanne CrainCornel WildeLinda DarnellIn 1876 Philadelphia, two sisters vie for the affections of a Frenchman who's come to town to prepare the French pavilion for the Centennial exposition.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneHenry FondaShirley TempleAt Fort Apache, an honorable and veteran war captain finds conflict when his regime is placed under the command of a young, glory hungry lieutenant colonel with no respect for the local Indian tribe.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJoanne DruJohn AgarCaptain Nathan Brittles, on the eve of retirement, takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneMaureen O'HaraBen JohnsonA cavalry officer posted on the Rio Grande is confronted with murderous raiding Apaches, a son who's a risk-taking recruit and his wife from whom he has been separated for many years.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsMaureen O'HaraMacdonald CareyWill GeerWhite settlers plan to defy the agreement between the government and the Comanche in order to mine for silver on Comanche lands, while scout Jim Bowie tries to keep the peace in the territory.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsJames StewartJeff ChandlerDebra PagetTom Jeffords tries to make peace between settlers and Apaches in Arizona territory.
- DirectorJohn HoffmanStarsJames EllisonVirginia HerrickChief ThundercloudIn the Arizona territory,Army Captain Jeff Packard (James Ellison) is on the trail of Apache Chief Geronimo (Chief Thundercloud) and the white renegades who is selling rifles to the tribe. Posing as an outlaw, he joins the gang of robbers and gun-runners and after a few hair-raising escapes, he brings about the downfall of the renegades, the defeat of the warring Indians, with the aid of the U. S. Cavalry, and the death of Geronimo. But not before a army outpost regiment is wiped out.
- DirectorCharles Marquis WarrenStarsLloyd BridgesJohn IrelandMarie WindsorA small band of cavalry attempt to warn Custer of an impending massacre. Friction develops when commander of the patrol suspects his subordinate of having an affair with his wife.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsVan HeflinYvonne De CarloAlex NicolIn 1866 Wyoming, a frontier scout tries to prevent a war between the Sioux and the U.S. after the Army builds a road and a fort on territory previously ceded to the Sioux by treaty.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsJohn LundJeff ChandlerSusan CabotWhen Cochise bands together with Geronimo and other Indian tribes, Major Colton abandons his fort, heading towards Fort Sheridan, through Apache Pass. The only thing in his way are the Indians he used to call his friends.
- DirectorRay NazarroStarsGeorge MontgomeryAudrey LongCarl Benton ReidIn 1885 Arizona, prospectors illegally dig for gold on Apache lands, triggering an Apache retaliation against white settlers and trespassing miners, while the Army tries keeping the peace.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsJohn HodiakRobert StackJoy PageA cavalry officer tries to keep a lid on a volatile situation when Indian leader Cochise is being prodded into starting a war.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsRock HudsonBarbara RushGregg PalmerWhen peacemaking Apache chief Cochise dies, the Chiricahua Apaches are torn between following Cochise's peace loving son Taza and following the warlike renegade Apache warrior Geronimo.
- DirectorSidney SalkowStarsDale RobertsonMary MurphyJ. Carrol NaishA cavalry officer sympathetic to the wronged Sioux fixes a meeting between Chief Sitting Bull and President Grant but a dishonest Indian Agent and a hateful General Custer test the Sioux's patience, threatening to derail the peace-talks.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBurt LancasterJean PetersJohn McIntireRefusing to let himself be re-settled on a Florida reservation, Massai, an Apache warrior, escapes his captors and returns to his homeland to become a peaceful farmer.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsVictor MatureSuzan BallJohn LundThis biography of the famous Lakota Sioux war chief is told entirely from the Indian viewpoint.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsDana AndrewsKent SmithNestor PaivaCommon efforts of the U.S. government and the Comanche nation to negotiate a peace treaty are sabotaged by renegade Indians and by the short-sighted Indian Commissioner (Lowell Gilmore).
- DirectorJesse HibbsStarsAudie MurphyAnne BancroftPat CrowleyAn agent sent from Washington in 1874 takes charge of an Apache reservation and has the oppressive US Army back off, which creates conflicts and causes the Indians to have great respect for him.
- DirectorHoward W. KochStarsBen JohnsonJan HarrisonKent TaylorAt Fort Bowie, Captain Thompson favors peace talks but Major Wharton advocates war with the renegade Apaches led by Chief Victorio.
- DirectorMichael CurtizJohn WayneStarsJohn WayneStuart WhitmanIna BalinTexas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves dealing with the Comanches known as Comancheros.
- DirectorArnold LavenStarsChuck ConnorsKamala DeviPat ConwayIn 1880s Arizona, General Crook and his troops are trying to subdue the last tribe of Apache led by Geronimo.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsRichard WidmarkCarroll BakerKarl MaldenThe Cheyenne, tired of broken U.S. government promises, head for their ancestral lands but a sympathetic cavalry officer is tasked to bring them back to their reservation.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsCharlton HestonRichard HarrisJim HuttonIn 1864, due to frequent Apache raids from Mexico into the U.S., a Union officer decides to illegally cross the border and destroy the Apache, using a mixed army of Union troops, Confederate POWs, civilian mercenaries, and scouts.
- DirectorSidney SalkowStarsJoseph CottenDarren McGavinPhilip CareyA somewhat different take on Custer's motivation that changed him from a defender of Native-American rights into a politically-driven, headline-seeker chastiser of the Sioux during the 1870s.
- DirectorArnold LavenStarsTom TryonHarve PresnellSenta BergerWhat could be worse for two cavalry officers than to battle with native tribes? To battle each other for the same woman.
- CreatorSamuel A. PeeplesDavid WeisbartStarsWayne MaunderSlim PickensMichael DanteIn 1868, after the Civil War, Custer takes charge of a mix of ex-Confederates and criminals, the 7th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hays, Kansas.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsRobert ShawMary UreTy HardinGeorge Armstrong Custer's love of the heroic traditions of the Calvary and his distaste with the coming of industrialization leads him to his destiny at the Little Big Horn.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsDustin HoffmanFaye DunawayChief Dan GeorgeJack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
- DirectorRalph NelsonStarsCandice BergenPeter StraussDonald PleasenceAfter a cavalry patrol is ambushed by the Cheyenne, the two survivors, a soldier and a woman, must reach the safety of the nearest fort.
- DirectorElliot SilversteinStarsRichard HarrisJudith AndersonJean GasconIn 1825, an English aristocrat is captured by Native Americans. He lives with them and begins to understand their way of life. Eventually, he is accepted as part of the tribe and aspires to become their leader.
- DirectorIrvin KershnerStarsRichard HarrisGale SondergaardGeoffrey LewisThe English gentleman known as Horse, returns to the American west to save his adopted Indian tribe from extinction.
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsRichard HarrisMichael BeckAna De SadeWhen gold is found on Sioux lands, crooked men attempt to provoke the Sioux into a war with the army and the prospectors.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBurt LancasterBruce DavisonJorge LukeAfter fierce war chief Ulzana and a small war party jump the reservation bent on murder and terror, an inexperienced young lieutenant is assigned to track him down.
- CreatorJohn WilderStarsRaymond BurrBarbara CarreraRichard ChamberlainThe economic and cultural growth of Colorado spanning two centuries from the mid 1700s to the late 1970s.
- DirectorWilliam WiardStarsSteve McQueenLinda EvansRichard FarnsworthAn ex-army scout is hired by ranchers to kill cattle rustlers but he gets into trouble with the corrupt local officials when he's suspected of killing a boy.
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerMary McDonnellGraham GreeneLieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
- StarsGary ColeRosanna ArquetteStanley AndersonThe story of George Custer, Crazy Horse and the events prior to the battle of the Little Bighorn, told from the different perspectives of two women.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsJason PatricGene HackmanRobert DuvallThe story of the Apache chief and his armed resistance to the U.S. Government's subjugation of his people.
- DirectorRoger YoungStarsJoseph RunningfoxNick RamusMichelle St. JohnThis story of epic courage and grace is a remarkable window on Native American life and the early years of the last and most feared Apache War Chief.
- DirectorJohn IrvinStarsMichael GreyeyesVictor AaronNathaniel ArcandThe legendary Native American chieftain refuses to go with his people peacefully to the reservation and starts a rebellion.
- DirectorYves SimoneauStarsAidan QuinnAdam BeachAugust SchellenbergA historic chronicle based on the book by Dee Brown explains how Native Americans were displaced as the United States expanded west.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsBarbara StanwyckPreston FosterMelvyn DouglasA romanticized biography of the famous sharpshooter.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsGary CooperJean ArthurJames EllisonWild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody attempt to stop an Indian uprising that was started by white gun-runners.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesJulie BishopBill Hickok, assisted by Calamity Jane, is after a foreign agent and his guerrilla band who are trying to take over some Western territory just as the Civil War is coming to a close.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJoel McCreaMaureen O'HaraLinda DarnellThe story of William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, legendary westerner, from his days as an army scout to his later activities as owner of a Wild West show.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyBusby BerkeleyStarsBetty HuttonHoward KeelLouis CalhernThe story of the great sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who rose to fame while dealing with her love/professional rival, Frank Butler.
- DirectorBernard B. RayStarsClayton MooreSlim AndrewsCharles HarveyMade during the period when Clayton Moore had been replaced on the Lone Ranger television series by John Hart, but actually appears to have been made during the dawn of the sound era because of the excessive amounts of stock footage culled from earlier westerns made by producer Edward Finney, who never let much film from his productions be used only once, which accounts for some Monogram stock with Tex Ritter and Tris Coffin. Story concerns the efforts of Buffalo Bill to protect the Indian's land from a gang who want to get the gold buried there. The outlaws disguise themselves as Indians and raid and plunder the settlers in order to blame the tribe.
- DirectorJerry HopperStarsCharlton HestonRhonda FlemingJan SterlingBuffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickock work to establish the Pony Express and fight Indians and California Separatists who seek to destroy it.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsDoris DayHoward KeelAllyn Ann McLerieThe story of Calamity Jane, her saloon, and her romance with Wild Bill Hickok.
- StarsGail DavisBrad JohnsonJimmy HawkinsA fictionalized account of the life of legendary Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley.
- DirectorDavid Lowell RichStarsDon MurrayGuy StockwellAbby DaltonCalamity Jane tries to help Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickock stop an Indian war.
- DirectorRobert TottenStarsStewart PetersenHenry WilcoxonBuck TaylorIn 1861 Texas, the son of a poor farmer vows to avenge his father's murder committed by the spoiled son of a rich cattleman.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsPaul NewmanJoel GreyKevin McCarthyA cynical Buffalo Bill hires Sitting Bull to exploit him and add his credibility to the distorted view of history presented in his Wild West Show.
- CreatorTom PatchettJay TarsesStarsDabney ColemanJoanna CassidyMax WrightEgotistical Buffalo TV host Bill Bittinger bullies crew and guests, driving station manager Karl Shub mad with lawsuits. Only director Jo Jo White stands up to Bill's tantrums as he fails to break into bigger markets.
- DirectorJames GoldstoneStarsJane AlexanderFrederic ForrestKen KerchevalBiography of the famous cowgirl Martha Jane Canary--the Wild West heroine Calamity Jane.
- CreatorEd SpielmanStarsStephen BaldwinJosh BrolinTy MillerThe adventures of the riders of the Pony Express.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsJeff BridgesEllen BarkinJohn HurtThe early career of legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickock is telescoped and culminates in his relocation in Deadwood and a reunion with Calamity Jane.
- CreatorDavid MilchStarsTimothy OlyphantIan McShaneMolly ParkerA show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsRoy RogersGeorge 'Gabby' HayesDon 'Red' BarryA bank robbery pulled off by the bank officials, not the usual James gang.
- DirectorHenry KingIrving CummingsStarsTyrone PowerHenry FondaNancy KellyAfter railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsHenry FondaGene TierneyJackie CooperFrank James continues to avoid arrest in order to take revenge on the Ford brothers for their murder of his brother Jesse.
- DirectorFred C. BrannonThomas CarrStarsClayton MooreLinda StirlingRoy BarcroftOn the run from Missouri, outlaw Jesse James and his friend ride into a town where a gang is trying to drive area ranchers off their land because oil is underneath it. They take particular interest in the situation of a pretty young woman and her elderly father whose ranch is being regularly attacked by the gang.
- DirectorFred C. BrannonYakima CanuttStarsClayton MooreSteve DarrellNoel NeillJesse James returns to Missouri, and he and brother Frank come to the aid of a young woman who owns a gold mine. Her father was murdered and she took over the mine, and now the villains who killed her father are trying to drive her out of the mine so they can take it over.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsPreston FosterBarbara BrittonJohn IrelandBob Ford murders his best friend Jesse James in order to obtain a pardon that will free him to marry his girlfriend but is plagued by guilt and self-disgust.
- DirectorArthur HiltonStarsJohn IrelandAnn DvorakHenry HullFrank James resents and tries to stop a ruthless drifter who has adopted the name of his dead brother in order to duplicate his crimes.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsAudie MurphyBrian DonlevyMarguerite ChapmanOutraged by Redleg atrocities, the James and Younger Brothers along with Kit Dalton join Quantrill's Raiders and find themselves participating in even worse war crimes.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsWendell CoreyMacdonald CareyEllen DrewIn this Western, the James and Younger boys ride the outlaw trail again all because of a mean Union Army Major.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsRobert WagnerJeffrey HunterHope LangeBiopic loosely based on the last 18 years of Jesse James' life and focused on the relationship between brothers Jesse and Frank James.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsRay StricklynWillard ParkerMerry AndersIn this one, the father of Jesse and Frank James is unjustly hanged by Union troops and their mother's arm is amputated after their home is bombed by Union people, so they go riding with Quantrill's Raiders and Cole Younger and Belle Starr. Jesse and Frank argue a lot and then Jesse marries Zerelda 'Zee' Mimms, but true-history had long flown out the window by that time. Actually, history departed before the first reel was over.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsDavid CarradineStacy KeachDennis QuaidThe origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the Jesse James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsJohnny CashKris KristoffersonMarcia CrossThe various fortunes and misfortunes of the outlaws and bank robbers Frank and Jesse James.
- DirectorRobert BorisStarsRob LoweBill PaxtonRandy TravisWestern starring Rob Lowe and Bill Paxton, based on the lives of Frank and Jesse James. After the Civil War Frank and Jesse return to their family's farm. When their younger brother is murdered they embark on a mission for revenge.