Classic Heroines of Golden Age Hollywood
by Thunderbird98 | created - 04 Nov 2022 | updated - 9 months ago | PublicA list of movies featuring strong courageous heroines prior to 1970.
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1. Women from Headquarters (1950)
Approved | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Joyce Harper is an ex-Army nurse who enters police work with the L.A. Police Department. When her friend Ruby gets involved with petty crook Max Taylor, she refuses to listen to Joyce's ... See full summary »
Director: George Blair | Stars: Virginia Huston, Robert Rockwell, Barbra Fuller, Norman Budd
Votes: 53
2. The Maverick Queen (1956)
Approved | 92 min | Western
A Pinkerton detective goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of thieves whose boss is a feisty lady saloonkeeper. Complications ensue.
Director: Joseph Kane | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Scott Brady, Mary Murphy
Votes: 615
3. Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Western
Sierra Nevada Jones must fight a villainous rancher to regain the land that is rightfully hers.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Reagan, Gene Evans, Lance Fuller
Votes: 1,052
4. Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie (1941)
Approved | 61 min | Western
A young mining engineer sets out to catch the killers of both his brother and a beautiful young girl's father.
Director: Ray Taylor | Stars: Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, Nell O'Day, Kathryn Adams
Votes: 86
5. Arizona (1940)
Passed | 125 min | Drama, Western
In Tucson of the 1860s, a pioneer woman struggles to succeed in the freight and cattle business while at risk at the hands of corrupt and violent local businessmen and rampaging Indians.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Jean Arthur, William Holden, Warren William, Porter Hall
Votes: 1,489
6. The Law Rides Again (1943)
Passed | 58 min | Drama, Western
US government agents Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson, aka "The Trail Blazers", make a deal with captured outlaw Duke Dillon to catch crooked Indian agent John Hampton, who has been using his ... See full summary »
Director: Alan James | Stars: Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Jack La Rue, Betty Miles
Votes: 133
7. Westward the Women (1951)
Passed | 118 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A trail guide escorts a group of women from Chicago to California to marry men that have recently begun settling there.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson, John McIntire
Votes: 3,805
8. Rawhide (1951)
Approved | 89 min | Drama, Romance, Western
A stagecoach stop employee and a stranded woman traveller find themselves at the mercy of four desperate outlaws intent on robbing the next day's gold shipment.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger
Votes: 3,139
9. The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957)
30 min | Family, Western
The Double R Ranch featured "The King of the Cowboys" Roy, his "Smartest Horse in the Movies" Trigger, "Queen of the West" Dale, her horse Buttermilk, their dog Bullet, and even Pat's jeep, Nellybelle.
Stars: Dale Evans, Roy Rogers, Trigger, Pat Brady
Votes: 744
10. Annie Oakley (1954–1957)
30 min | Western
A fictionalized account of the life of legendary Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley.
Stars: Gail Davis, Brad Johnson, Jimmy Hawkins, Bob Woodward
Votes: 379
11. Stories of the Century (1954–1955)
TV-PG | 30 min | Western
Railroad detective Matt Clark roams the west, tracking down outlaws and bandits who are preying on the railroad.
Stars: Jim Davis, Mary Castle, Kristine Miller, Pat Hogan
Votes: 203
12. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
G | 92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe
Votes: 85,788
13. Johnny Guitar (1954)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Western
After helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady
Votes: 19,754
14. The Big Valley (1965–1969)
TV-PG | 60 min | Western
The Wild West adventures of the Barkley family in California's San Joaquin Valley.
Stars: Richard Long, Peter Breck, Lee Majors, Linda Evans
Votes: 3,545
15. The Vanishing American (1955)
Approved | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A white woman who inherits land in New Mexico makes an alliance with the local Navajos against greedy land grabbers and crooked white traders.
Director: Joseph Kane | Stars: Scott Brady, Audrey Totter, Forrest Tucker, Gene Lockhart
Votes: 121
16. Northwest Stampede (1948)
Approved | 79 min | Western
When his father dies, rodeo star Dan Bennett returns to his ranch but hires on as a ranch hand. A horse known as the White Outlaw is the leader of a herd of wild horses and Dan's obsession ... See full summary »
Director: Albert S. Rogell | Stars: Joan Leslie, James Craig, Jack Oakie, Chill Wills
Votes: 156
17. Flight Nurse (1953)
Approved | 90 min | Biography, Drama, War
During the Korean War, a United States Air Force nurse with the Medical Air Evacuation Unit flies on C-47 transport aircraft based in Japan where she ferries servicemen wounded in combat.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Joan Leslie, Forrest Tucker, Arthur Franz, Jeff Donnell
Votes: 154
18. The Buckskin Lady (1957)
Passed | 66 min | Western
A tough beautiful, woman is attracted to a new young doctor in town, but has to contend with a reckless gunslinger who wants her at any cost.
Director: Carl K. Hittleman | Stars: Patricia Medina, Richard Denning, Gerald Mohr, Henry Hull
Votes: 147
19. Riding the Sunset Trail (1941)
Passed | 60 min | Drama, Western
Jay Lynch, the half-brother of rancher Jim Dawson, schemes with Dawson's crooked lawyer, Jasper Raines, to take over Dawson's ranch. Lynch has his henchmen, "Bronco" West and "Drifter" ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Emmett Tansey | Stars: Tom Keene, Betty Miles, Frank Yaconelli, Sugar Dawn
Votes: 55
20. Gunfighters (1947)
Passed | 87 min | Western
Gunfighter Brazos Kane takes a job on a ranch but he is unjustly accused of killing fellow cowhand Bob Tyrell and must clear himself by finding the real killer.
Director: George Waggner | Stars: Randolph Scott, Barbara Britton, Dorothy Hart, Bruce Cabot
Votes: 914
21. Gunslinger (1956)
Approved | 83 min | Western
After her husband is gunned down, Rose Hood takes his place temporarily as Marshal of a small Western town.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: John Ireland, Beverly Garland, Allison Hayes, Martin Kingsley
Votes: 1,810
22. Springtime in the Sierras (1947)
Passed | 75 min | Drama, Music, Western
A gang, headed by evil Stephanie Bachelor, is slaughtering game out of season. Roy finds the freezer where the meat is kept, but baddie Roy Barcroft finds him there. A famous fight takes place in the freezer. Roy, of course, wins it.
Director: William Witney | Stars: Roy Rogers, Trigger, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine
Votes: 234
23. The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957)
Approved | 82 min | Action, Romance, War
Union Army deserter, Lt. Hewitt, trains a rag tag band of all-female homesteaders to defend themselves against a Comanche tribe on the warpath.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Audie Murphy, Kathryn Grant, Hope Emerson, Jeff Donnell
Votes: 1,622
24. Five Gates to Hell (1959)
Approved | 98 min | Adventure, Drama, War
A small group of Red Cross doctors and nurses are held captive by Chinese guerrillas in Vietnam.
Director: James Clavell | Stars: Dolores Michaels, Patricia Owens, Neville Brand, Ken Scott
Votes: 226
25. The Nevadan (1950)
Approved | 81 min | Western
A mysterious stranger crosses paths with an outlaw bank robber and a greedy rancher.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Randolph Scott, Dorothy Malone, Forrest Tucker, Frank Faylen
Votes: 1,225
26. A Guy Named Joe (1943)
Passed | 120 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A dead World War II bomber pilot, Pete Sandidge becomes the guardian angel of another pilot, Ted Randall. He guides Ted through battle and helping him to romance his old girlfriend, despite her excessive devotion to Sandidge's memory.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson, Ward Bond
Votes: 2,914
27. Raiders of Ghost City (1944)
Passed | 225 min | Western
During the latter stages of the Civil War, a gang of supposed Confederates, headed by Alex Morel (Lionel Atwill), raid all gold shipments destined for Washington from Oro Grande, California... See full summary »
Directors: Lewis D. Collins, Ray Taylor | Stars: Dennis Moore, Wanda McKay, Lionel Atwill, Joe Sawyer
Votes: 85
28. At Sword's Point (1952)
Approved | 81 min | Adventure, History
In 1648 France, it's the sons (and daughter) of the Three Musketeers to the rescue!
Director: Lewis Allen | Stars: Cornel Wilde, Maureen O'Hara, Robert Douglas, Gladys Cooper
Votes: 823
29. Joan of Arc (1948)
Approved | 145 min | Biography, Drama, War
The abbreviated life of the 15th-century French heroine.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, José Ferrer, Selena Royle, Robert Barrat
Votes: 3,782
30. Rose of Cimarron (1952)
Approved | 72 min | Western
A white girl raised by Indians sets out to find out who murdered her adoptive parents.
Director: Harry Keller | Stars: Jack Buetel, Mala Powers, Bill Williams, Jim Davis
Votes: 167
31. Decoy (1957–1958)
30 min | Crime, Drama
New York City policewoman Casey Jones' assignment to fight crime often entails her going undercover in some of the seediest and most dangerous parts of the city.
Stars: Beverly Garland, Frank Campanella, Joseph Sullivan, Ed Holmes
Votes: 326
32. High Noon (1952)
PG | 85 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 110,219 | Gross: $9.45M
33. Pony Post (1940)
Passed | 59 min | Western
Cal Sheridan (Johnny Mack Brown) accompanies Major Goodwin (Tom Chatteron) and his daughter, Alice (Dorothy Short), to the Ruby Valley express station, where dissolute operator Griff Atkins... See full summary »
Director: Ray Taylor | Stars: Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, Nell O'Day, Dorothy Short
Votes: 57
34. Exposed (1947)
Approved | 59 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A beautiful female private detective is hired by a wealthy businessman to check up on his stepson--the heir to the family fortune--who has been withdrawing large amounts of money from his bank account.
Director: George Blair | Stars: Adele Mara, Mark Roberts, Lorna Gray, Robert Armstrong
Votes: 217
35. A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950)
Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Western
In 1876 Colorado, the Tomahawk and Western Railroad is expanding through the Rockies but some stagecoach operators, fearing a loss of revenue, plan to sabotage the railroad.
Director: Richard Sale | Stars: Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter, Rory Calhoun, Walter Brennan
Votes: 767
36. Devil's Doorway (1950)
Approved | 84 min | Western
After the Civil War, a highly decorated Shoshone Indian veteran plans to raise cattle in Wyoming but white farmers plan to grab fertile tribal lands by pitting the whites against the Indians.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern, Paula Raymond, Marshall Thompson
Votes: 1,855
37. Frontier Revenge (1948)
56 min | Western
Marshals Lash and Fuzzy are sent to get the goods on Duce Rago. To join Rago's gang, Lash decides to pose as an outlaw by wearing the known belt buckle of a notorious outlaw.
Director: Ray Taylor | Stars: Lash La Rue, Al St. John, Peggy Stewart, Jim Bannon
Votes: 71
38. Strange Lady in Town (1955)
Approved | 112 min | Western
Greer Garson plays a female doctor who plans to introduce modern techniques of medicine to old Santa Fe in 1880, but is opposed by an established doctor.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Greer Garson, Dana Andrews, Cameron Mitchell, Lois Smith
Votes: 599
39. Gunsmoke (1955–1975)
TV-PG | 60 min | Western
Marshal Matt Dillon keeps the peace in rough-and-tumble Dodge City.
Stars: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis
Votes: 8,761
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