The greatest oaters according to critics, filmmakers, and…
As dedicated readers will know, Jeff Arnold didn’t particularly go for ‘best-of’ or ‘favourites’ lists until the very end. If you haven’t already, please check out his nephew’s lovely tribute to Jeff, which includes the list Jeff shared with him at his request: a top 10 hastily followed by a further 7. For convenience, we have listed this ‘top 17’ at the bottom of this post.
Jeff’s reason for mostly avoiding lists might well have been because the internet is awash with ‘top tens’, ‘best-ofs’, ‘must-sees’, ‘must-haves’ and ‘must-dos’ – of movies, books, cocktails, holiday destinations, you name it. Unlike Jeff’s final list, they are often of dubious reliability nowadays, many of them no doubt generated by AI. However, a thought-through list by a human expert is a different matter. It can jog memories, provoke thought and debate, make you want to watch a film again, or seek out one that you’ve missed.
Which brings us to the reason for this post: our having recently acquired a cheap, used, and faded copy of an obscure but rather excellent little book from 1994, which is chock full of just this sort of stuff. The Variety Book of Movie Lists, contains hundreds of lists, for different genres, themes and crafts, from multiple contributors sourced by editor Fred Lombardi: numerous critics and academics, and more than a few filmmakers and actors. And it includes a short section on Westerns containing nine intriguing lists from five discerning critics of our noble genre and, joy of joys, four of its legendary exponents: none other than directors Budd Boetticher, Monte Hellman, and Fred Zinnemann and actor Kirk Douglas.
We thought it would be fun to compile these lists into a post, and use the post as a prompt for readers’ debate, and maybe, hopefully their own lists, in the replies below.
Ready? Then saddle up:
First up, editor Fred Lombardi contributes his own chronologically listed selection:
Johnny Guitar
The Searchers
Run of the Arrow
Forty Guns
Man of the West
Warlock
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Ride the High Country
Once Upon a Time in the West
McCabe and Mrs Miller
Ulzana’s Raid
Many solid titles that will have heads nodding, and a few that will spark debate. It’s perhaps curious that this list starts as late as 1954.
The remaining lists are organised alphabetically by contributor, which means Budd Boetticher comes next. He goes with the following, starting with his favourite and listing the rest ‘in no particular order’:
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Red River
The Wild Bunch
Seven Men from Now
High Noon
Shane
Rio Bravo
Kirk Douglas rides in with a list of just two films:
Gunfight at the OK Corral
Shane
William K Everson, a distinguished film historian, supplies a very individual selection reflecting his expertise in silent and early sound cinema:
The Big Trail
Three Bad Men
Hell’s Hinges
The Indian Massacre
Law and Order
Ride the High Country
The Gunfighter
Wagon Master
Broken Arrow
And as a bonus Everson adds two 1930s B-movies:
Mystery Ranch
Thunder Trail
Monte Hellman
is our next director-contributor, and his list makes clear he’s a knowledgeable afficionado of our noble genre:
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Virginian
Ride the High Country
My Darling Clementine
The Gunfighter
Stagecoach
The Lone Ranger [serial]
The Shootist
Lonely are the Brave
Unforgiven
The Westerner
The Ox-Bow Incident
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Bad Day at Black Rock
Rio Bravo
Jesse James
Critic Phil Hardy, whose Westerns encyclopaedia has been praised by Jeff, shares these choices, including two double-bills:
The Searchers
Ride Lonesome; and, Comanche Station
Rancho Notorious
Bend of the River
Ride in the Whirlwind; and, The Shooting
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Fury at Showdown
Ride the High Country
Johnny Guitar
Stagecoach
Unforgiven
Our next list-maker, the then-editor of Film Comment, Richard T Jameson, divides his scholarly selection into two chronological lists:
1929 – 61
Law and Order
Stagecoach
My Darling Clementine
Red River
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Winchester ‘73
The Gunfighter
Wagon Master
Little Big Horn
Shane
The Naked Spur
Seven Men from Now
The Searchers
The Tall T
1962 – present (keeping in mind ‘the present’ was 1994)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Ride the High Country
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Wild Bunch
True Grit
McCabe and Mrs Miller
Ulzana’s Raid
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Unforgiven
Andrew Sarris, a critic known for championing in America the originally French idea (of which Jeff was *very* skeptical) of directors as ‘auteurs’ gives us this list of films, all by directors with distinct styles and points of view:
The Searchers
Red River
Once Upon a Time in the West
Bend of the River
Man of the West
Ride the High Country
Comanche Station
Seven Men from Now
Unforgiven
Forty Guns
And finally, a selection by Fred Zinnemann, director of Jeff’s beloved High Noon but also of Jeff’s reviled Oklahoma! (which he could have used to vindicate his ‘auteur-skeptic’ position):
My Darling Clementine
Stagecoach
The Ox-Bow Incident
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Gunfighter
Bad Day at Black Rock
The Wild Bunch
Gunfight at the OK Corral
Unforgiven
The Magnificent Seven
Some of these contributors provide brief comments on their selections in the book. It is well worth seeking out, especially if your movie tastes extend beyond our noble genre. Hours of fun await.
Last but very much not least, here is the list from our own Jeff Arnold, reprinted for your convenience:
High Noon
The Searchers
The Gunfighter
Shane
The Wild Bunch
Ride The High Country
The Tall T
Unforgiven
The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
The Magnificent Seven
Red River
Fort Apache
Go West
Silverado
Canyon Passage
Dawn At Socorro
Hondo
Lots to get one’s teeth into, e-pards! We (your hosts, RR and Bud) will share our own lists of favourites below and look forward to yours and/or to your thoughts on any and all of the lists above. Let the (robust but respectful) debates begin!
51 Responses
My list makes no claim to being a ‘best of’, as my list of westerns to watch for the first time is long (a failing that I am trying to address!). It is, rather, a list of favorites, current ones at that, and (after the first entry) in no particular order.
Ride the High Country
High Noon
Seven Men from Now / The Tall T – please don’t make me choose between Lee Marvin and Richard Boone.
Winchester 73 – of the Stewart/Mann pictures, I waver between this one and The Naked Spur. Today, the presence of enjoyable ham Dan Duryea and underrated Stephen McNally (plus, excellent character names like ‘Waco Johnny Dean’ and ‘Dutch Henry Brown’) tip the balance. And Robert Ryan has his own entry.
Four Faces West – No shots fired. Ride is Joel McCrea’s finest, in my opinion, but this one nips at its hooves.
Day of the Outlaw – like its lead actor, Robert Ryan, this one has gained greater appreciation over time.
Blood on the Moon – I was a bit surprised by the exclusion of this film or Pursued from any of the above lists. I enjoy Robert Mitchum.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon – one can easily include several Wayne/Ford movies, as shown in the above post, but I love the Technicolor in this one.
The Magnificent Seven (1960) – I enjoy music as much as motion pictures, and have had Elmer Bernstein’s score in my mind’s ear while compiling this list.
Popcorn movie bonus:
Denver and Rio Grande – Please hear me out. While not a great film by any measure, this one packs SO MUCH rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ action into its runtime, I flashed back to my youthful experience of watching Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time. Including it for that reason (well, that and Edmond O’Brien’s hat).
“She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” (1949, 4 stars) is visually GORGEOUS. I think it’s a good movie, not a great one–I give it 4 stars out of 5–but it’s worth watching just for the scenery.
And that’s the beauty of making a favorite movie list–everybody’s list is going to he unique.
The beauty of making a favorite movie list–everybody’s list is going to be unique.
“Please hear me out,” you say about “Denver and Rio Grande” (1952). MAN, your enthusiasm for your “popcorn movie bonus” has me wanting to see it.
Of course, it helps that Sterling Hayden is in it.
Whether it’s a famous film, or something very few people have seen, somebody’s love for a movie is the best advertisement
And here’s my list, in chronological order. Like my trail pard Bud’s, they’re personal favourites as opposed to ‘bests’, though I think you’d agree several of them are among the best by any standard. I tried for 17 to match Jeff’s final number but failed to get it below 18. (And of course there were a few more knocking on the door waiting to get in – but one has to stop somewhere.)
Stagecoach
The Ox-Bow Incident
Canyon Passage
My Darling Clementine
Fort Apache
Wagon Master
Bend of the River
The Naked Spur
Shane
Johnny Guitar
Gunfight at the OK Corral
The Ride Back
Day of the Outlaw
Comanche Station
Major Dundee
McCabe and Mrs Miller
Open Range
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
I guess The Ride Back is the most obscure of the above. If you haven’t seen it – check it out, a very thoughtful, and beautifully photographed and acted little movie. From Bud’s list, I haven’t seen Four Faces West or Denver and Rio Grande, both of which it seems Jeff liked very much – I’ll keep an eye out for these!
I’m looking forward to seeing others’ lists and/or comments.
My top 10 – 1) Stagecoach (39) 2) Shane 3) High Noon 4) Dances with Wolves 5) My Darling Clementine 6) Red River 7) The Ox Bow Incident 8) The Wild Bunch 9) Once Upon a Time in the West 10) The Revenant
I’m not going to try to make a list of the best. I have loved westerns all my life and it’s possible to see the best ones too many times. What gives me most pleasure in recent times is finding hidden gems or certain movies that aren’t the best but I have always loved them. In no special order.
Trooper Hook 1957 inpretentious little gem with good acting and characters.
3.10 to Yuma 1957 took me years to get a grip on it. Nominate as the best.
Always loved The Tall T and Ride Lonesome but coming to appreciate Seven Men from Now more with each viewing.
The Proud Rebel – excellent supporting cast let down by Alan Ladd who comes across more a The Sulking Rebel. Richard Widmark would have been better.
The Last Wagon 1956 – been a favourite since I was very young.
Hell Bent for Leather – a new discovery with Felicia Farr (again)
Wagonmaster 1950 – my own favourite of Ford’s movies. So lyrical.
The Man from Del Rio 1956 – unusual and interesting.
The Big Country 1958 – intelligent, adult and the long playing time flies by.
The Sheepman 1958 – the western with the funniest first 10 minutes and a lot of fun while still being more a drama than a comedy.
Wether you agree or not with the auteur theory, no doubt that the director is the responsible number one of the result (in spite of the producers power). Most of the lists above, so far are all listing films made by the genre’s most important or greatest directors but a few exceptions. I do not see too many Walsh or Daves though…
It seems almost impossible not to see in such a list (limited to talkies) a single Ford (a single Ford, come on !?), Hawks, Mann, Boetticher, Wellman, Peckinpah, Eastwood, Sturges, Aldrich, Wyler, Hathaway, De Toth + Daves and Walsh + the likes of Huston, Wise, Tourneur, King, Dwann, Lang, Ray, Fuller, Siegel… I will spare you any Curtiz…
We should me closer to 20 than 10 without having yet listed the one time or one shot director who have accomplished at least one miracle…
Beside of the great directors, the great actors need a list too. Happily enough, they have been all cast by the directors I have mentioned… But I would say a list without at least Wayne, Cooper, Stewart, Fonda, Peck, Ford, Holden, Scott, McCrea, Widmark, Mitchum, Lancaster, Douglas, Flynn, Eastwood, Heston, Taylor, Hayden, Payne, Power, Ryan, Andrews, Quinn, Calhoun, Newman, Garner, Murphy, Mc Murray, Ladd (it’s a men’s list only and sometimes some play in the same film…) would not be very credible.
Anyway as subjectivity (added to a zest of nostalgy depending on the conditions and age when some film have been watched for the 1st time) is the key for such a list, here is mine with no preference order but as they come to my mind
Stagecoach
The Wild Bunch
The Naked Spur
Westward the Women
My Darling Clementine
She wore a yellow ribbon
Vera Cruz
Heaven’s Gate
Comanche Station
Rawhide
The Magnificent Seven
Rocky Mountain
Rio Bravo
High Noon
Major Dundee
Johnny Guitar
The Unforgiven
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Secret of Convict Lake
Silver Lode
20… ooops !
OK I cheated…
You make good points Jean-Marie – It’s just that I believe that the quality of the film comes first – no matter the director or star – and then let the chips fall where they may so to speak. Most people probably wouldn’t think of adding a film like HEARTLAND (a small indie from ‘79 that’s off the beaten track) or THE WIND (silent with Lillian Gish). They’re not traditional Westerns, I guess, but they’re strong frontier films that just blew me away. I would say that if you had a list of, say, 25-50, one couldn’t avoid having almost all of the directors and stars that you mentioned on it. But then beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Glenn Ford for example. He made many good solid Westerns (a number with Delmer Daves) that I really enjoy (favorite – 3:10 to Yuma), but I wouldn’t say they were great. But then that’s just me.
The masterpieces are one thing, the preferred films are an other.
For instance I know that Shane is a masterpiece for many reasons and I like it for many reasons but after having watched it many times, I still cannot stand Brandon de Wilde screaming Shane endlessly (it happened at first sight when I was barely older than him.
Red River is superb but its end is so expeditive and I still do not understand why Hawks have not shortened the far too long portraits sequence of the yelling cowboys which marks the beginning of the drive. It sounds a little ridiculous or childish to me. I pick up Rio Bravo instead because of this camaraderie, caring and complicity feeling, all along the film between Wayne, Martin, Brennan, Nelson and Dickinson.
Even if I have learned to like Once Upon A Time, there are too many moments bothering me. Etc.
Nobody has to love the established and recognized chefs d’oeuvre.
I would not pretend that the films of my list are all perfect but I still love them (in spite of their flaws), some have deeply impressed me when I was young and provide still today the same result. And there are personal and subjective reasons. I have watched many if them with my father (1914-2005) who was a great admirer of William Hart and Hopalong Cassidy when he was young himself and who passed me on the baton (or virus…) as I have told it before on this blog with the screening of a silent version of Stagecoach at home, then bringing me at 7 to a theater to watch The Magnificent Seven I am still cherishing as Jeff did.
To take an example out of the genre, Vertigo or Rebecca are masterpieces but I do prefer Notorious or North by Northwest.
Anyway it is very difficult sometimes to explain everything and why you prefer this or that.
The Rolling Stones are singing “it’s only rock and roll and I like it”. I coukd say the sale fo western.
When typing the titles, I was also thinking of this desert island idea…
Hello, Jean-Marie – your comment: ‘Nobody has to love the established and recognized chefs d’oeuvre.’ Are there any generally recognised masterpieces or film makers that you feel personally don’t really deserve to have been recognised?
Some time ago there was a programme on the BBC in which contributors were asked to nominate generally accepted masterpieces in different arts that they felt should have gone down with the Titanic (never mind the date – 1912 wasn’t a cut off) and never been seen again. The contribution I remember is the man who said ‘Citizen Kane’.
What I mean is that the list do not have automatically to include the “greatest” in the history or masterpieces or recognized as such (throughout history by the critics etc) only.
The films I have listed are not always masterpieces but just the films I like the most now.
Citizen Kane is a good example. Jeff was always joking about Jean-Luc Godard…! If I had to take a painting on the desert island, I would not pick up Mona Lisa, not even a Van Gogh… it is not a matter of deserving (who I am to decide or judge…) but more liking.
And Fort Massacre …!
Somehow I missed this last addition to your list, Jean-Marie, which makes me sad because I also think highly of ‘Fort Massacre’. While an uncharacteristic role for McCrea, I found his performance tough and convincing.
I don’t even know where to begin. Once upon a Time in the West, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, My Name is Nobody, The Tall T, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station, Seven Men From Now, Ride the High Country, The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Ballad of Cable Hogue, Duck you Sucker, Ulzana’s Raid, Red River, Rio Bravo, El Dorado, Stagecoach, She wore a yellow ribbon, Rio Grande, The Searchers, Man who shot Liberty Valance, Lonesome Dove, Tombstone, Silverado, Open Range, both True Grits, Unforgiven, Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, Shane, Dead Man, Naked Spur, Man of the West, Winchester ’73, Bend of the River, 3 Godfathers, Wagon Master, The Big Trail, Colorado Territory, Magnificent Seven original, 3:10 to yuma original, 3 Bad Men, Sgt Rutledge, Day of the Outlaw, Assasination of Jesse James,both Monte Walsh, Mccabe and mrs miller, missouri breaks, Major Dundee, Vera Cruz, Hondo, The Cowboys, Junior Bonner, the shootist. Among others.
Meant to have ‘Fort Apache’ in my initial list. The cavalry trilogy by Ford is pure Americana and one of the great achievements of American film.
Oh Ox Bow Incident of course.
Pursued, One Eyed Jacks, Forty Guns, Warlock, Man from Laramie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Revenant, High Noon. I cannot do twenty. Maybe fifty.
Add ‘Dances with Wolves’, ‘For A Few Dollars More’, ‘The Gunfighter’, ‘Yellow Sky’, ‘Rawhide’, ‘Track of the Cat’, ‘Garden of Evil’, ‘My Darling Clementine’, ‘The Professionals’.
Am enjoying everyone’s lists, keep them coming!
Interesting to see which films come up a lot and which don’t (for example, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon being a bit more popular here than Fort Apache (my favourite of the three) and Rio Grande). And to see films listed that you haven’t seen before – I never got round to watching The Revenant which I’ve intended for ages, but some films weren’t even on my radar e.g. Trooper Hook, Rocky Mountain, The Secret of Convict Lake – all pretty much new titles for me.
And then there’s the phenomenon Chris Evans has noted before – two people can watch the same film and experience it completely differently. Just to get everyone’s backs up here’s some certified classics that appear frequently above and have just never cut it for me –
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (quite impressively done but there’s something too cold and relentless about this movie for me to find it enjoyable)
The Searchers (love Ford in general but this much less than most – bits of the film are amazing but it doesn’t gel for me, too many script problems, and some weak acting by some of the players)
Once Upon A Time in the West (similar in a way – in between amazing set-pieces the rest of the film has lots of script problems- the shifts in the story and characterisations are too often confusing and dare I say it at times boring)
The Wild Bunch (love the acting and some of the direction but again I think the script is not good enough. But more basically I don’t buy or like the entire premise, that a bunch of lowlife thugs get to become noble and glorified just because at the last minute they choose to go down in a hail of bullets)
I’m now preparing to be run out of town by an angry crowd of townspeople
I think one of the problems with lists is people tend to feel obliged to put certain items on it or risk looking stupid in front of their peers. This seems to be particularly true of film critics – so all lists of ’10 best’ tend to have a tiresome predictability – Vertigo, Citizen Kane etc.
All of us could make a list of the ‘greatest’ westerns – but if the ship were sinking and you can only grab a handful of DVDs for the desert island – which movies would YOU choose? For yourself alone to live with – and noone else needs to know.
To be honest, my own choice wouldn’t include any John Ford although I loved his films when I was younger and at the time he was held up as the great master. Now I find his films almost unwatchable. It’s not that I haven’t seen enough or I’m too stupid to get it. Most of it just rings too false for me.
The movies I actually love aren’t the greatest films. In my own list earlier – a movie I actually love is The Last Wagon but I can’t claim it’s ‘best’. Shane is a great movie – but I would rather watch The Proud Rebel. If the ship were going down I would grab ‘The Five Pennies’ and not bother with ‘The Searchers’.
Which movies would readers grab for a long stay on a desert island?
Paul – interesting comment and I get your point especially as regards film critics and Citizen Kane etc, and I loved that your list is so individual, but to be fair to everyone here I think they have all chosen their genuine favourites. My list above (the one starting with Stagecoach not the one starting with The Searchers…) *is* my desert island Westerns selection. Unlike you I still love Ford, just not The Searchers very much. And I love Peckinpah’s Major Dundee, which is full of flaws, even though The Wild Bunch turns me off. And if I only had one film for the desert island it would be… Shane!
Peckinpah’s films for a desert island.
11-20). The Wind (‘28), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Searchers, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Magnificent Seven (‘60), Unforgiven, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Gunfighter, Man of the West, Heartland. It really pains me not to have any Stewart films in my top 20, so I’ll add Anthony Mann’s Winchester ‘73 and make it 21.
I would also add to my list ‘The Proposition’ and ‘Quigley down under’. I could not be without Ford. His cavalry trilogy is a treasure and ‘Fort Apache’ says so much about America to this very day. I would also add ‘The Long Riders’, ‘Geronimo An American Legend’, and ‘Broken Trail’ too to my list.
Also ‘Canyon Passage’, ‘Last train to Gun Hill’, ‘Ride with the Devil’, ‘Bad day at Black Rock’, ‘Treasure of Sierra Madre’, ‘The Westerner’, ‘Big Country’, ‘Hombre’, ‘Duel in the sun’, ‘The Bravados’.
‘High Plains Drifter’
‘Jeremiah Johnson’ another favorite mountain man Western.
‘Valdez is Coming’
Love it! Definitely the best Western of 1972 and may be in my top 25.
Sorry – I made a comment for this thread and posted it under Santa Fe Trail by mistake. Can’t copy it here – but will you pretend it’s here.
I watched Santa Fe Trail last night – there’s a good print on YouTube. Lots of fun – goes along at a good pace, de Haviland is beautiful, Flynn is dashing, Alan Hale and Big Boy Williams are fun, Max Steiner’s music – Warner Bros did this stuff so well and made it look so easy.
That’s the reason I found out there’s still activity on Jeff’s site. Good for you for keeping it going.
I read your comment above and considered copying the one from Santa Fe Trail into it (being an Admin *does* have minor benefits ), but I see it already has a reply! Which makes RR and me happy… discussion amongst the site’s readers.
What I mean is that the list do not have automatically to include the “greatest” in the history or masterpieces or recognized as such (throughout history by the critics etc) only.
The films I have listed are not always masterpieces but just the films I like the most now.
Citizen Kane is a good example. Jeff was always joking about Jean-Luc Godard…! If I had to take a painting on the desert island, I would not pick up Mona Lisa, not even a Van Gogh… it is not a matter of deserving (who I am to decide or judge…) but more liking.
‘Deserves got nothing to do with it’
🙂
Yes – some films touch the heart and it’s very personal. That’s what movies can do. Those are the ones to grab in a hurry when the ship’s going down.
Here’s a story that might be a useful contribution. I’m 69 and for most of that time I have had a dim memory of watching a movie when I was young. But all I could remember was the title and a vague idea that the ending was moving.
It had only just now come into my head that I could have looked it up on Wikipedia but it never crossed my mind. The movie seemed to completely disappear for about 50 years.
Then a couple of years ago it turned up on YouTube. It was a cheap Republic thing from 1956 and half way through I cried my eyes out. I don’t mean well up like I always do when Gary Cooper forgives the Confederate sniper in Friendly Persuasion. I mean really sob for 10 minutes – I had to pause the movie.
Now – here’s the strange thing. After it finished I went on to IMDB and read the comments and it turned out many people had had the same experience: seen it when they were young, couldn’t remember much about it, watched it again and been blown away by it.
But it’s not an obvious tear-jerker, just a cheap Republic thing, noone would claim it’s a masterpiece. Where does that power come from because it wasn’t just me?
It’s called Come Next Spring by the way. Good print on DK Classics channel on YouTube.
With R. G. Springsteen as the director and Ann Sheridan, Steve Cochran, Walter Brennan and Edgar Buchanan in the cast, it could have been a western…
.
Here are my Top 10 Westerns, followed by the rank they get on my all-time favorite movie list, any genre:
1) “For a Few Dollars More” (1965, my #2 of all time): Lee Van Cleef steals the show as The Man in Black. Jeff agrees with me, though he doesn’t like the movie. Indio (Gian Maria Volonte) is my #1 Bad Guy in Cinematic History. From start to finish, this is a Cinematic Tour-de-Force.
2) “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962, my #5): A profound, multi-layered film. John Wayne’s best performance, as the lonely gunslinger Tom Doniphon. The under-rated Woody Strode excels as Tom’s right hand, Pompey. Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) teaching children and adults how to read and write is the stuff of inspiration.
3) “The Great Silence” (1968, my #6): A bleak Western set in the snow—visually GORGEOUS–with Klaus Kinski stealing the show as cold-blooded Loco, my #2 Bad Guy in Cinematic History. Here we see the grandeur of God’s creation–and the depravity of man’s nature.
4) “Red River” (1948, my #8): Visually BEAUTIFUL, with John Wayne giving his 2nd-best performance, as hard-driving cattle rancher Thomas Dunson. Montgomery Clift and Walter Brennan excel as well. One of Jeff’s favorites. Grand and glorious music, and for me, the ending works beautifully.
5) “Charro!” (1969, my #15): It’s great to see Elvis in a serious role. He plays Jess Wade, a former outlaw who now stands for what’s right. Elvis sings only one song–the title theme at the opening–and it’s one of my favorite theme songs. I’ll be saying a lot more about this film later in September.
6) “Heaven’s Gate” (1980, my #16): The flop of the 20th century–and I wish I could shake Mr. Cimino’s hand. Incredible scenery, and a great performance by Kris Kristofferson as James Averill, Yale grad who does his best to bring justice to the frontier. The roller-skate scene (with Averill, Ella, and the Eastern European immigrants) is THE BEST community celebration in any film I’ve ever seen.
7) “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” (1973, my #24): This is the movie that brought me to Jeff Arnold’s West, just 5 weeks after Jeff passed away. Kristofferson excels as Billy the Kid. Highlighted by the two “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” scenes, this film is haunting, poetic, brutal, and downright bleak.
8) “One-Eyed Jacks” (1961): Marlon Brando plays the outlaw Rio, who wants to be better than what he is. Beautifully shot on the Pacific Coast, and I think Brando does a great job directing. This might make #25 on my all-time list, but the competition is serious.
9) “High Noon” (1952): The killer Frank Miller is on a mission to kill Will Kane. Gary Cooper plays Will Kane, one of the most courageous men in Cinematic History. This was one of my father’s favorites–and when James asked Jeff to list his favorite Westerns, “High Noon” was the first one Jeff identified. This still might make my Top 25.
10) “Fort Apache” (1948): John Wayne plays Captain York, who pleads with Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) to treat the Apache with respect. A grown Shirley Temple plays the lovely Philadelphia Thursday (Owen’s daughter). Another one of Jeff’s favorites. It probably won’t make my Top 25, but it doesn’t have to. Simply a great film.
I look forward to seeing all of Jeff’s Top 17. I didn’t get into movies until 2015 (in my 40s). Like Baby Tomato in Mia Wallace’s joke in Q-Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” (1994), I have some catching up to do.
Somebody’s always asking me to name my #1 movie of all time. My #1 is the gangster film, “The Irishman” (2019).
Thanks to Bud and RR for keeping this site running–and thanks ESPECIALLY to Jeff for sharing his love of Westerns.
Excellent list. Some of my favorites. Glad you have Fort Apache there. Great, great film. You should check out Elvis in ‘Flaming Star’ one of his best films. My favorite gangster film is ‘Goodfellas’.
Thanks Chris, I appreciate that. I’ll have to see “Flaming Star” (1960). And yes, “Goodfellas” (1990, 5 stars) is a great one.
I also meant to add the Coen brothers gangster epic ‘Miller’s Crossing’. Wonderful film like their version of ‘True Grit’ which is one of my favorite modern Westerns.
What Jeff was writing about Flaming Star (not only the best western but the best Elvis’ film in my opinion and one of the best Siegel as well)
https://jeffarnoldswest.com/2013/05/flaming-star-fox-1960/
It seems this site attractive more and more spaghetti tifosi according to some of the lists above. Maybe they have been staying hidden to avoid Jeff’s irony…!? I cannot resist letting them know that the Institut Lumière in Lyon (France) is planning a Leone day taking the opportunity of a new edition of a french book on the Italian master with 3 films and a conference by the author.
No doubt Jeff would have been curious about this book.
https://www.institut-lumiere.org/actualit%C3%A9s/sempre-leone.html
Here is a top twelve Western list by the late Western writer and blogger Lloyd Fonveille: https://www.mardecortesbaja.com/2013/01/27/the-top-twelve-westerns-of-all-time/
I’ve just finished my latest Amazon order, and it includes two from Jeff’s Top 17:
“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948): Chris Evans and Thomas Leary also named this among their favorites. A famous film starring Humphrey Bogart, but the biggest attraction for me is that the director is John Huston, whose film noir “The Asphalt Jungle” (1950) is my #7 movie of all time, all genres.
“Hondo” (1953): I wouldn’t have considered this one if not for Jeff’s Top 17. Of course it stars John Wayne , but I also see that it co-stars GERALDINE PAGE. WOW.
I know Geraldine Page from her unforgettable turn as the neurotic Molly Wheatland in “Something in the Woodwork” (1973, 5 stars), a CLASSIC episode of one of my favorite TV shows, Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery” (1969-’73).
I look forward to seeing “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and “Hondo” for the first time.
I agree with RR–it’s been fun seeing all of you post your lists of favorite Westerns.
Geraldine Page is also excellent in ‘The Beguiled’ with Clint Eastwood. It is reviewed on the site.
Treasure blew me away when I first saw it (on the big screen no less) and instantly became one of my favorites. Bogart’s performance is amazing and totally surprised me at the time because up til then I’d only seen him as the tough talking anti-hero a la Same Spade and Rick Blaine. And Walter Huston is nearly his equal acting-wise in the film. It’s not just a great adventure but there’s also an important message there. Hondo is good but I wouldn’t rate it as high as Jeff – probably in my top 50, though.
You sum it up so well. I love the vividness of the thing. So well done.
Whoops – I posted on the wrong board again. Sorry.