Favorite Movies and TV Shows?

[Cav Guy]

Just thought I'd toss out a thread for discussion of two of the main non-print avenues for Westerns - the big and small screen. I'll list mine in no particular order, and amplify reasons if the discussion takes off. This is also the short list.

Movies
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
High Plains Drifter
Tombstone
For a Few Dollars More
Unforgiven
Outlaw Jose Wales
Young Guns (only the first one, not the second)
Major Dundee
High Noon
The Long Riders

TV Shows
Gunsmoke
Wild, Wild West
Bordertown
Bonanza (more my 'fond memories of youth' vote)
Lone Ranger (see above for the reason)

There are a few others as well, but some of them were only good for a season or two and then changes in actors, directors, and/or writers wrecked them for me. The series I list above are the only ones that (to me) remained more or less consistent throughout their runs.

[Elodie-Caroline]

Movies
The good, the bad and the ugly (my second most favourite film of all time.)
The Bandeleros
Jeremiah Johnson
The unforgiven
Once upon a time in the West
Fistful of dynamite
Young guns 2
Rio bravo

Loads of other westerns I like; can't think of them at the moment though.


Elodie

[Festus]

Well here's a tv show or three that you all probably don't remember:

Wagon Train

Rawhide

Have gun, will travel (Paladin)

Festus

[Puma]

Have Gun, Will Travel - one of my favorites. Paladin, Paladin ... I also liked Bonanza, not as much Gunsmoke (liked it better in the earlier years), and probably pretty stagey if I watched it now, but I loved Zorro.

Movies - And again Zorro, all of the Hopalong Cassidy movies (remember, I was a kid), How the West Was Won, San Francisco (not typical Western), and I'll have to think of what else. I'll second Cav Guy on Tombstone and She Wore a Yellow Ribon. Puma

[JeanneTGC]

Movies:
Rio Bravo
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Tombstone
Wyatt Earp (for the historical accuracy -- Tombstone is a better MOVIE)
Serenity
Maverick
The Long Riders
Silverado
Winchester 77 (the last 2/3rds only -- the problem with doing a lot of research into a time period is that you can't watch certain movies or scenes without screaming at the TV; such is the case for the first 1/3 of Winchester 77)

TV Shows:
Wild, Wild West
Maverick
The Magnificent Seven
Alias Smith & Jones

[ShapeSphere]

Movies:

Unforgiven

The Magnificent Seven
(No realism - and The Seven Samurai was much better).

A Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
(Not realistic, but lots of drama, brilliant music and a great trilogy).

Once Upon a Time in the West
(No realism yet again, but love the over the top and incredibly slow opening).

There are others, but not sure of the names. Remember one where the Apaches (I think) were depicted as the bad guys and the good guys came across the burnt and tortured half-dead body of some poor soul. The Apaches did the brutality. The good guys shot him out of mercy. One of the good guys might have been part-Apache and acting as the guide (of course!) and they asked him why his people do this. I think he responded with something about "control".




TV Shows:

We had Rawhide, Lone Ranger, Maverick, Bonanza in the U.K. but I never really got into them. They were very good and very popular, but I preferred movies.

[Anthony Ravenscroft]

I figure it'll draw screams of outrage, but I really do like the visual aspects of Paint Your Wagon for conveying the rough edges of the American Outback, in the same way the very first movie named Star Wars showed a high-tech vision that wasn't all straight lines & polished chrome & no grit in the corners. I wish more Westerns didn't look so much like an Esquire fashion shoot.

[JeanneTGC]

I enjoyed Paint Your Wagon, too. I liked the songs and we were very into Clint Eastwood when I was growing up, so we never missed any of his movies.

[Mr. Jinx]

I have a few favorites too. Most of the movies have already been mentioned (Unforgiven, High Plains Drifter, Outlaw Josey Wales, Silverado) and TV shows (Wild Wild West and Have Gun Will Travel).

There were three though that I found memorable that I wanted to mention.

The first was =Man in the Wilderness= where Richard Harris is left for dead after being attacked by a bear. I was a kid when I saw it but it left a real impression on me about survivial. Also, the sort of nemesis is trying to move ship through the mountians on wagons if I remember right. I should really track it down and see it again.

Another one was =Ravenous=. It was pretty bloody but I found myself intrigued by the application of Wendigo Psychosis to a western frontier format. It had a snippit of dialogue that I really liked too when one of the characters remarked: "Its lonely being a cannibal. It's tough making friends."

The last was one I stumbled on during a lazy Saturday afternoon (back when I still had those). It was =White Comanche= staring William Shatner. I remember it was pretty over the top but that actually made it rather fun to watch.


--Dev

[JeanneTGC]

William Shatner = Over The Top

(He was one of my gramma's 2 faves. Charles Bronson was the other. My mother adored Clint Eastwood. Hence, I've seen EVERY Eastwood, Bronson and, sadly, Shatner flick available. Many more than once.)

Speaking of Bronson (were we?), From Noon to Three is great, for the way it shows how easily rampant mythology can spread.

[alleycat]

I actually liked Pale Rider a lot, although it's certainly not a classic western. There's a lot of old western movies I like.

TV:
The Virginian (especially when Lee J. Cobb was on it)
Lawman (for special reasons, I actually have videos of a number of episodes)
The Rifleman (my first BB gun was a copy of the Winchester 1894 used on the show . . . now I have a 30-30 Model 1894. If I'm not mistaken, that model wouldn't have fit in with the timeline of the show)

[Parkinsonsd]

I'm a huge fan of Quigley Down Under and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

TV would have to be Wild Wild West and Lone Ranger for all those nostalgic reasons.

[dpaterso]

Now comes the big question... :D

Do you think these films and TV shows had any influence your writing?

Did you ever take characters, storylines & themes, shake 'em up, and make 'em your own? At the very least, did these films and series help you mentally visualize settings?

I don't necessarily mean writing Western fiction. Any genre.

Don't feel obliged to answer, I'm just curious. This isn't an I.Q. test or anything. :)

-Derek

[Cav Guy]

I would say some of mine did in that they showed me that you could write from a more historical standpoint. While Eastwood's Westerns aren't necessarily "historical," they do show a more gritty side of the West. "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" stayed pretty close to the reality of Frontier service, and Gunsmoke did go after some fairly serious issues (for the day, at least, and especially during the black and white period...I'm not as big a fan of the color episodes).

As far as visualizing settings goes, I was doing that with history reading well before I started watching this stuff, so it didn't have a huge impact.

[JeanneTGC]

The Magnificent Seven TV show is the reason I started writing. And the reason I started researching the Old West. But I have to assume that all the earlier influences were there, it just took the one "thing" to push me over the edge, if you will.

[Mr. Jinx]

The show Wild West Tech is the one I find inspirational. Every episode is not perfect and much of the humor is weak but after watching even a re-run it gets me in the mood to write.

For me though it was reading King's book The Gunslinger that pushed me over into reading westerns. I always like the genre but after reading that book I realized I liked the western part more than the supernatural part, which was weird for me at the time.

[Jamesaritchie]

I figure it'll draw screams of outrage, but I really do like the visual aspects of Paint Your Wagon for conveying the rough edges of the American Outback, in the same way the very first movie named Star Wars showed a high-tech vision that wasn't all straight lines & polished chrome & no grit in the corners. I wish more Westerns didn't look so much like an Esquire fashion shoot.

I loved Paint Your Wagon. I thought it was a great movie with great acting, and a highly original story.
Of course, I also loved They Call Me Trinity, and They Still Call Me Trinity. You can now download the first at a few internet sites here and there.

[Jamesaritchie]

The first was =Man in the Wilderness= where Richard Harris is left for dead after being attacked by a bear. I was a kid when I saw it but it left a real impression on me about survivial. Also, the sort of nemesis is trying to move ship through the mountians on wagons if I remember right. I should really track it down and see it again.




--Dev

Very good movie, and actually based on a true story. Hugh Glass was mauled by a bear, and Jim Bridger and John Fitzgerald abandoned him before he died. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Glass

[HoosierCowgirl]

Resurrecting this ol' thread ...

The kids have discovered "Lone Ranger" and "The Rifleman." I always liked "True Grit" because as a kid I so identified with the little girl in the story. Not enough to remember her name, though ;) I always liked "Wild, Wild West" but at least part of it was because of the theme song.

Now that you mention "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" I can't get the song out of my head. My dad used to sing an updated version where "she wore it for her airman who was far, far away ..."

Best regards,
Ann

[Evaine]

Matty was the girl in True Grit.

When I was a kid, in the UK, my gran's favourite Western show was the one starring Barbara Stanwick (The Big Country?). I preferred The Virginian, and later Alias Smith and Jones and The High Chapperal.

[dpaterso]

Miss Barbara Stanwyck starred in The Big Valley (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058791/) with Lee Majors and Linda Evans. ;)

The Big Country (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051411/) is probably my favorite Western movie, if I haven't mentioned this 100 times already.

-Derek

[Evaine]

Good grief! Lee Majors was in The Big Valley?
I knew it was a Big something - and I love the Big Country film too.

[stc]

Nobody's mentioned Anthony Mann's westerns yet?

If you haven't seen these, get 'em--they're must-see movies, among the finest westerns ever made. Outstanding writing and direction, featuring the great (USAF Brig. General) James Stewart. Not as iconic as Duke Wayne, but a more versatile actor:

Winchester '73
The Naked Spur
The Man from Laramie
Bend of the River
The Far Country

...and this one with Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins:
The Tin Star

[Bmwhtly]

Why haven't I posted in this thread yet? Will wonders never cease?

More to the point, why has no-one mentioned Firefly yet?
It's often described a 'space western' and there are a couple of points to that:
Firstly, the terra-formed planets in Mankinds new home galaxy can be pretty rustic. The government builds planets not roads, so on the border worlds... well, they're like the towns in any western you care to mention.
More importantly is the very Western themes that run through the show.
Just in case you haven't seen it.

Sad to say, but for my generation (feel old?) that's about the only western TV show. A sad comment on the genre mayhaps.

In terms of films, well:
Unforgiven (How it should be done)
The Spaghetti Westerns (the birth of the gritty western?)
The Quick and the dead (Throw western cliches into a pot and simmer gently for 90 minutes.)
Maverick (nice and light, but with some good performances)
Tombstone (Of Course)
Open Range (Fantastic, without making an epic deal of it)
Pale Rider (Mildly different. Also gave us a western stereotype that has served the videogame industry well)
Blazing Saddles (No, Really)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (Like Firefly, but with Clint Eastwood)

THat'll about do it for now. I'm sure more'll occur to me as time goes on.

[dpaterso]

I'm just saying, by a quirk of time and fate I watched Robert Taylor in Billy the Kid (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033389/) yesterday, holey moley what a dire film, Taylor seemed badly miscast and wooden in the lead role, and not one scene stood out as memorable in terms of character interplay, dialogue or action. It can't hold a candle to Peckinpah's must-see Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070518/). Carry on.

-Derek

[glendalough]

DEADWOOD
The series on HBO and out on DVD. It's the best western EVER if you can get past the swearing.

[Bmwhtly]

Ah yes, I've heard good things about Deadwood.

Since you mentioned it, I took a gander at the cast and read some reviews.
Then ordered season 1 on DVD.

It really does look very good. And if Lovejoy is as good as he can be, this shouldn't dissapoint.

[HoosierCowgirl]

Not a Western, but Toy Story 1 & 2 include Sheriff Woody and Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl. Some of Jessie's corn-pone dialog sounds like it came out of a Roy Rogers movie. Seeing the Round-Up Gang collection in the movie highlighted how mainstream Westerns were, years ago.

A big part of the story line included friendship and loyalty -- what's not to love?

Ann

[Cav Guy]

I wasn't that taken with Deadwood, actually. Swearing doesn't bother me, but I didn't feel that the writing was quite up to scratch. It might have gotten better, since I only watched the first 2-3 episodes, but there wasn't enough in those to make me want to hear more.

[Bmwhtly]

I'll pass judgement on Deadwood once it arrives (this week hopefully).

I'd also like to add The Proposition to my list. The baking heat really comes out of the screen. That and the langorous pacing makes it seem entirely different to any other western I've seen.
Also, it's interesting to note that although it is set in the traditional 'western' time-frame, it's set in Australia but is still, quite definitely, a western.

[kristin724]

Must read this thread in more detail later. Off the top of my head right now

The Searchers. Best movie ever
Red River
The whole Calvary trilogy
The Westerner
The Gunfighter
The Wild Bunch
The Magnificent Seven -and the modern tv show, too. What's with all the 'The's?

Tombstone
Unforgiven

I'm sure there's more obvious ones I'm forgetting. TV wise, well, there wasn't much current for an 80s baby like me. I count Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. Old shows I really only like Big Valley.


ETA: I've heard great things about The Proposition. I really like Guy Pearce and David Wenham so its on my to get list. I have another unusual Wenham western called Dust. Dad didn't like it though, thought it was too b foreign art looking. Go fig.

Here's a question-do young folks know and like older westerns because of their parents or did you chance upon the good stuff all by yourself.

[Bmwhtly]

Here's a question-do young folks know and like older westerns because of their parents or did you chance upon the good stuff all by yourself.*Starts singing*
All by Myseeeelf.

[Cav Guy]

I never saw Gunsmoke until I was 23. Then I was hooked. No one really steered me to Westerns, and I've found my taste was shaped accordingly. Gunsmoke, especially the black and white episodes, was surprisingly gritty for its time. I could never stand Bonanza or The Rifleman, although I did go through a brief Lone Ranger phase as a kid. I'm very hit and miss with Wayne, and I'm not a huge Randolph Scott fan, either (Blazing Saddles moment...now..."You'd do it for Randolph Scott").

But one of the joys of this genre is that there's something for everyone.

[Bmwhtly]

"You'd do it for Randolph Scott"*Takes off hat*
<Reverently> Randolph Scott


On the subject of Deadwood, I've now watched the first series and I do like it.
There is some skilled writing, but over 10 hours, it's spread pretty thin. There's also some good dialogue, but to find those nuggets, you've got to sift and pan through all the obsceneties.

The swearing doens't offend me, but it just seemed unneccesary. For a while at least. Then I thunk back to jobs I've had, and there we all swore almost as freely as in Deadwood. Mayhaps I've been too long removed from uncivilised society.

The only other things I took from the show are these:
1. The opening theme has those fiddle-strains that are more than reminiscent of Firefly.

2. Lovejoy's performance was as good as I hoped.

3. Seth Bullock seemed to be played as Kurt Russel's Wyatt Earp in places, but Dourif can carry it off pretty well.


It also seemed a bit of a shame that Carradine and Boothe didn't have more scenes together, since they had all their scenes together in Southern Comfort. But that may just be my sentimentality.


Come payday, I think I'll order series 2.

[Axler]

Personally, I loved The Rifleman...even though it's amusing to think now that it's considered a family-friendly show.

Take a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTRZ88WMWQQ&mode=related&search=

And of course, here's a TV western that should be rediscovered...it certainly has one of the most memorable theme songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuzhD8qGDJo

[Festus]

I don't suppose any of you all remember Wagon Train?

How about the commerials for "Twenty Mule Team Borax?" - which was actually mined in Death Valley.

My hat also is off for Randolph Scott. :-)

While I'm pondering this, Tom Mix came to my mind. A lot of realism was in his actions and dress, right down to the leather cuffs of a working cowboy in some areas. I would guess he started the ball really rolling with the cowboy hero movies, even with no sound.

[Axler]

I guess I was actually one of the few people who actually liked Sunset, featuring James Garner's second turn at portraying Wyatt Earp and Bruce Willis's first starring film role as Tom Mix.

http://www.lovefilm.com/lovefilm/images/products/3/9473-large.jpg

[stc]

...come to think of it, I like any western that has Slim Pickens or Ben Johnson in it.

[dpaterso]

I watched lots of '60s and '70s TV Western fare (High Chaparral, Lancer*, Hondo*, Iron Horse, The Quest, The Big Valley, as mentioned elsewhere) -- tho' I'm purty sure that if I were to watch 'em all again today I'd skip through 'em like I do with Star Trek re-runs. Don't get me wrong, nostalgia is a wonderful feeling, and some of those series deserve to be called classics, but I think maybe I'd prefer to see something that's fresher somehow. Yet I couldn't get into Deadwood. Don't ask me why, I can't rightly say. Maybe I'll take to the re-runs better.

* I found readable info on these slightly obscure series (and a whole bunch of other classic TV shows) on fiftiesweb.com:
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv-shows.htm
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/western-5.htm#hondo
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/western-5.htm#lancer

On the same page there's also a fun link to Western Horses and Their Riders:
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/horses.htm
Ever hurt your brain trying to remember the name of the horse Marshall Dillon rode? Or wondered what happened to the horse after it rode into the sunset? :)

-Derek

[Justin91]

*Takes off hat*
<Reverently> Randolph Scott


On the subject of Deadwood, I've now watched the first series and I do like it.
There is some skilled writing, but over 10 hours, it's spread pretty thin. There's also some good dialogue, but to find those nuggets, you've got to sift and pan through all the obsceneties.

The swearing doens't offend me, but it just seemed unneccesary. For a while at least. Then I thunk back to jobs I've had, and there we all swore almost as freely as in Deadwood. Mayhaps I've been too long removed from uncivilised society.

The only other things I took from the show are these:
1. The opening theme has those fiddle-strains that are more than reminiscent of Firefly.

2. Lovejoy's performance was as good as I hoped.

3. Seth Bullock seemed to be played as Kurt Russel's Wyatt Earp in places, but Dourif can carry it off pretty well.


It also seemed a bit of a shame that Carradine and Boothe didn't have more scenes together, since they had all their scenes together in Southern Comfort. But that may just be my sentimentality.


Come payday, I think I'll order series 2.

Deadwood is a great series. I had one problem with the writing...most of the characters sound almost alike. It is like they are reading aloud some colorful Cormac McCarthy passages intertwined with swearing. The swearing does not bother me, I would say there could have been a lot of swearing in an old mining town. I still love the show and I even like the writing...but many of the mains sound the same to me.

[kristin724]

Not had the fortune to see all of Deadwood. No HBO and their dvd prices are a little out there. I need to get the rest of Homicide Life on the Street, but I will upgrade my Magnificent Seven vhs someday!

[seven41]

I guess I'm older than anyone else because my heroes in the western movies (we didn't have TV) were Johnny Mack Brown, Allan Rocky Lane, The Durango Kid, Shamrock Ellison, Tex Ritter, Sunset Carson, Eddy Dean, Hoot Gibson, Whip Wilson, Lash Larue, and even Errol Flynn just to name a few.

Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were too twentieth century for me.

For modern movies, I liked Open Range and Silverado.

[Bmwhtly]

I guess I was actually one of the few people who actually liked SunsetYou are not alone!

Actually, it was mentioned in another thread around here somewhere. The Tombstone one I think.

And remember: it's all true, give or take a lie or two.

[JeanneTGC]

Here's a question-do young folks know and like older westerns because of their parents or did you chance upon the good stuff all by yourself.
Because I grew up in the 60's and 70's, Westerns were still on TV and of course we watched them.

My daughter is into Westerns because I am, basically. So, I handed that down to her.

[Horseshoes]

Rustler's Rhapsody. Rustler's Rhapsody. Rustler's Rhapsody.
Fine western spoof. A favorite film of mine.

I am looking for Monte Walsh, as I've heard good things about it. Anyone seen Monte Walsh.

How about modern westerns?
I really liked An Unfinished Life. I'd read some of Sprague's works but hadn't gotten to An Unfinished Life. Saw the movie and enjoyed it and now would like someone to tell me I won't be weirded out by big differences between the movie and the book. Has anyone read the book and seen the movie?

[Axler]

I am looking for Monte Walsh, as I've heard good things about it. Anyone seen Monte Walsh.


Which version?

The original Monte Walsh (1970) starring Lee Marvin..

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51S79Z6RRVL._AA280_.jpg

Or the much more recent (and in some ways, superior) made for TV remake starring Tom Selleck?

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51R4T1YljUL._AA240_.jpg

They're both good.

[Axler]

I guess I'm older than anyone else because my heroes in the western movies (we didn't have TV) were Johnny Mack Brown, Allan Rocky Lane, The Durango Kid, Shamrock Ellison, Tex Ritter, Sunset Carson, Eddy Dean, Hoot Gibson, Whip Wilson, Lash Larue, and even Errol Flynn just to name a few.

I became aware in the early to mid-sixties...there was a local UHF TV station that on Saturday showed nothing but old Western movies, old Western serials and old Western TV shows.

Pretty strange stuff a lot of it (I'm still puzzled by a short-lived TV series called Cowboy G-Men from the early 50s that the station reran), but I do remember really liking the Red Ryder movie series starring Rocky Lane and a very young (and sullen) Robert Blake.

http://members.tripod.com/~horsefame/img3/rlblake.jpg

[Axler]

Reruns of another weird old western TV series that station aired was The Range Rider, starring Jock Mahoney.

As a kid, I found the stories confusing, almost hallucinatory because they made little sense.

Many years later (like 30 or more) Encore's Western Channel aired The Range Rider during the day, so I watched a number of episodes.

Guess what...they were still just as confusing and hallucinatory...but at least as adult I realized that the writers were striving to be profound and funny, but just couldn't pull it off.

No slam against Jock Mahoney. The show wouldn't have lasted two episodes without him.

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/jock-mahoney-1.jpg

I've been trying to remember the title of a very short-lived western TV series from the early 1990s that was created by Larry McMurtry...talk about weird.

Very Jonah Hex...ghosts, Indian curses, guys wandering around blind with white irises, possessed by evil spirits...