52 Great American Westerns
No list is definitive and favorites change with the passing of time. So here's a list of (mostly) American made westerns (in no real order) I recommend. Please take note that there's some really major films I haven't seen!
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- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.John Wayne searches for his niece, for revenge, and ultimately for his soul. Jeffrey Hunter searches for family, honor, and a sense of manhood. Those searching for the greatest western ever made have found it!
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsWilliam HoldenErnest BorgnineRobert RyanAn aging group of outlaws in 1913 Texas look for one last big score, selling stolen Army rifles to a rogue Mexican general during that country's revolution, as the traditional American West is disappearing around them.Wild men in less wilder times have always been a strain on society. In the early 20th century it was wild men with guns. In the early 21st, it's wild men with tongues... and pens... and computer screens...
- 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.Extended version please.
The bridge between Sam Peckinpah's earlier work and his more ambitious stuff, Charleton Heston commands the screen (as well as his group of misfit soldiers), while Richard Harris sears it. Jaw-dropping cast includes James Coburn, Warren Oates, Jim Hutton, Ben Johnson, L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong, Brock Peters, Slim Pickens, and Dub Taylor. From the creator of Dirty Harry! - DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsRandolph ScottKaren SteelePernell RobertsA bounty hunter escorts a killer to be tried for murder, with the killer's brother after them.Eye-popping photography, excellent scenery, and the powerful presence of Randolph Scott, combine with a script by Burt Kennedy (one of the great unsung western screenwriters) and a cast of soon-to-be-stars, including Bonanza's Pernell Roberts, Lee Van Cleef, James Coburn and James Best (Dukes Of Hazzard), to create probably the greatest western no one's ever heard of. I dare you to call it a B-movie. I DARE YA'!
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsKirk DouglasAnthony QuinnCarolyn JonesA marshal tries to bring the son of an old friend, an autocratic cattle baron, to justice for his role in the rape and murder of the marshal's Native American wife.Revenge is easy. Justice is hard. Kirk Douglas is even harder!
- DirectorBernard McEveetyStarsChuck ConnorsMichael RennieKathryn HaysAfter an 11-year absence, a buffalo hunter returns home with lots of money in his saddlebags only to be robbed at gunpoint by a trio of no-good town citizens, prompting an eventual revenge quest.From the producers, star, and creative staff that made TV's Branded, comes this violent pulp-western full of truly odd characters, played mostly by former Branded guest-stars and future TV stalwarts. In a twist of (planned) irony, the villains actually brand Chuck Conners!
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodVerna BloomMarianna HillA gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.Dirtier than Harry, this is Clint at his most smart-assed. I love it!
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsYul BrynnerSteve McQueenCharles BronsonSeven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.An all-star shoot 'em up that needs no introduction. Magnificent indeed!
- 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.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartRock HudsonArthur KennedyWhen a town boss confiscates homesteaders' supplies after gold is discovered nearby, a tough cowboy risks his life to try and get it to them.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJames StewartJohn WayneVera MilesA senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.Excellent. They tell you to print the legend. I print the truth!
- DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsRandolph ScottNancy GatesClaude AkinsA man saves a woman who had been kidnapped by Comanches, then struggles to get both of them home alive.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneRobert MitchumJames CaanCole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with old friend, Sheriff J.P. Hara. Together with an old Indian fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher who's trying to steal their water.Rio Bravo versus El Dorado, it depends on which one you saw first. I saw this one. It's easy to see why James Caan went on to be a big star.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJoel McCreaRandolph ScottMariette HartleyAn ex-union soldier is hired to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. But what he doesn't realize is that his partner and old friend is plotting to double-cross him.
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerRobert DuvallDiego LunaA former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt landowner.
- DirectorRobert D. WebbStarsRobert RyanVirginia MayoJeffrey HunterMarshal Cass Silver has to deal with his old nemesis, a corrupt gambler, and his hired guns come to town as well as recurring bouts of blindness.
- DirectorMonte HellmanStarsMillie PerkinsJack NicholsonWill HutchinsA mysterious woman persuades two cowboys to help her in a revenge scheme.An arty, cerebral western from director Monte Hellman, this is compelling all the way, with an excellent performance by Warren Oates and frigid support by Millie Perkins and a young Jack Nicholson.
- DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsRandolph ScottCraig StevensBarry KelleyTexan Tom Buchanan is heading back home with enough money to start his own ranch, but when he stops in the crooked town of Agry, he's robbed and framed for murder.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsSpencer TracyRobert WagnerJean PetersThe saga of the Devereaux rancher family, set in 1880's Arizona.
- DirectorsHoward 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.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodSondra LockeChief Dan GeorgeMissouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.A timely message to soldiers who fought hard and watched Vietnam slip away, showing similar men in another time and an even more humiliating defeat, not just for Josey, but for the Indians of the story as well, that sometimes a loser has more dignity than a winner.
- 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.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert RedfordWill GeerDelle BoltonA mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsMickey RourkeDermot MulroneyTed LevineLeft for dead by his bank robbing gang, a marauder joins a posse to seek revenge.An eccentric performance by Mickey Rourke and a mean script from the always ultra-violent pen of Eric Red push this over the edge!
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCharles BronsonJack PalanceJames WhitmoreIn 1870s New Mexico, a half-breed kills a bigoted sheriff in self-defense but the posse that eventually hunts him finds itself in dangerous territory.Though admittedly not an American film and not quite a spaghetti western either, It's a hate-story of the highest order and an interesting precursor to director Michael Winner and Charles Bronson's Death Wish.
