Western Movies
 

Discuss ,review or make a list of your favourite westerns,from The Great Train Robbery (1903) to Bone Tomahawk (2015) and everything in-between.





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Skin Game 1971
 

Skin Game 1971


James Garner as Quincy Drew and Louis Gossett, Jr. as Jason O'Rourke are a pair of con men travelling pre civil war USA, they've worked a con where Jason is sold as a slave then Quincy helps him escape and then they split the profits of the sale and move onto another town and do the same thing there again, You don't get that many comedy films that deal with race and slavery ,and before Blazing Saddles (1974) not that many comedies that used the N word either. Compared to Blazing Saddles, The Skin Game is fairly mild in tone and humour , and doesn't come close to its sheer loonesy. But the Skin Game is kind of uncomfortable to watch at times because the whole film revolves around the slave trade and uses it for humour . Louis Gossett, Jr character Jason was born a free man in New Jersey and has to play the part of a slave so he can be sold, In fact if his character even shows any sign of being well spoken or educated he's threatened with violence, Andrew Duggan as Howard Calloway a plantation owner does this in a scene where Jason un wisely tries to talk to Duggan as an equal. So if you can get past the rather unpleasant subject matter what you got is fairly light hearted comedy.James Garner and Louis Gossett, Jr. have a good chemistry together and make a great comedy duo, something they did again in James Garners tv show The Rockford Files a couple of times. If your a fan of films like Support Your Local Sheriff! and Support Your Local Gunfighter and are a big James Garner fan like myself then you'll appreciate his cool laid back likable self. Politically correct it aint, which is why I think it hasn't had a uk release on dvd,then again it may be just another forgotten film.

Ulzana's Raid (1972)
 

Ulzana's Raid (1972)

Directed by Robert Aldrich written by Alan Sharp,this is a western that tries to address the balance and show that it wasn't just the Apaches who could be brutal ,although by now Soldier Blue and Little Big Man had also covered this ground. That said the Apaches and JoaquÃ*n MartÃ*nez as Ulzana,and his war party are pretty damn mean bunch,and are portrayed as bloodthirsty savages who not only mutilate there enemies but in some case's cut out parts of there intestines and throw them about like they are playing beach volley ball. In fact any one who get in the way of Ulzana and his raiding party is in for a pretty sticky time,women are raped and the men usually mutilated and staked out on the ground,with one poor fella having his dead dogs tail stuffed in his gob for good measure. But its not all one sided,Aldrich shows us that the cavalry men sent out to capture Ulzana can be just as brutal,and are not adverse to mutilating the dead bodies of any Apache killed or shooting a woman rather than let her be caught by the Indians and raped. Although Aldrich is trying to redress the balance a bit, by showing that both sides can be just as brutal as each other,Westerns when dealing with Native Americans can not help themselves from being racist,and of course its always been in the best interests of American audiences to show that they are not the bad guys. Or is it an allegory for the Vietnam war? MEH At any rate its a interesting and violent tale ,with some great performances from Burt Lancaster as McIntosh the grizzled know it all tracker,Bruce Davison as Lt. Garnett DeBuin a virgin soldier who is given the job of tracking Ulzana and Jorge Luke as Ke-Ni-Tay ,McIntosh loyal scout. JoaquÃ*n MartÃ*nez as Ulzana has the thankless job of being the head baddie,there is very little in the way of characterisation for the Apache's,and we take it as red that they are just evil. Uk version has noticeable cuts for horse falls,but otherwise uncut for violence to humans.

The Paleface 1948 Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
 

The Paleface

1948 Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Jane Russell as Calamity Jane is busted out of prison by the governor and offered a pardon if she will go undercover and find out who is selling illegal guns to the Indians.Unfortunately, the man who was to be her partner in uncovering this is shot in the back.Bob Hope is Painless Potter a rather incompetent dentist who gets chased out of town for pulling the wrong tooth on a cowboy.Before you know it Calamity Jane has shot three outlaws, knocked out Painless Potter and then convinced him to marry her.Surprising for a zany Bob Hope comedy the plot and storyline is pretty good (Carry on Cowboy (1965) used a similar story except Jim Dale was a plumber, not a dentist). This was Bob Hope's first colour movie and probably one of his most famous from his solo career, featuring his hit song "Buttons and Bows" which won an Academy Award for Best Song that year. Bob Hope is at his most likeable in Paleface and Jane Russell, well even wearing a cowboy outfit can still look sexy as hell. Hope's mixture of a cowardly but arrogant wise cracking loser,is not a million miles away from Bruce Campbell ,Ash character from the Evil Dead films.
The Paleface is a colourful and fun comedy western that seemingly crams as many cowboy film cliches into its running time as possible. Its probably not often that I have a Ruggero Deodato flashback while watching a Bob Hope movie,but when the Indians tied Hopes legs to two tree's,I was reminded of poor old John Steiner's death in Cut and Run ( Inferno in diretta ),luckily for Mr Hope he does not suffer the same fate as Mr Steiner does, luckily when the ropes are cut Painless Potter shoots out of his cowboy boots and is slung up a nearby tree.Paleface is good old fashioned family friendly comedy with a great little gag at the end.

Great thread, Inspector.

Permission to join in with some reviews?

Please do, I can't keep reposting my old reviews :happy:

I seem to remember the line in Ulzana's Raid where you said 'Uncut for violence to humans'.

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Kurt Russell plays the sheriff of a small western town who together with three other men form a posse to go after the Indians who raided the town the previous night and kidnapped three of the townsfolk.

What follows is an often slow burning western which should appeal to lovers of the genre. It's easy to forget in this age of building throwing superheroes and Empire battling space operas how thrilling it can be watching men on horseback galloping along the plains, but this first time venture from director S. Craig Zahler (surely a name to look out for in the future) proves the classic western is still not dead. Because that's what Bone Tomahawk is, it's a classic western albeit with a twist, but at it's heart this tale of love and revenge is a lot closer to True Grit and The Searchers than it is to Django Unchained.

As the four are eventually captured by their savage foes who turn out not to be Indians but something else entirely, the film gets extremely violent and graphic. Yet for some reason it's the beautifully choreographed and languid build up, the first 90 minutes that linger in my memory. The realization that four men - Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins - all excellent - telling camp fire tales and generally being tall in the saddle against the odds, when well scripted, is still as relevant today as it was in the fifties and the golden age of the Hollywood western.

Highly recommended, but definitely not for the squeamish.

The Quick and the Dead (1995)

The Last Hard Men (1976)

A band of desperado's led by James Coburn escape their captors whilst working on the railroad. Now fugitives, Coburn decides to go after Sam Burgade (Charlton Heston) the now retired lawman who captured Coburn and who he holds responsible for the death of his wife. The gang kidnap Burgade's daughter (Barbara Hershey) prompting Heston to strap on his guns and saddle up one last time.

The Last Hard Men came at the time when the classic western was on it's way out of fashion. 1976 was the year John Wayne hit our screens for the final time with The Shootist and only revisionary westerns remained popular after the genre had become stale. Even Spaghetti Westerns had become tired. The film was the very last western from stalwart director Andrew V. McLaglen, a man with a fine output in the genre with films such as Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973), Chisum (1970), The Undefeated (1969) - With John Wayne, and Shenandoah (1965), The Rare Breed (1966) and Bandolero! (1968) - with James Stewart. (McLaglen would go onto direct some classic action / war films following his westerns - often starring Roger Moore). Clearly influenced by the films that breathed new life into the western genre in the 60's such as Leone's Dollars trilogy and Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969), McLaglen gave us a typical revenge western the likes had been around since the forties but with an added sadistical menace in the form of strong blood thirsty violence and a lengthy bloody rape sequence, every bit as controversial as Straw Dogs - probably the reason the film has never seen the light of day on dvd in the UK. (My copy is Dutch)


The story line is a tried and tested formula which has been done countless times before and indeed afterwards. Bone Tomahawk (2016) for the most part travels the same familiar road, however it is a road that works. It allows for characterization as we get to know how Heston's Burgade thinks as well as his sidekick Chris Mitchum who plays Hershey's soon to be husband, and also the other side of the coin, Coburn's band of convicts, who are all nasty pieces of work and deserve what's coming to them. The exception to the rule being Larry Wilcox (C.H.I.P.S.) who tries his best to look after Hershey whilst in their clutches, but to no avail. Coburn playing against type is excellent. Just when you think he might have a shred of decency he lets two of his dogs have their way with Hershey. (One of them is John Quade who you might recall as the Hells Angels leader in Clint Eastwood's 'Which Way' films) whilst Coburn sits in the background laughing in the hope Heston will show his face so he can blow it off.

Shot totally on location, McLaglen's direction is both leisurely and frenetic. Characterization is to the fore but it's the frequent sequences of sadism which prove most memorable.The blood spills frequently, every bullet and knife woud is savage, with the final shoot out especially gory. Who wins? Well anyone who knows Heston's genre output at the time will know his fate...Or will they? It is called The Last Hard Men after all.

The Last Hard Men (1976)
 

Sold as the gringo's with the beards who prop up the soda bar would say.

I didn't know you actually enjoyed westerns that much, Inspector.

Do you have a lot of them? Any particular favourites or type of western?

This might seem blindingly obvious but i like the ones shot on location. There were a hell of a lot of 50's ones that never left a Hollywood sound stage.

Im a big fan of spaghetti and of course the westerns,I really like the films that came out of Us during the late 60's and early 70's,Vietnam allegory and all that.So stuff like Soldier Blue,The Wild Bunch,A Man Called Horse,Butch Cassidy and the sundance Kid,Lawman,EL Topo,well the list is endless,I us to have a thing for Champion the Wonder Horse to.;)

I highly recommend McCabe and Mrs Miller for you. A truly original western from Robert Altman.

Yes now on my wishlist,cheers.

Neal Hefti - Duel At Diablo
 

Neal Hefti - Duel At Diablo

A cracking theme song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oNDdyPC4Ak

Good film as well. One of the few films to acknowledge black Americans actually existed beyond being servants to the wealthy.

A Man Called Sledge
 

A Man Called Sledge (1970)

It is always nice seeing actors play against type and just so slightly out of there comforts zone on occasions.And while James Garner is no stranger to being in westerns,in Sledge he is not his usual affable and friendly self,and is more like the charcrter he played in Duel at Diablo.Although in Sledge Garners character is definitely much more defined as the bad guy as he leads a posse of robbers and thieves. And as far as I am aware this was to be Garners only Spaghetti western,which according to the internet was not a happy experience for the actor.Also there seem to be problems with who actually directed the movie.with Vic Morrow credited as the director and Giorgio Gentili uncredited Any how its mid paced action western with all the requisite spaghetti western traits but with a more heavier American cast than usual,Dennis Weaver as Erwin Ward, John Marley as 'Old Man' and also Claude Akins as Hooker rounding out the American actors .Eye candy is supplied by the lovely Laura Antonelli who was in Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966) and Venus in Furs (1969). A Man Called Sledge while nowhere near on the grand scale of say Sergio Leone's masterpieces ,it does have a rather impressive story line involving the robbery of a maximum security prison that has a gold shipment locked in its vaults for protection.It is the subsequent gold and the detrimental effect it has on the gang that take up the secound half of the film ,there is no honour among these thieves. Shame Garner never did any more of these grittier westerns as he has just as much screen presence as Eastwood and could of carved out a nice tough guy screen image just like Van Cleef did.Probably recommended for die hard Spaghetti western and James Garner devotees.

Thought it was her in the still. . Is the film available on dvd, it sounds pretty good?

There is a US region 1 dvd and a new German release on dvd and blu ray both englais friendly.

Found the US one and added it to my wishlist, thanks. It'll have to wait a while as i've spent too much recently.

Let's go old school, HIGH NOON, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE... Cooper, Fonda & Wayne, hard to think of better B/W westerns, of them Clementine was the one it took me the longest to catch up with properly (well worth the wait) High Noon is at the moment my fave with it's sense of impending doom... I'll leave you with an iconic image:pop2:

http://i64.tinypic.com/fkd3x3.jpg

The Last Hard Men (1976)

I'll recommend If You Live, Shoot! Aka Django Kill and Cut-Throats Nine. :hail:

Are you going to review them for us? :clap:

I'm not sure where CT9 is at the mo, but I know where my old Argent DVD of DK is. I'll give it a spin and get back to you, I haven't seen it in years.

Cut throats Nine is one i wanted to get but if memory is correct its a code red release?

I think it is, Inspector. I have the old Eurovista bootleg knocking about somewhere.

The White Buffalo (1977)
 

The White Buffalo (1977)


Not sure if they (~the hipsters) have a turn of phrase for those western and period movies set in the snowier regions of the western genre,obviously we have had renewed interest due to the likes of Hateful Eight,and past movies like The Great Silence, Death Hunt and Jeremiah Johnson. J. Lee Thompson (sort of go to guy when Micheal Winner was having a dinner party or selling car insurance) directs Charles Bronson (the go to guy for J. Lee Thompson when he was not making Death Wish movies) as Wild Bill Hickok ,a man haunted by the apparition of a great white bunny,sorry buffalo.Also on the trail of the big white fluffy one is Will Sampson as Crazy Horse,a man on a mission after his village was wiped out by big buff.They did not take any chances cast wise,so they managed to round up every character actor alive including Jack Warden looking unrecognisable as an old timer,Slim Pickens doing his impression of Pickens,Kim Novak as Poker Jenny Schermerhorn .Clint Walker as Whistling Jack Kileen,Stuart Whitman and John Carradine as the local undertaker.oh not forgetting Ed Lauter bad guy for hire. The great Carlo Rambaldi is responsible for white buffalo effects,and the creature does look mean and ornery,as it charges around the sound stages,as most of the footage with the buffalo seems to be filmed in a studio rather than on location. Released in 1977,it seems a fairly odd time to release a western,even one with a monster buffalo in it,and its initial failure at the box office was probably largely due to the fact that most people were looking skyward with Star Wars rather than westward .J. Lee Thompson is if nothing else a consistently good director,never bad,but workman like,White Buffalo does take a while to get to the final face off,but its an interesting take on western genre.

White Buffalo is superb.

Why don't i own it on dvd? :confused:

Lawman (1971)
 

Lawman (1971)

Lawman (1971)

It seems a shame that Michael Winners career for what ever reason as a director (old age,ill heath) seem to fizzle out,he made some of the best action movies of the early to mid 1970's,and ironically he made two of the best westerns of the 70's considering he was from Hampstead.Not surprisingly he seem to be able to turn his hand to any genre and make a decent film,he seemed to have many detractors but genuinely made films for the audience as opposed to pleasing the critics.The Lawman in question is Burt Lancaster as Jared Maddox,a single minded lawman who is determined to bring to justice Lee J. Cobb as Vincent Bronson,and his cow hands who had previously shot up a town after a night of drinking and debauchery and in the mayhem an old man is gunned down. Lancaster's Maddox shares a similarity with Eastwoods William Munny from The Unforgiven,Maddox like Munny is totally unyielding in his purpose,and in his mission to bring justice and whatever cost to himself or the people around him. In fact Maddox who is the law,does not seem at all worried about gunning down anybody who tries to get in his way. With a top notch cast including Robert Ryan ,Lee J. Cobb and Robert Duvall, Winner's wild west is a violent doomed ridden place,where even the lawman are despised.Burt Lancaster gives a stoic portrayal and manages to stop gunning down people for a few minutes while he shares a bed with Sheree North.It would not be a Winner film without it's fair share of bloodshed and it does not disappoint,I suppose what tends to rile the critics is Winners politics,in Death Wish it taps into the right wing vigilante,Maddox is incorruptible ,but never try to shoot him in the back.It also has one of the bleakest endings that took me by surprise.

Sweet Vengeance (2013)

In the western town of Sweetwater, a fanatical preacher, a rogue sheriff and a classy former prostitute collide in a blood soaked tale of murder and revenge.

I really enjoyed Sweet Vengeance the first time round and this second viewing was no less rewarding.

For the first twenty minutes i felt the film was trying to be too provocative and clever for its own good, however with the proper introduction of Ed Harris's dingbat sheriff the storyline settled down and evolved into a rather tasty out for revenge western. Stylistically more on the lines of the spaghetti movement or later Hollywood pieces such as The Missing and Seraphim Falls rather than the classic American western of old. In fact having said that its a film which uses colour really well, especially January Jones's beautiful purple dress, startling against the yellows and browns of the classic western environments. She also played it beautifully. This kindly family woman just wanting to make a home with her husband and dog out on the range, suddenly with it all taken away from her she becomes an angel of vengeance.

The film has an excellent cast, the already mentioned Ed Harris, Jason Isaacs as the crazed preacher and Madmen's Jones as the landowner whose murdered husband is at the centre of the plot. I've seen Jones in a couple of films recently and this is the first one where she's actually been given something meaty to do, her killing spree in the final twenty minutes is as brutal and well performed as any i've seen, Calamity Jane she ain't. Isaacs as the prophet Jason is downright disturbing at times, his nefarious actions eventually bringing him the unwanted attention of both Jones and Harris. Isaacs scenes with Harris although non-violent are brilliantly confrontational and compulsive viewing.

Sweet Vengeance has some fantastic stand out scenes - Harris crucified upside down for one and Jones, standing naked in the river, turns round, 45 in hand, casually killing her pursuers with ruthless efficiency, for another.

Intelligent, hard hitting and brutal, Sweet Vengeance is highly recommended and the best modern western i've seen in ages.

Sweet Vengeance (2013)

Valdez Is Coming (1971)
 

Valdez Is Coming (1971)



Burt Lancaster dons the droopy Mexican moustache as Bob Valdez a local constable and all round good guy,but unfortunately for Bob he runs into Jon Cypher as Frank Tanner,a mean racist rich rancher who accuses a man of killing his friend (turns out Tanner is having an affair with dead mans wife). Valdez kills the accused man,but the man turns out to be innocent ,with the guilt of the man's death heavy on Valdez shoulders he decides to raise some money to help the widow.But seeing as the towns folk are unwilling to help him,they suggest he goes and sees Tanner,who not surprisingly is not to beneficial being bit of a shit.After a second attempt at trying to get money from Tanner goes a bit pear shaped,Valdez is crucified and made to walk out into the desert,that would certainly give the charity muggers in our city centre's something to think about. Bob is now on the warpath,digging out his old cavalry uniform and his biggest shotgun he kidnaps Tanner's woman,Susan Clark as Gay Erin.Based on a story by Elmore Leonard and directed by Edwin Sherin a man who mostly directed TV shows,Valdez is Coming is a nicely engaging story and well thought out revenge film,that said its underlying of theme racism is a little bit at odds when you have an American playing a Mexican.Not since Charlton Heston as Mike Vargas in Touch of Evil has there been such an odd bit of miscasting,but Burt Lancaster soldiers on with what can only be described as a rather patronising Mexican accent,and after a while you get use to his voice,although you half expect Basil Fawlty to wander into shot and slap Manuel,Er I mean Valdez across the head.What did surprise me was that this was filmed in Spain,using many locations Sergio Leone used,but I was unaware of this when watching the film,as it looked remarkably like good old USA to me.But that's where the similarities end,as the film lacks any real style of its own and like Burts moustache starts to get droopy toward the finale.

I don't mind Valdez is Coming, although it is a lesser western as you say.

Am i thinking of the right one? Lancaster is told to talk a man out of his house and the bad men he's with shoot the poor fella leaving Burt distraught, even more so when they turn on him as well.

yeah pretty much,I should say he gets even with Tanner at the end,but without killing him,just making him look like the big cowardly custard he is.If remade today they would get Danny Trejo to play Bob as his comedy Mexican is much more authentic.

The Hunting Party (1971)
 

The Hunting Party (1971)

Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) is a sexually sadistic but rich cattle baron who isn't adverse to a bit sexual violence whether it is with his wife Melissa (Candice Bergen) or a train-full of prostitutes. Frank Calder (Oliver Reed) is the leader of a brutal gang of outlaws,who kidnap Melissa believing she is a school teacher (Frank Calder (Oliver Reed) wants to learn how to read,probably so he can look at his most wanted posters). Directed by Don Medford (1917–2012) who looking at his CV was another prolific TV director,his film The Hunting Party is another in those post Wild Bunch westerns where the line between the good guys and bad are blurry to say the least.Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) and his rich friends go after Reed and his gang with high powered rifles,hoping they can pick off the men from a far. Medford attempt at a western is fairly crass and about as subtle as kick in the tumble weed,it lacks the politics and sly humour of the spaghetti westerns and just gives us brutality for the sake of it,the film starts with a calf having his throat slit,Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) treats the men he kills with his hunting rifle like he was hunting game.While it has a great cast including Mitchell Ryan,Simon Oakland and L.Q. Jones to name but a few,there is not a likeable character amongst the lot of them,and even larger than life Olly Reed seems to give a fairly restrained performance instead of his usual bombastic self.Gene Hackman plays a nasty character not to dissimilar to the role of Mary Ann in the film Prime Cut (1972). One of the main problems is that there is very little in the way of tension or indeed credible action,while the slow mo death scenes might invoke The Wild Bunch,but it has none of its camaraderie or pathos you got from the characters fighting against insurmountable odds.Shame really as it could of been a damn better film,only real plus point is the great score by Riz Ortolani.

The Hunting Party has been in my wishlist for ages. I've never seen it but certainly want to even though you don't seem over keen on it.

Gun Fury (1953)

Originally shot in 3D, this revenge western stars Rock Hudson as a man left for dead as Phil Carey's murderous gang kidnap his wife.

Shot beautifully on location in Sedona, Arizona. (I've been twice to the area, Bell Rock as features in this film is a stunning western location of natural rocky beauty). Director Raoul Walsh's film is fairly typical western fodder but still involving and entertaining none the less.

Hudson, very much in his macho sex symbol days is fine and a Walsh regular, but doesn't really stand up when compared to the Wayne's, Stewart's, and Randolph Scott's of the era. In fact he could almost be accused of over acting in this one so bullish is his bravado.

Perhaps he felt the need to do so when pitted against the likes of Carey, Leo Gordon and Lee Marvin as he is here. Or maybe it's because he's desperate to save the lovely Donna Reed from these villains of the west.

There's a fair amount of gun play and range galloping, meaning that even the most jaded western watcher will still enjoy this routine but fun actioner.

5 Card Stud (1968)
 

5 Card Stud (1968)

Dean Martin as Van Morgan is playing poker when one of the other players is accused of cheating by Roddy McDowall as Nick Evers,in the melee that follows the gambler is hanged and Morgan is knocked unconscious trying to stop the lynching. Morgan leaves the town of Rincon but eventually returns when he hears the rest of the men at the poker table are being killed off. Henry Hathaway who is no stranger to westerns,The Sons of Katie Elder (1965),Nevada Smith (1966) and True Grit (1969) and not to mention one of the best noirs of that era Kiss of Death (1947). It has to be said that 5 Card Stud (1968) is a slightly odd mixture of your traditional western mixed with a murder mystery angle. When Robert Mitchum as The Rev. Jonathan Rudd arrives in to town as the new preacher,you are kind of reminded of his role as Reverend Harry Powell in Charles Laughton's classic The Night of the Hunter,you kind of get the impression that this preacher has more than god on his mind.As the poker players are slowly killed off ,nothing to graphic here,except for the poor fellow who is tied to a post with barbed wire,which seems almost out of place for a western and more intone with a mid 80's horror film.5 card Stud is a genuine oddity,it has a great cast ,Dean Martin who may not be worlds best actor,but is so likeable and cool that he can pretty much getaway with anything.There's also an early screen appearance from Yaphet Kotto as Little George,the local bartender.And of course Robert Mitchum always gives value for money,especially if your in need of god fearing preacher type. 5 Card Stud is a hard film to categorise,if it had been directed by an Italian director the film would of turned into some sort of western giallo,a definite oddity but worthwhile watch.