"I never killed a man who didn't need killin"

[DVV]

Yes-fascinating individual. total badass.

Hi Abby,

Yes, total badass as you say.

But the civil war must have something to do here.

[Abby Normal]

Hi Abby,

Yes, total badass as you say.

But the civil war must have something to do here.

Of course. Bad blood between old Yankees and Rebs led to much of the drama of the old west-Another reason why I find it interesting that Hardin didn't want to mess with wild bill since he was considered a Yankee. They showed a lot of mutual respect and I think they just didn't want to tangle with each other.

There's a lot of great westerns, but my essential list:

Shane
The Searchers
Rio Bravo
Tombstone
The Magnificent Seven
Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid
High Noon
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Unforgiven
High Plains Drifter
The Outlaw Josey Wales

[DVV]

Great list, Abby.
You're the first to mention Josey Wales.
Faint air of seventies...

[Cogidubnus]

Josey Wales was great...but... I'll be your Huckleberry!

[Mayerling]

Of course. Bad blood between old Yankees and Rebs led to much of the drama of the old west-Another reason why I find it interesting that Hardin didn't want to mess with wild bill since he was considered a Yankee. They showed a lot of mutual respect and I think they just didn't want to tangle with each other.

There's a lot of great westerns, but my essential list:

Shane
The Searchers
Rio Bravo
Tombstone
The Magnificent Seven
Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid
High Noon
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Unforgiven
High Plains Drifter
The Outlaw Josey Wales

From what I read Hardin and fellow gunslinger Ben Thompson were both in Abilene when Hickok was marshal there, and he apparently (politely) faced both down. They spent a quiet evening together (Hardin and Thompson) each suggesting if the other wished to fight Hickok. Both didn't and thus lived far longer lives as a result.

I did like "Butch Cassidy" and "Josey Wales". How about Clint's homage to "Hangin' Judge Parker" (Pat Hingle, in a nice performance by the way), "Hang "Em High!". Good one there. For that matter "The Westerner" with Cooper and Brennan (the latter as "Judge" Roy Bean - Brennan's last "Oscar" role). Or (as "The Shootist" was mentioned) how about Gregory Peck's "The Gunfighter".

Actually more westerns that I liked then I thought. Since I mentioned Cooper, his comic western "Along Came Jones" is worth a look, as is "Destry Rides Again with Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.

Two weird ones from the 1950s that are women centered: "Rancho Notorious" (again with Marlene) and "Johnny Guitar" with Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge (and Sterling Hayden as Johnny Guitar).

Jeff

[GUT]

Another no one has mentioned

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Coupled with Dylan's song.

[Mayerling]

Another no one has mentioned

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Coupled with Dylan's song.

Hi GUT,

There are also two earlier Billy the Kid films. One is "Billy the Kid" with Robert Taylor (1941) and the other is "The Left Handed Gun" with Paul Newman and John Dehner as Billy and Pat Garrett.

What's "Dylan's Song" about?

Jeff

[GUT]

Hi GUT,

There are also two earlier Billy the Kid films. One is "Billy the Kid" with Robert Taylor (1941) and the other is "The Left Handed Gun" with Paul Newman and John Dehner as Billy and Pat Garrett.

What's "Dylan's Song" about?

Jeff

Sorry Jeff I meant Bob Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door" from Pat and Billy.

I've seen both of those Billy the Kid Movies, really liked Left Handed Gun. "Billy the Kid" I wasn't so keen on by Taylor saved it.

[Mayerling]

Sorry Jeff I meant Bob Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door" from Pat and Billy.

I've seen both of those Billy the Kid Movies, really liked Left Handed Gun. "Billy the Kid" I wasn't so keen on by Taylor saved it.

Haven't heard Bob Dylan's song about Billy. Maybe it's on You Tube.

"Billy the Kid" was MGM's attempt to cash in on 20th Century Fox's 1939 success about the James Gang, "Jessie James" with Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda and Randolph Scott). But the 20th Century fox film was better in terms of story. "The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Bob Ford" actually painted a better - and more frighteningly correct - portrait of James as a psychotic killer. On the other hand I loved Henry Hull's pro-Jessie newspaper editor in the Power film, who ends every editorial with the exclamation that anyone who disagrees with his sentiments ought to be taken outside and shot down like a dog. You can't beat that kind of dialog!

Jeff

[Hatchett]

In Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Dylan wrote and performed the sound track. There were a number of songs, including Knocking on Heavens Door. There were two called just "Billy."

[Robert]

"The Seven Faces Of Dr Lao" was an entertaining remake of 'Shane' for children.

[RockySullivan]

Red river is great too

[kensei]

One that I really liked a lot was "The Missing" (2003), though a lot of people think it's too hokey. Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, and a story about the search for a kidnapped girl who's been taken by an Apache sorceror, or "brujo." I know the witchcraft elements won't appeal to everyone but it ends up in classic Western shoot-em-up style. I for one enjoyed the supernatural parts, and Jones had some chilling lines as he tried to explain to Blanchett what they were dealing with:

"I knew a brujo that could put an arrow in you from one mile away. I saw a brujo lay his hand on a child's head one time, one time. That child fell down on the ground, clamped up, and spit up white bees til she died."

Val Kilmer had a cameo in that as a cavalry officer, so I'll also give a nod to "Tombstone" in which he gave such an amazing performance as Doc Holiday and which has got to be on my top five list of favorite Westerns. "The Missing" also had this absolute little firebrand of a child actress in it named Jenna Boyd who must have been around ten years old at the time. Not sure what she's done since but I swear she was the best actor in the whole film.

[kensei]

I'd also like to give a shout out to the remake, re-imagining or whatever you want to call it of "True Grit" just a few years ago. I thought it was amazing. I'm not going to say that John Wayne wasn't a great American hero or that he doesn't deserve his legendary status because he most definitely does, but at the same time I think it has to be said that he didn't have that much range as an actor. Jeff Bridges does, and his Rooster Cogburn was a grizzled, growling version of the character that I think was much more true to life than Wayne's. I remember sitting in the theater thinking oh please let them have preserved that great line "Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!" And of course they did, and when Bridges delivered it he snarled it like an animal. I'm not saying Wayne's delivery wasn't good, I just think Bridges' was much more realistic for a man about to charge across a clearing and single-handedly fight several armed men to the death.

And also, the part after that when he's trying to get the girl to medical help before she can die from snakebite and has to take her horse because his has been killed in the fight and he just rides it and rides it until it drops from exhaustion and he has to shoot it and go on on foot as the girl screams and cries for it- good god, that absolutely ripped my heart out and made me shed a tear. And that's exactly what movies are supposed to do.

[Steadmund Brand]

Winning the best picture oscar is a good indicator of how bad a movie is

it's sad how true a statement this is...as a lifelong film buff/historian I can't believe how shameful the Oscars have become... if you spend a ton of money you can win.. if you don't play the game... no matter how good your film is... you won’t even get a nomination...

Steadmund Brand