It seems like there are a lot of western fans around here. What are some of your favorite western movies? TV shows? Books? Songs? Radio programs? Video games?
Movies:
While I actually prefer what was known as the "psychological" westerns of the 1950s my top two favorite western movies are
Lonesome Dove (1989) and
Unforgiven (1992). Warlock (1959) is probably my favorite 50s western.
TV Shows:
Gunsmoke (fav. episode "Thirty a Month and Found" - Season 20)
The Wild, Wild West
Maverick
The Rebel (fav. episode "The Waiting" from season 2)
The Westerner (fav. episode 'Hand on the Gun")
Favorite western books:
The Searchers by Alan Le May
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Ramrod by Luke Short
The Unforgiven by Alan Le May (not related to the 1992 movie)
Death Ground by Ed Gorman
Songs:
El Paso by Marty Robbins
Big Iron by Marty Robbins or Johnny Cash
Cool Water by Hank Williams
Ghost Riders in the Sky by Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash
Cowboy's Lament by Burl Ives
Radio programs:
Gunsmoke
You may or may not know that the Gunsmoke tv series started out as a radio show. It starred William Conrad and ran for several years. It was excellent.
My Top 25:
02/14/1953 THE ROUNDUP
04/02/1955 BLOODY HANDS
04/30/1955 REWARD FOR MATT
10/02/1954 MATT GETS IT
09/27/1952 THE RAILROAD
07/19/1959 SECOND ARREST
09/19/1953 THERE WAS NEVER A HORSE
10/21/1956 TILL DEATH DO US PART
12/27/1952 THE CABIN
06/06/1953 SUNDOWN
11/10/1956 CROWBAIT BOB
03/20/1954 OLD FRIEND
08/08/1953 SKY
09/23/1956 BOX O' ROCKS
07/22/1956 LYNCHING MAN
02/21/1953 MESHOUGAH
02/26/1955 CRACKUP
03/06/1960 BLOOD MONEY
09/20/1954 THE F.U.
12/06/1959 BIG CHUGG WILSON
01/01/1955 THE BOTTLE MAN
07/02/1955 GENERAL PARSLEY SMITH
11/03/1957 BULL
05/06/1956 THE PHOTOGRAPHER
All those can be listened to for free at the Internet archive.
Video Games:
I'm old so I've never actually played any western games. I've heard good things about the Red Dead games though.
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I've already mentioned three of my favorite westerns (Lonesome Dove, Unforgiven, and Warlock) but there are a ton more. I'll break them up into various categories. Usually by the movie's main star but also into groups like Spaghetti westerns and comedies.
Favorite Audie Murphy westerns:
No Name on the Bullet (1959)
Seven Ways from Sundown (1960)
Hell Bent for Leather (1960)
Drums Across the River (1954)
Gunsmoke (1953)
Gunpoint (1966)
Randolph Scott:
Comanche Station (1960)
Coroner Creek (1948)
Decision at Sundown (1957)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Seven Men from Now (1956)
Carson City (1952)
Clint Eastwood:
Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
High Plains Drifter (1973)
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo aka "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966)
Per un pugno di dollari aka "A Fistful of Dollars"(1964)
Fred MacMurray:
Face of a Fugitive (1959)
At Gunpoint (1955)
Glenn Ford:
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
Day of the Evil Gun (1968)
Jubal (1956)
Gary Cooper:
High Noon (1952)
Man of the West (1958)
Vera Cruz (1954) (Cross posted with Burt Lancaster)
Gregory Peck:
The Gunfighter (1950)
The Bravados (1958)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Billy Two Hats (1974)
Jimmy Stewart:
The Man From Laramie (1955)
Kirk Douglas:
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
Burt Lancaster:
The Professionals (1966)
Vera Cruz (1954) (cross posted with Gary Cooper)
Joel McCrea:
Fort Massacre (1958)
Colorado Territory (1949) (cross posted under "noir westerns")
Ramrod (1947) (cross posted under "noir westerns")
Charles Bronson:
Chato's Land (1972)
C'era una volta il West aka "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968)
La Bataille de San Sebastian aka "Guns for San Sebastian"(1968)
Comedies:
The Gunfighter (2014)
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Horses Collars (1935)
Lightning Jack (1994)
Three Amigos! (1986)
The Law West of Tombstone (1938)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (Obviously not an all out comedy but a lot of it is pretty light)
Spaghetti Westerns (non Sergio Leone):
El chuncho, quien sabe? aka "A Bullet for the General" (1966)
Da uomo a uomo aka "Death Rides a Horse" (1967)
Une corde, un Colt... aka "Cemetery Without Crosses" (1969)
Il Grande silenzio aka "The Great Silence" (1968)
Bandidos (1967)
Noir Westerns:
The line between film noir and the new "psychological" western of the 50s blurred in the the late 40s.
Pursued (1947) (Robert Mitchum)
The Badlanders (1958) (Based on The Asphalt Jungle. Alan Ladd and Ernest Bornine.)
Colorado Territory (1949) (Based on High Sierra. Joel McCrea)
Ramrod (1947) (Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake)
Gregory Peck's "Yellow Sky" has noir-ish lighting but the plot is based on The Tempest
If you like these noir westerns you might also like Robert Mitchum's "Blood on the Moon" too. It's not one of my favorites but different strokes for different folks.
B Movies and Oddities:
Tribute to a Bad Man (1956) (Jimmy Cagney)
The Ride Back (1957) (Anthony Quinn and William Conrad)
Rough Night in Jericho (1967) (Dean Martin and George Peppard)
Hell's Heroes (1929) (An oldie. Starts slow, ends well)
Barbarosa (1982) (Willie Nelson and Gary Busey)
Relentless (1948) (Robert Young)
The Furies (1950) (Barbara Stanwyck)
Rebel in Town (1956) (John Payne)
Black Spurs (1965) (Rory Calhoun)
Fury at Showdown (1957) (John Derek)
Hardcase (1972) (Clint Walker)
A Day of Fury (1956) (Dale Robertson)
Fury at Gunsight Pass (1956) (Richard Long)
Three Hours to Kill (1954) (Dana Andrews)
Two Flags West (1950) (Jeff Chandler and Joseph Cotten)
Taggart (1964) (Dan Duryea and Tony Young)
He Rides Tall (1964) (Dan Duryea and Tony Young)
Barquero (1970) (Lee Van Cleef, Warren Oates, and Forrest Tucker!)
A Gunfight (1971) (Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash)
The Law and Jake Wade (1958) (Robert Taylor)
Gunman's Walk (1958) (Van Heflin and Tab Hunter)
Hannah Lee: An American Primitive (1953) (John Ireland and Joann Dru. Impossible to find uncut)
Semi-westerns:
I don't usually like westerns that take place after 1890 or so. There are some that still have a western feel so I'll include them anyway.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
The Walking Hills (1949) (Randolph Scott)
Seen every western ever made? Why not try some Easterns?
Yeah, they aren't the same, but some of them have a similar vibe imo.
Last of the Mohicans (1936)
Beau Geste (1926)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Four Feathers (1939)
The Deceivers (1988)
Northwest Territory (1951)
The Brigand of Kandahar (1965)
The Four Feathers (1939)
The Stranglers of Bombay (1959)
Brat Doktora Homera (1968)
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