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Post by topbilled on Dec 24, 2023 9:40:41 GMT
In a western melodrama, there is usually a good deal of family conflict. Problems might involve the control of a sprawling ranch or the control of a gold mine or oil well. Sometimes it even involves law and order issues in a nearby town.
Examples include:
BROKEN LANCE (1954) where Robert Wagner needs to stand up to his older half-siblings who are running a rustling operation on their father's land.
TRACK OF THE CAT (1954) in which Robert Mitchum faces off against a killer cat that claimed the life of his brother, while family tensions play out back home.
THE BIG COUNTRY (1958) which centers on a range war.
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Post by kims on Dec 25, 2023 14:00:58 GMT
I have to go with RANCHO NOTORIUS-deliciously bad film with a script that leaves me wondering what happens next because it doesn't quite hold the story together and direction with a lot of angst. Great film when you are in a light hearted mood.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 25, 2023 18:12:06 GMT
I have to go with RANCHO NOTORIUS-deliciously bad film with a script that leaves me wondering what happens next because it doesn't quite hold the story together and direction with a lot of angst. Great film when you are in a light hearted mood.
I'd also add TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN (1955) in which James Cagney's wife (Irene Papas) becomes smitten with a new ranch hand (Don Dubbins). Part of the plot has Pappas trying to deal with her impossible feelings, while Cagney aims to prove he's still boss in the region. |
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Post by kims on Dec 26, 2023 2:53:24 GMT
Thanks for reminding me of TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN. Is that the one where one of the sons is Robert Wagner?
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Post by topbilled on Dec 26, 2023 4:11:54 GMT
Thanks for reminding me of TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN. Is that the one where one of the sons is Robert Wagner? |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Dec 26, 2023 16:29:53 GMT
In a western melodrama, there is usually a good deal of family conflict. Problems might involve the control of a sprawling ranch or the control of a gold mine or oil well. Sometimes it even involves law and order issues in a nearby town.
THE BIG COUNTRY (1958) which centers on a range war. I first saw The Big Country a few months ago and was blown away by the intensity of the drama. Burl Ives and Charles Bickford took the idea of feuding families to new heights, so much so that only the essential pacifism and tolerance of the Gregory Peck character could provide a way out. It seemed rambling as I watched it, but by the time of the final conflict the slow build had really paid off. The Furies (1950) with Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey and Walter Huston. would be another one centered on family conflict, with family members going to extremes to settle their issues. George Stevens' Giant (1956) should qualify too, where land issues were once again a part of the way the story played out, that time over decades. There was debate at the time, and there still is I guess, over whether John Huston's The Misfits (1961) really qualifies as a western. I think it does and that it also has the qualities of good melodrama, with the conflicts over a woman and over ways of life. I saw it as a teenager and tried to interpret it almost solely as a Marilyn Monroe movie, which left me confused and doubtful, but it's grown on me so much over the years that I now think of it as a high achievement for all concerned. |
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Post by topbilled on Dec 26, 2023 16:36:59 GMT
In a western melodrama, there is usually a good deal of family conflict. Problems might involve the control of a sprawling ranch or the control of a gold mine or oil well. Sometimes it even involves law and order issues in a nearby town.
THE BIG COUNTRY (1958) which centers on a range war. I first saw The Big Country a few months ago and was blown away by the intensity of the drama. Burl Ives and Charles Bickford took the idea of feuding families to new heights, so much so that only the essential pacifism and tolerance of the Gregory Peck character could provide a way out. It seemed rambling as I watched it, but by the time of the final conflict the slow build had really paid off. The Furies (1950) with Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey and Walter Huston. would be another one centered on family conflict, with family members going to extremes to settle their issues. George Stevens' Giant (1956) should qualify too, where land issues were once again a part of the way the story played out, that time over decades. There was debate at the time, and there still is I guess, over whether John Huston's The Misfits (1961) really qualifies as a western. I think it does and that it also has the qualities of good melodrama, with the conflicts over a woman and over ways of life. I saw it as a teenager and tried to interpret it almost solely as a Marilyn Monroe movie, which left me confused and doubtful, but it's grown on me so much over the years that I now think of it as a high achievement for all concerned.
It's been awhile since I've seen THE MISFITS. I've always thought it was a bit overrated, but maybe I need to watch it again and form a new opinion.
As for Burl Ives, have you seen DAY OF THE OUTLAW (1959)...? In that one he plays the leader of a renegade group who's taken over a town in Oregon. His character forces one of the locals, Robert Ryan, to lead him and his men through the wilderness in a snowstorm to evade justice. This type of plot, sans the snow, would be used in many TV westerns of the 1960s and 1970s. Ives gives such a vivid portrayal of a man driven to extremes, who forces others to extremes, that it's intriguing to watch. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 26, 2023 17:04:40 GMT
I can only agree with the above comments about "The Big Country" as it's a top-five western for me with incredible performances by so many of the actors. I love the Jean Simmons - Carroll Baker rivalry in it.
I respect "The Misfits" as a movie - writing, acting and directing - but it is so depressing that I rarely watch it.
Two others that I'd propose are "Blood on the Moon," a Western "noir" that seems to fit the definition proffered at the top and, if we are open to more modern movies, 2003's "Open Range."
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