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Post by Grumpytoad on Aug 16, 2023 3:02:36 GMT
When it comes to westerns, I have basically only seen Ford and Wayne ones. What to watch to expand my horizons?
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Post by topbilled on Aug 16, 2023 15:04:39 GMT
What types of western stories are you interested in? Also, if your main source for westerns is TCM, you will be "stuck" with Ford and Wayne, because TCM doesn't show many films from this genre...and when they do schedule them, they go with the household names.
The best place to find classic westerns is by subscribing to Starz streaming. Or if you have cable, adding the Encore Westerns Channel. On those platforms you can find some very good Universal, Republic and Paramount westerns. And Universal was indisputably the studio that excelled in this genre from the mid-1940s through the mid-1970s.
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Post by cmovieviewer on Aug 16, 2023 21:12:36 GMT
Of the westerns that appear on TCM, 3 of my all-time favorites are coming up on the schedule (Eastern times):
2023-08-21 08:00 PM Winchester '73 (1950) 92m (James Stewart)
2023-08-24 09:45 PM Rachel and the Stranger (1948) 93m (Loretta Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum)
2023-10-14 03:45 PM Westward the Women (1951) 118m (Robert Taylor)
I am probably old fashioned in what I like, but if you haven't seen these they are worth checking out.
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Aug 17, 2023 0:30:55 GMT
Of the westerns that appear on TCM, 3 of my all-time favorites are coming up on the schedule (Eastern times): 2023-08-21 08:00 PM Winchester '73 (1950) 92m (James Stewart) 2023-08-24 09:45 PM Rachel and the Stranger (1948) 93m (Loretta Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum) 2023-10-14 03:45 PM Westward the Women (1951) 118m (Robert Taylor) I am probably old fashioned in what I like, but if you haven't seen these they are worth checking out. Those are 3 very good films. I don't know if I would define Rachel and the Stranger as a western since it takes place decades before the Civil War and isn't set in the west. Either way, I really enjoy the film. Winchester '73 is my favorite Stewart western. Westward the Women is a feminist masterpiece. (And thus, some may not consider it old fashion, ha ha). |
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Post by Grumpytoad on Aug 17, 2023 2:46:41 GMT
cmovieviewer:
"Of the westerns that appear on TCM, 3 of my all-time favorites are coming up on the schedule
Winchester '73 (1950) 92m (James Stewart)
Rachel and the Stranger (1948) 93m (Loretta Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum)
Westward the Women (1951) 118m (Robert Taylor)
I am probably old fashioned in what I like, but if you haven't seen these they are worth checking out."
Thanks. Will place them all in my queue.
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Post by Grumpytoad on Aug 17, 2023 2:52:14 GMT
topbilled:
"What types of western stories are you interested in?
Or if you have cable, adding the Encore Westerns Channel. On those platforms you can find some very good Universal, Republic and Paramount westerns. And Universal was indisputably the studio that excelled in this genre from the mid-1940s through the mid-1970s."
Pretty open on style. Although I have tried a few serials, and they just don't work for me. I give them up pretty quickly. The lone gunman type saving the towns, ranches, etc, seem decent. But at this stage I'd hate to exclude anything.
I'll search for Encore Westerns, thanks also for what studios to check out.
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Post by Grumpytoad on Aug 17, 2023 3:02:53 GMT
jamesjazzguitar:
"I don't know if I would define Rachel and the Stranger as a western"
That kind of makes it intriguing. But I'll save it for last, once I get a good look at the others. Stewart first since he is pleasantly familiar.
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Aug 17, 2023 16:25:35 GMT
jamesjazzguitar: "I don't know if I would define Rachel and the Stranger as a western" That kind of makes it intriguing. But I'll save it for last, once I get a good look at the others. Stewart first since he is pleasantly familiar. Top Billed has an interesting thread where 'what is a western' is discussed. E.g., do most of the location settings need to be west of the Mississippi? Does the year of the setting matter? Of course, there is no right answer. Funny but I checked the Wiki page for Rachel and the Stranger, and it starts off by saying "is an American western", but then goes on to say "In colonial America,,,". I just don't view colonial America as a time-period setting, or location setting, for a 'western'. I got curious so I looked up Northwest Passage (the 1940 Spencer Tracy \ Robert Young film): this is also called a 'western', but the year setting is 1759 and the location is the area that is now the border between Michigan and Canada and the enemy of these colonial Americans are the French. |
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Post by christine on Sept 11, 2023 21:27:33 GMT
Of course my all time favorite is Rio Bravo 1959 with John Wayne and Dean Martin. Another of my favorites is Bandolero! 1968 with Jimmy Stewart and Dean Martin, also 1965 The Sons of Katie Elder - again with the Duke and Dean Martin. Believe it or not I do like some Westerns that don't star Dean Martin - LOL - I think The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962 film and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 movie starring Newman and Redford are both great. Shenandoah 1965 is a good Western too - About the kind of trauma that happens to a family during war.
5 Card Stud 1968 film with Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum and Inger Stevens is worth watching also - it's sort of a mystery but definitely a Western. Oh, I'm back to Dean! LOL
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Post by kims on Sept 16, 2023 19:25:13 GMT
Last night INSP aired WESTERN UNION. Randolph Scott is as always great as an authentic cowboy, this time the bad guy turn good guy. Robert Young is the city boy, but no sissy and always turns in an acceptable competent performance (his greatest performance is in CROSSFIRE). Dean Jaggar another actor who never fails to deliver, Virginia Gilmore as the love interest, Slim Summerville as the comic relief. The basic premise is laying the telegraph wire to the west coast, Scott and Young vie for Gilmore and Jaggar is dedicated to the job, I recommend this one because unlike Ford westerns which plays to the myth of the old west-real men are silent strong immovable; WESTERN UNION characters are more human without being wimpy.
UNION PACIFIC with Barbara Stanwyck is the building of the railroad across the west. It also doesn't stick to the Ford mythical west.
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