Posted on 11/13/2010 9:31:23 AM PST by JoeProBono
"What components make a western truly great? That depends on who's asking, as there are so many subgenres and different takes. There's the classic, the Spaghetti western, the singing cowboy western, the comedy western and the contemporary western. We tend to favor the slow-moving epics à la Leone over fast shoot-'em-ups, and our gunslingers and cowboys to be complex, stoic characters faced with morally difficult situations we believe are microcosms for all of life. There were many contenders for this very American genre—even though some of the finest were shot by an Italian. We've also tried to include a couple of rare choices that do not easily spring to mind, such as the Australian oeuvre "The Proposition." After all, you can Google John Wayne yourself. But what list of top westerns would be complete without The Duke?"
As usual, you pick great pics to illustrate your threads. Not just the publicity shots we’ve seen ten million times.
Theere is one quality about The Searchers that’s rarely mentioned, and that is the utter weirdness of the late part of Wayne’s search. Some unusual landscapes, and a sense that Nathan is losing his grip. The climactic charge is a disappointment, but otherwise this is such a great movie.
I was going to say Jerimiah Johnson - but not sure if it counted as a “western”. That would be a nice one to see on the big screen again.
I’ve read quite a few of L’Amour’s books. I really loved the Sackett series, but all of his books were good. Zane Gray was good, too.
I liked Duel in the Sun with Gregory Peck and Jenifer Jones, for an oldy.
Quigley Down Under and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were good ones too.
EasyDoesIt:>)
Print the legend......
I agree with you about The Good, Bad and the Ugly.
Masterpiece.
Remember when Tuco found the note pinned to the dead guy?
He’s trying to sound it out phonetically. “See you soon id—...id—...id—...”
Eastwood grabs the note. “See you soon idiots.” Hands it back to Tuco. “It’s for you.”
Every now and then I pick up a book with L A's short stories, but they are over too quick and not as good as his novels.. Read every one he wrote and it a diamond when I found one that I hadn't read yet...
That’s it!
“You the one who shot my friend?” “BOOM!!!”
I won’t disagree with you about Howard Hawks being the one who changed the ending of Red River. I will disagree though about the use of the term “phoney hate”. Wayne’s character was single minded in his efforts to move the cattle and while that single mindedness CAN be a good leadership quality it was obvious that the character was, to say the least, a little lacking in people skills. As I said earlier, he was an a**hole.
In addition you had very real animosity between the actors. John Wayne found out that Montgomery Clift was a homosexual and Wayne treated him like...well...like you can expect a 1940 John Wayne would have treated a homosexual. The bottom line is that the last scene where they had to act like they loved each other was the only scene that required acting.
I can’t believe after looking at this whole thread I haven’t seen one mention of “One-eyed Jacks”. Remember- “git up you gob of spit”
Places 1-9 go to Red River. After that put in your favorite Eastwood film. I am partial to Josey Wales for 10.
No, every scene in the film required acting. Don’t fall into the trap of those who claim Wayne just was himself in his roles—that’s their way of detracting from his unique skill in front of the camera. He ignored both Hawks’ and Walter Brennan’s suggestions on how to play “older” and his acting here is of great subtlety, without the lurching and shuffling the other two wanted him to do.
It is indeed fake hatred they’re experiencing throughout the movie—on the surface, no, but in the climax we see when push comes to shove the Wayne character was a father figure who had no experience as such, so he just treated Clift’s character the way he would an employee. In the end, his turnaround makes sense, no matter how abruptly it’s handled, because when you look back it makes perfect sense. Wayne’s character is exhibiting tough love, before the term was invented.
Too much is made of Wayne’s disdain for Clift’s homosexuality. This is Hollywood, and Clift wasn’t the first gay actor he’d encountered in his life. The animosity between them was probably more about the excellent deal Clift’s agent (who was having an affair with Hawks’ wife) extracted, giving Clift almost as big a payday in this role as Wayne. Wayne and Clift’s problems were about Clift being a stage actor who looked down on movies, but before shooting started he realized Hawks’ wife was right, and he would learn a lot from Wayne. After saying Clift was “kinda queer” in pre-production, he was impressed at how such a man of slight build could stand up to his character. Wayne and Clift even went bear hunting together. Wayne even had Clift play poker with him and his buddies, but eventually what turned Wayne against Clift was not his acting or his “queer” vibes, but his arrogance as a stage actor who thought he was hot stuff.
That top picture is from the best five minutes in Western film history.
There ya go!
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