# Best era for cowboy films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509 "2019-08-31T04:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bionic\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/49beb7/32.png) [@bionic\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bionic_man)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/1 "2019-08-31T04:09:26Z")
Which decade had the best Western s? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/2 "2019-08-31T04:17:19Z")
1970’s ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/3 "2019-08-31T04:46:21Z")
About 80% of all westerns ever made involve somebody chasing somebody. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/4 "2019-08-31T04:50:22Z")
In terms of production standards, acting talent, and authenticity, I’d have to say late '40s to early '60s. _ **True Grit** _ and _ **The Cowboys,** _ which came out in 1969 and 1972, respectively, and starred John Wayne, are outliers of that era. Sergio Leone came along in the mid-60’s and gave authenticity a real shot in the arm. Practically every Western since has been brutal and graphically violent, with everything filthy and practically smelling of horse shit. I love those! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/5 "2019-08-31T07:10:52Z")
I honestly believe that the best westerns of the last 30 years (_Unforgiven, Tombstone, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,_ et al) compare favorably to those of any prior era, though there have been some really bad ones, too. And if we can broaden this to include television, as much as I loved _Maverick_ and _Gunsmoke_, modern shows like _Lonesome Dove_ and _Hell on Wheels_ just blow them out of the water. It’s not a fair comparison, but it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/6 "2019-08-31T13:36:07Z")
The 60s, more or less. _The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_, _The Good, the Bad and the Ugly_, etc. And of course the Big Ones:\* The Hallelujah Trail\* and _The Cheyenne Social Club_ (which came out in 1970). ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/7 "2019-08-31T15:08:05Z")
American westerns: 1950s Italian westerns: 1960s ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/8 "2019-08-31T15:17:40Z")
This thread, for some reason, makes me think of the outfit Doc dressed Marty up in before sending him back to 1885, based on how cowboys dressed in 1955 movies and television. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/9 "2019-09-01T02:57:18Z")
February 1974 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/10 "2019-09-01T05:09:48Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > February 1974 “The Sheriff is a Ni_ **BONG** _er!” ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/11 "2019-09-01T19:23:49Z")
[=mediatype%3A%22movies%22"]Tom Mix]([Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22tom+mix%22&and)[) cowboy movies are in the public domain, and thus free. Can’t beat free. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/12 "2019-09-01T22:26:42Z")
Well, _My Darling Clementine_ came out in 1946, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/13 "2019-09-01T22:41:11Z")
Also, one of the excellent Trinity cowboy spoof movies was accidentally made public domain, but it’s not anywhere online as far as I can tell. Maybe it’s “public domain” in the same sense as It’s a Wonderful Life is, ie, not really. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/14 "2019-09-02T05:40:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “The Sheriff is a Ni_ **BONG** _er!” You’re rapidly becoming an underground sensation around here. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/15 "2019-09-02T08:48:31Z")
I’ma go with 85-95. That gets me everything from _Silverado_ to _Unforgiven_ to _Tombstone_ to the (IMO, quite underrated) _The Quick and the Dead_, while also including _Dances with Wolves_, _Young Guns_, _City Slickers and B2TF III_. My second choice would be the 70s, the golden age of Revisionist Westerns.\* Man Called Horse\*, _Outlaw Josey Wales_, that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/16 "2019-09-02T14:23:10Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The 60s, more or less. I’d agree with this. If the all-time argument is John Wayne versus Clint Eastwood, fans of the former can point to _True Grit_ and _The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_ and fans of the latter can say he hit three spaghetti westerns out of the damn park in time to Batman it up in _Hang ‘Em High_; but if we for some reason disregard those, and also Henry Fonda in _Once Upon A Time In The West_ and _How The West Was Won_ — and also the light comedy of _Support Your Local Sheriff_, and the ultraviolence of _The Wild Bunch_ — the ‘60s start with _The Magnificent Seven_ and end with _Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid_. I don’t see that getting beaten. (I mean, you could maybe go 1959-1969, to also loop in Robert Mitchum’s sleepy-eyed tough-guy schtick in _The Wonderful Country_ along with Gary Cooper’s award-winning plainspokenness in _They Came To Cordura_ — but I figure we’d kind of just be quibbling over mere details at that point.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/17 "2019-09-02T16:03:57Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > You’re rapidly becoming an underground sensation around here. You use your tongue prettier than a twenty-dollar whore! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/18 "2019-09-02T17:44:36Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I’d agree with this. If the all-time argument is John Wayne versus Clint Eastwood, fans of the former can point to _True Grit_ and _The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_ and fans of the latter can say he hit three spaghetti westerns out of the damn park in time to Batman it up in _Hang ‘Em High_; but if we for some reason disregard those, and also Henry Fonda in _Once Upon A Time In The West_ and _How The West Was Won_ — and also the light comedy of _Support Your Local Sheriff_, and the ultraviolence of _The Wild Bunch_ — the ‘60s start with _The Magnificent Seven_ and end with _Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid_. > > I don’t see that getting beaten. > > (I mean, you could maybe go 1959-1969, to also loop in Robert Mitchum’s sleepy-eyed tough-guy schtick in _The Wonderful Country_ along with Gary Cooper’s award-winning plainspokenness in _They Came To Cordura_ — but I figure we’d kind of just be quibbling over mere details at that point.) I don’t know. John Ford made _The Searchers_, with John Wayne, in 1956. Maybe that’s an outlier, but it doesn’t have the feel (or the look) of a '60s film. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/19 "2019-09-02T19:26:38Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I don’t know. John Ford made _The Searchers_, with John Wayne, in 1956. Maybe that’s an outlier, but it doesn’t have the feel (or the look) of a '60s film. It’s a great flick, but starting a decade of westerns that far back means we’d have to lose _The Good, The Bad And The Ugly_ and _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ to make it fit — which, sure, adds in that memorable John Wayne performance, but only by kicking out his Oscar-winning one from _True Grit_. Not sure I’d make that trade. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-era-for-cowboy-films/839509/20 "2019-09-02T20:55:51Z")
I considered _The Searchers_ in coming up with my range. I see it as the culmination of the classic western era rather than the beginning of the modern period.