But Jesus in a zoot suit! Ya gotta love character names like Seaweedhead Greaser, Lamy Homo, Cholera, and Spitunia. And who can forget Jesse’s immortal line, ‘I bring you a message. Exactly six miles north of Skagg Mountain in the Valley of Pain, there lives an evil devil-monster. His name is Bingo Gas Station Motel Cheeseburger With A Side Of Aircraft Noise And You’ll Be Gary Indiana. And he loves to hurt people. The last time I saw Bingo Gas Station Motel Cheeseburger With A Side Of Aircraft Noise And You’ll Be Gary Indiana, he told me what he wants to do. He wants to come down here and kill each and every one of you! But I said to him: “Bingo, wait a minute.” And the reason I said that is because I believe in you people. I believe you can do the job. I believe you can help each other. I believe you can make this world a better place to live in. That’s it.’?
Trivia Time: the actress who played Kate was once married to Zal Yanovsky of the Lovin’ Spoonful.
And “Shorty” was a regular on “The Red Green Show.”
Not that you asked, but it’s nice to know that there are still a few of us who remember TGF, which has been out of print in any format for a decade or two.
Those two guys (Stanton and Bright) made it step beyond just a good movie into a sublime movie. If Bright had a better role than the dialog-free bodyguard for Michael in GF1&2, I never saw it. I was saddened at his death.
The Oxbow Incident
Unforgiven
Jeremiah Johnson
Little Big Man
Lonesome Dove
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Magnificent Seven
The John Ford trilogy
Stagecoach (the original)
Tombstone
Actually the attention to detail was carried to pointless extremes. Cimino insisted on actors wearing authentic historical clothing - not reproductions, he had them wearing genuine century-old clothing. And he had all the sets furnished - buildings had complete interiors even when no filming was done inside them (Cimino even had prop items placed inside unopened drawers and cupboards).
Then after this obsession with “authenticity” over trivial details that bordered on insanity, Cimino decided to indulge his artistic license over the main story. Only a handful of people were killed during the entire course of the “Johnson County War” but Cimino decided to turn it into a massacre with dozens killed in a single battle.
I’m pretty sure that the clothing was made for the film, but that it was painstakingly researched to be absolutely authentic. I don’t have a cite though, unless it’s on the bonus features on the DVD.
Speaking of artistic license re: the killings, there was a particular deviation that bothers me because it is glaringly factually incorrect. But I won’t spoil it.
Here you go. Directed by Victor Sjostrom and starring Lillian Gish, it’s–for my money–one of the top 5 silent films ever. Not a traditional western in that it’s mostly from a woman’s perspective and it deals more with the psychological toll of adapting to the harshness of frontier life, but it’s still got cowboys and a love of landscape, and is simply magnificent. Sadly, not yet available on DVD.
Unforgiven I agree, it transcends the Western genre.
Once Upon A Time In The West
Top 5 after that, in no particular order:
Silverado
Tombstone
The Searchers
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
High Plains Drifter
The Magnificent Seven
How would one of you like to set up a poll, using the most frequently mentioned ones in this thread to let everybody vote on the best (or top x-number)? I haven’t done any more than post here so I have nothing invested beyond the time to post. I release ownership of the thread’s contents to whomever.
Have the Coen Brothers ever done a canonical Western? They’ve danced around the edges (Old Men, Blood Simple, Raising Arizona) but not really done an official one. Maybe their upcoming True Grit will be in contention for top ten honors?
I don’t think any of Bud Boetticher’s (sp?) movies have been mentioned yet. I haven’t seen many of them but I think Seven Men from Now is just about the perfect western.
All of my other favorites have been mentioned, except for Hombre and Stagecoach (the one with John Wayne).
For my money, the 50s westerns from Boetticher and Anthony Mann stand up to any of that genre from that decade. Lean and ferocious, they’re criminally underseen and underappreciated. My favorite Boetticher film is Decision at Sundown (sort of an anti-High Noon), but there are plenty of others (The Tall T, Comanche Station, Ride Lonesome) that are well worth checking out.
This reminded me to suggest a very nice movie that’s too modern for the Best Western prize, but definitely worth seeing. Powwow Highway (1989) is one of several of its type to give the Native American a say in how the West has developed. A funny but poignant flic with some fine acting. Looking at Gary Farmer’s credits will show others of the type.
