"Top Westerns of the 1950's" Topic

We did the top five westerns of the 1970's and later which started some lively conversations, so let's try listing our top westerns of the 1950's. I don't want to add an artificial barrier like a specific number, so just tell us which ones you liked and why. Here are four of mine in no particlar order.

Winchester '73 – The first Anthony Mann directed Jimmy Stewart western and IMO the best. The supporting actors are all good, and this was Dan Duryea's first performance as an eccentric gunfighter which he would repeat to great effect in two more films. Some would say that Will Geer as Wyatt Earp was bad casting, but I don't think of him as the *real* Earp, but rather as just a colorful and believable western sheriff. All of the Mann/Stewart westerns are top notch and I'd love to see a boxed set representing them.

Rio Bravo – The casting was nearly perfect in this one. The only exception is a barely passable performance from Rick Nelson. Instead I would have loved to see a young Steve McQueen as "Colorado". There is also a pointless song by Nelson and Dean Martin that only slows things down, but ignoring those faults, the performances by Wayne, Brennan, Dickinson, and a surprisingly good Dean Martin in a tense and well directed plot, make Rio Bravo an easy favorite here. In fact, the plot was so good that director Howard Hawks would use it again in "El Dorado".

Shane – Excellent acting, memorable characters, perfect use of beautiful scenery, effective action, and outstanding direction of a compelling plot with an ambiguous love triangle make Shane one of the best westerns ever filmed. Jack Palance reminds me of a coiled rattlesnake whenever he's in view and his gunslinger is a template for future evil gunfighters. One of my favorite scenes is a discussion between Van Heflin and Emile Meyer as Palance slowly gets off his horse to get a drink of water while he and Alan Ladd stare at each. The discussion becomes secondary to "Shane" and "Jack Wilson" sizing each other up for the inevitable showdown. This was as good a scene as I have ever seen in a western and we owe it to George Steven's direction. And, of course, the final sequence with "Shane" slowly riding away, possibly dieing, and "Joey" calling for him to "come back", is as now famous.

"Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" – "Gunfight", "High Noon" and "Shane", were very influential films. Instead of viewing westerns as essentially "B" and low budget films, Hollywood began to invest money in larger productions and "B" westerns would be pretty much gone in a few years. John Sturges, who later directed "The Magnificent 7", helmed this one to great effect, Leon uris wrote the script, and the actors were all fun to watch. I particularly liked Kirk Douglas as the personable and absurdly robust "Doc Holliday". The final gunfight was, of course, totally at odds with history, but as a climax it was one of the best in a 1950's western. Dennis Hopper snagged a small role as Billy Clanton and you'll see many other familiar faces as well, including Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam, DeForest Kelley, and Frank Faylen. And Oh yeah…none other than Frankie Laine sings the title song over the credits.

As you can see, "High Noon" is absent from my favorites. I never liked this film. Even as a kid when I saw it in a theater I thought that the premise that a western town would not support it's Marshall was silly. I didn't find it believable then, and now knowing about Northfield and Coffeyville, I believe it even less now. A couple of well aimed shotgun blasts from a hidden position would have cut the gang to pieces! I understand that the film was controversial at the time and I can see why.

So OK, I'm done. Let's hear what you guys have to say. (-:

The Searchers.

The indian fight in Winchester '73 is a bit rubbish, as is the idea of a character called Steve being 'yella'.
However i loved the town set at the start (Great inspiration for model buildings – NB the land office with the tower) & the delapidated adobe town at the end

Another vote for "The Searchers" my favourite western.
"The Naked Spur"
"Vera Cruz"
"The Far Country"
"The Red Badge of Courage"

Rio Bravo – The casting was nearly perfect in this one. The only exception is a barely passable performance from Rick Nelson. Instead I would have loved to see a young Steve McQueen as "Colorado". There is also a pointless song by Nelson and Dean Martin that only slows things down, but ignoring those faults, the performances by Wayne, Brennan, Dickinson, and a surprisingly good Dean Martin in a tense and well directed plot, make Rio Bravo an easy favorite here. In fact, the plot was so good that director Howard Hawks would use it again in "El Dorado".

"My Rifle, Pony, and Me?"
It's an excellent song.
Ricky Nelson was brought in to lure in the younger crowd, by tossing a song or two in, (one with Dean Martin and the other by himself), they could show his musical talent off and his acting talent.
Actually I think he did pretty well for the part that he was given, and how he played it. He developed a nice character quirk of rubbing his eye with his finger for the movie.
And if you are going to have Ricky Nelson sing, then you HAVE to have Dean sing…I mean…the guy was cranking hits before AND after Ricky Nelson, and the others.

The movie was great…the cast was fantastic, and Angie Dickinson was va-va-voom!

>>"The Red Badge of Courage"<< Isn't a western, it's an eastern. (-:

>>The Searchers.<<

Why?

I really enjoy The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence. It has a great cast, an excellent moral dilema, and of course a great villain.

CC

As you can see, "High Noon" is absent from my favorites. I never liked this film. Even as a kid when I saw it in a theater I thought that the premise that a western town would not support it's Marshall was silly.

You're viewing it in the wrong context. It's a fable disguised as a Western, not a historical recreation of anything. It's about the McCarthy era and how people needed to stand up to the blacklisters and not knuckle under to fearmongering. Ironically, McCarthy did indeed run amuck until one man stood up to him— at which point, McCarthy's power and influence collapsed. I know John Wayne thought the film was "un-American," but John Wayne was wrong. In fact, the film doesn't support either a conservative or liberal ideology. It rightfully criticizes those who would sacrifice anything or anyone on the altar of peace, as well as those who want to enjoy the benefits of society without being willing to make any sacrifice or take any risk when their society needs them. One man sees his duty and does it, even when the world and logic tells him to run. I think that's a remarkably American attitude (not that other countries don't also share it), and is one of the reasons I love this film. Plus, of course, it is just a powerful, exceptionally crafted piece of cinema by the grand master of the Western— John Ford.
Now, let's all sing along (or hum): "Do not forsake me, O my darling…"

>>"My Rifle, Pony, and Me? It's an excellent song.<<

I disagree…a lot! (-: To me it sounds like something that Gene Autry or Roy Rogers would sing in a "B" western. IMO it was out of place in the middle of siege.

>>Ricky Nelson was brought in to lure in the younger crowd<<

Sure. Box office. But IMO there were others around that could have done better as "Colorado". Come to think of it, I would have rather seen Elvis Presley do the part. BTW, Nelson pretty much disappeared from the silver screen after "Rio Bravo". Singing was a better option. He had a *huge* number of top 40 hits.

>>I really enjoy The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence. It has a great cast, an excellent moral dilema, and of course a great villain.<<

…and was released in 1962. (-:

Not a western, but with a great "Western" feel: The Horse Soldiers. John Wayne is of course terrific (I love the scene where he nonchalantly asks for the sergeant's glove while two Southern deserters— whom he knows are little more than liars and thieves— babble nonsense his way. Wayne calmly pulls the glove on, smiling at the two (one played by Denver Pyle), and then WHAM!— decks the Denver Pyle character out cold). Lots of great Americana in this film, and terrific myth-making. And the cross-play between Wayne's colonel and William Holden's surgeon over military necessity versus medical need is a great element. Again, another outstanding effort by John Ford.

Come to think of it, I would have rather seen Elvis Presley do the part.

Seeing how well Elvis actually did in the movie Charro, I think you are correct. I would've loved to have seen Elvis and John Wayne do a Western together. Elvis wanted to do some serious parts but got stuck in the Tom Parker-Hal Wallace quagmire…

And I think that by the time Rio Bravo was filming, Elvis was already in the Army…

It's about the McCarthy era and how people needed to stand up to the blacklisters and not knuckle under to fearmongering. Ironically, McCarthy did indeed run amuck until one man stood up to him— at which point, McCarthy's power and influence collapsed.

Strangely enough, and when the KGB vaults were opened in the 90's some of the many people that Joe called "Reds" and denied it all the way (and even to the grave), actually were reds, or in league with them.

The Naked Spur was one of Stewart's best performances and the story was ground breaking by Hollywood standards everyone has a dark secret and no real hero

"Red Badge of Courage", odd, I didn't know that there was an "Eastern" film genre, I guess being a Brit that I lump the ACW films in with westerns, sorry about that ;-).
As for "The Searchers", I can watch this film again and again, and I do. It is a film with a stellar cast, all of whom put in fine performances; probably John Wayne's best performance as the lonely bigoted Ethan Edwards.
The film's cinematography is excellent and ably assists the questers in their 5-year search for Debbie. It cast its shadow across the many conflicts between individuals and race from the ACW to the frontier war between Whites and Indians; all have suffered, but battle on.
There are many fine comedic moments, I particularly like the moment when Laurie finds out about Martin Pawley's marriage to Luke. Eyhan is in many respects the same as Scar, only they are on opposite sides. The final moment of the film always remains in my memory; such a man as Ethan was needed, but he will always remain outside the pale.
It's interesting to compare this to Le May's other western "Unforgiven" (1960), which is a kind of reverse "The Searchers".

I'm with Murphy. Rio Bravo is absolutely perfect the way it is.

Elvis: Flaming Star. Great film. Serious turn by the King as a half Comanche being forced to choose sides.

Watch "the Searchers", "Flaming Star", and "The Unforgiven" and you will get a great feel for the situation in west Texas post ACW.

Only "The Searchers" really stands out as cinema but as visual pseudo history all three are great. Stereotypes abound and yet these stereotypes represent what today we might call special interests in the period in question.

I couldn't agree more with Shane. The long scene of Little Joey running into town with the dog and trying to catch Shane as he rides down to face Wilson is one of the most beautifully paced, filmed, and tension-building preludes to action ever captured on film. Even the weather cooperated with the storm clouds gathering, almost boiling with repressed energy as Shane spurs his horse into a gallop. Shane is a masterpiece.

I'd have to add the original 3:10 to Yuma, with fine performances by Glenn Ford and the, in my opinion, always underappreciated Van Heflin.

Gunfight at the Ok Corral is another favorite, again with an excellent cast, and the Frankie Laine ballad is one of the favorites on my Frankie Laine Western themes compilation. (I used to run a lot of Boot Hill games: less as a role-playing game and more as a shootout game, because I really like the mechanics of the way gunfights play out in the rules. When I did my Boot Hill version of the famous Gunfight at the Ok Corral, I set it up like the one in the movie--obviously not historical, but much more fun.)

I would also add The Big Country. Another beautifully acted and brilliantly cast Western, much more thoughtful than the usual oater, and one of the few Westerns where I actually thought the romance mattered instead of filling time between shootouts. The Big Country also has one of the great movie scores of all time too.

Two-Gun Mulligan

So Murphy,
You & "Joe" are pretty tight, huh?
Personally, I'm with Parzival.

>>I really enjoy The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence. It has a great cast, an excellent moral dilema, and of course a great villain.<<

…and was released in 1962. (-:

That's what I get for posting, picky, picky.

CC

If it's not too late, I'd also like to throw in a vote for an offbeat Kirk Douglas Western that I thought rich and rewarding, The Big Sky, about the adventures of some frontier traders and trappers on an epic keelboat expedition to Blackfoot country in the 1830s.

"Oh Lord, I've been gutshot again (time to switch the dice)" Mulligan

I was going to mentin "The Big Country" too. Mulligan hits all of its high points. Great scenary, great acting and an awesome theme song.

I'm having trouble remembering which movies were filmed in the 1950s vs some of my faves in the early 1960s.

I also like "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon", the last of the John Ford-John Wayne trilogy. The Duke is on his last mission before retirement from the cavalry, with all of the hazzards that it entails. I like the movies that have the US Cavalry roaming the Plains on patrol. (or was this movie in the 1940s?)

Another vote for "The Searchers."

Surprisingly dark for a film starring the Duke and made in 1956.

Named the Greatest Western of all time by the American Film Institute in 2008, and I have to agree.

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon is 1949. But darn close, and one of my favorites too.

Ya know, I haven't seen The Searchers. This is a gross lack in my film viewing history, which I shall have to rectify post haste. Thanks for reminding me, all!

You know, "Duke Wayne and the Searchers" would be an excellent name for a surf band!

Mulligan

Parzival – I like John Ford a lot but let's not give him too much credit. High Noon was directed by Fred Zinneman.

The Searchers is one of my all-time favorite Westerns. "Shane", "Rio Bravo" and "Vera Cruz" are all favorites. No one has mentioned the best "B" Western of the 1950's "Seven Men From Now"

Ceterman…
Nope…not sure what gave you that idea…just repeating what I have found out from reading the material released from their archives.
Wow..whaddya know…the so called "Innocents" Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who had people crying for them because they were "just a family from Brooklyn, and innocent as day…WERE commie spies…" Imagine that…
Sometimes Ceterman, when you witch hunt, you actually DO find witches….

Now…while we're here…I've some questions I'd like to ask you…

Murphy.

Ceterman.

Enough, please.

I thought "George II" (ours, not the UK's,) was a [multiple expletives deleted] Pseudo-NeoCon (a Liberal in Conservative clothing as it were) myself but I'd rather not have politics mixing with my Western Myths.

Parzival to a degree too. Well, you did give Murphy the opening…

Gracias,

Glenn

Yup 1949 for She wore a yellow ribbon.

She Wore a Yellow ribbon, Good movie.

Just about any John Wayne movie from the 40's to the 60's was good….

Hmmm..now that I think of it….I think they're about the only 50's western movies I've seen….Well, not quite ;)

Some of the Roy Rogers B-films I liked alot. It blended the old west with the 50's…….I always liked that :D

Hmmm…Maybe I better go bust em out again.

Gene Autry,etc I liked too, but they were mainly early 40's…so not quite ;)

"The Big Sky" is most notable for Hank Worden's turn as Poordevil. Any western benefits from "Ole Mose"!!

Even though it is a T.V. series, I think "Have Gun Will Travel" is a classic, that stands up to the test of time.

Highly subjective, obviously, but here's my top 5 1950's

1952 – High Noon
1953 – Shane
1957 – The Tin Star
1958 – The Big Country
1959 – Rio Bravo

>>No one has mentioned the best "B" Western of the 1950's "Seven Men From Now"<<

In fact, nobody has mentioned *any* of the Bud Boetticher directed Randolph Scott westerns except you. I don't recall that they were "B" westerns though. Other decent entries were "The Tall T", "Buchanan Rides Alone", "Decision At Sundown", and "Ride Lonesome".

>>Just about any John Wayne movie from the 40's to the 60's was good….<<

I know you said "just about", but did you see "The Barbarian and the Geisha", "The Conqueror", and "Trouble Along the Way"?

>>I'd have to add the original 3:10 to Yuma, with fine performances by Glenn Ford and the, in my opinion, always underappreciated Van Heflin.<<

And IMO a good choice it is Mully. The portrayal of the ambiguous villain "Ben Wade" was a very convincing job by Glenn Ford too. This flick is short on action and long on character study, which as you know is not *usually* my cup of tea, but in this case Ford was so interesting to watch that I hardly noticed that there was hardly any gun play. LOL

There's a strong parallel between the story line of The Searchers and the real life kidnapping of Cynthia Ann Parker in Central Texas. Her uncle, John Parker, could have been a double for The Duke's character.

>>You're viewing it in the wrong context. It's a fable disguised as a Western, not a historical recreation of anything. It's about the McCarthy era and how people needed to stand up to the blacklisters and not knuckle under to fearmongering.<<

This has been a controversial subject for decades. Foreman bought the rights to a short story titled "The Tin Star" and while he was adapting it to the screenplay "High Noon" he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He was judged an "uncooperative witness" and "blacklisted" by the Hollywood studios. He later claimed that he wrote "High Noon" as an allegory for the courage of people standing up to HUAC, but the short story existed *before* he was called to testify, so who knows what he actually had on his mind as he was writing the screenplay. Over the years his statement has become accepted fact by many, but it seems pretty "iffy" to me and might very well be "sour grapes" on his part, or just a way to make himself seem more of a hero. As a result, I'm not going to be distracted by a *possible* political statement. I see "High Noon" now the same way as I did in the 1950's. Just an unbelievable story.

Shane-
Palance, Ladd, and the Heflin all do a good job and the film makes the guns scary. Palance isn't like the refined "Hollywood" gunfighter who is a calculating professional. He is just a bloodthirsty guy who is "fast on the draw." Turns out that is more authentic.

The Searchers-
John Wayne's best role (apart from J. B. Books)and a great Ford film. Also one of the few films from this period to tackle Indian relations and deal with them honestly. The scene where John Wayne finds the Indian camp full of dead women and children was a real surprise.

High Noon-
As has been noted it was kind of fable-ish but the music by Tex Ritter, the stylized filming, the use of timing and clocks to give a sense of urgency, the extended development of characters, and the excellent shootout at the end make it one of the best Westerns in my opinion. Also Cooper's performance is one of his best.

-Gunfight at OK Corral
Everyone pretty much summed up what I thought about this film. Historically a mess (though not as bad as the acclaimed "Oh My Darling Clementine") but a fery fun Western.

Vera Cruz-
I did not like Cooper in this movie and most of the acting and scenes were just so-so but Burt Lancaster's performance as the roguish American scoundrel makes it worth it. The shootout at the end was also a pretty good one.

ALV

"They Came to Cordura", (1959) Has some nice scenes of cavalry changing formation from march column to line. Set in 1916 as the US Cavalry conducts operations along the Mexican border.

"Broken Arrow" with James Stewart & Jeff Chandler comes to mind,for one. "The Left-Handed Gun" with Paul Newman is another.

This is probably a mistake, but I'd like to be dealt in on this discussion of High Noon. My general feeling about High Noon is that the political context and background intent of the screenwriter (or lack thereof) aren't really that relevant to whether the movie itself works as a Western movie and whether you buy into the premise, as The Shadow clearly did not. Interesting stuff to learn, but the first time I saw the movie, I didn't know any of that behind the scenes political stuff, and my reaction as an enthusiastic fan of Westerns was quite ambivalent. I wanted to like the movie more than I actually did. It took me a while to figure out why the movie left me impressed by the director's technical skill but feeling left out in the cold as a viewer.

High Noon has been justly praised for a bunch of individual stylistic elements, and I do think that the movie is gracefully filmed and well acted, in agreement with all of the particulars pointed out by the Gamer with No Name. But the key thing that made me question the central premise of the movie and ultimately kept me from enjoying it completely is an esthetic disjunct between the town itself and the behavior of the townspeople. The town is too pretty, too clean-cut in that 1950's general Pleasantville Western style for the people to be that uncaring about its fate. The underlying theme of a man forced to walk some mean streets alone to protect his own integrity against being tarnished in a corrupt world is a classic noir theme, but the setting isn't really established visually as a noir setting. The curtains are too clean. There's too much light. It's not that the theme of a facade of innocence overlying a sordid core of corruption can't work in a Western. It can work very well indeed, but it all comes down to how you peel back the layers, how the corruption is displayed to the viewer. Compare the esthetics behind The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with those of High Noon and you might get a sense of what I mean. There's a surprising amount of darkness and spiritual decay conveyed in the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but it isn't just reflected in lines tossed out by actors. You see it in burned-out buildings and drunks staggering down alleys. You see it in the faces of aged men who've outlived their better days and whose reminiscences are colored with bitter regret. You get a real sense of the world as it is versus the world as it should have been and the high cost of maintaining that civilized facade. For an even better visual contrast, look at what I like to think of as the anti-High Noon, the great 1970's gothic noir Western High Plains Drifter. The spiritual seediness and cowardice of the townspeople who hide behind cheap pieties while hiring an outsider to do their dirty work for them are evident in every frame of High Plains Drifter. High Plains Drifter shows the corruption of the townsfolk; High Noon just tells it.

"Don't Shoot I'm Only the Piano Player" Mulligan

Mulligan: That was very well put. I've never cared much for "High Noon" either. I want to like it, but I don't. I find it drags and I'm mostly annoyed with hid bride. I do not find her pleasant, nor do I care for most of the other characters in the movie.

I do like Shane, although honestly that kid's voice makes me want to start him smoking two packs a day so he'll lost the whiny quality to his voice.

Huscarle: For the most part, I think most Americans (particularly historical gamers) do not count ACW films as being Westerns unless they directly involve a Western US setting or some other particularly "Western" or Wild West element.

Most of you have listed my favorite 1950s Westerns already. I'll mull it over and get back to you if I can think of any others.

Mully

That's an interesting assessment of "High Noon", and guess what? If the film had been presented as a "noir" like film, with townspeople that were more believably cowardly, and with reasons for their cowardice, I *might* have bought the premise, but as it is there's no reason to believe that these people, many of whom would have probably already risked their lives as frontiersman, would behave like that. And history shows that they wouldn't.

>>Vera Cruz-

I did not like Cooper in this movie and most of the acting and scenes were just so-so but Burt Lancaster's performance as the roguish American scoundrel makes it worth it. The shootout at the end was also a pretty good one.<<

I agree. There are some very good elements and some very bad one in this film. Lancaster is great! Cooper looks like he's sleep walking.

Well put Mulligan.

I've always chalked up the town's appearance to the 50's mainstream movie perception of the West. Just the guys who shave every day and come their DA's and you know the bad guy because he doesn't shave and uses too much Brillcream.

The TV remake of High Noon with Tom Berenger was actually pretty well done in terms of the setting.

Still like the picture because anything with Lee Van Cleef rocks. Thought Cooper was too old for the babe and she was very high maintenance by any standard!

>>Thought Cooper was too old for the babe and she was very high maintenance by any standard!<<

Hey man! That "babe" became the Princess of Monaco…and you can bet your cowboy hat that she was "high Maintenance". LOL

: ) I know. That just proves my point eh?

The cast was full of those unbelievable frontier folk that inhabited many a western town of the 50's big and small screens.

Thank you all gentlemen, for a discussion that has been a real pleasure. Those of you who agree with me are obviously gentlemen of high intellect and superior breeding. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have business in San Antonio and a long way to ride. If you don't mind, Mr. Shadow, keep your hands where I can see them. Let's leave things nice and friendly like. I'm going to back out of here real easy and slow. If you ever need to reach me, here's my card.

Have Lead Will Travel

Wire Mulligan

San Francisco

"Have lead…will travel…reads the card of a maaaan…"