The MoFo Westerns List

→ in
Tools    





I found a YouTube page that has a bunch on western movies to watch for free. I haven't watched anything from there yet, but I thought it might be helpful for people looking for movies to watch for this countdown.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyJ...Po799bA/videos

Most of those seem to be Spaghetti Westerns. That subgenre, once you get past the handful of truly great ones, becomes pretty interchangeable.

Warlock (1959, Edward Dmytryk) with Richard Widmark, Hank Fonda, and Anthony Quinn is a good one. I don't think Red Sun (1971) is especially good, but it is a pretty irresistible curio co-starring Charles Bronson, Toshirô Mifune, Alain Delon, and Ursula Andress (?!?!). It's directed by Terence Young, best known for the Bond pictures Dr. No, From Russia with Love, and Thunderball and the Audrey Hepburn thriller Wait Until Dark. But past the basic idea and oddball cast Red Sun can't live up to the classics like Yojimbo and Once Upon a Time in the West it is trading off of. Not a whole lot of style added. I wouldn't expect it to show up on a whole lot of ballots, but to see Mifune and Delon in this genre is what it is. 1975's Boss N!gger (aka Boss, aka The Black Bounty Killer) starring Fred Williamson is a good'un, for my money far and away the best of the subgenre of Blacksploitation Westerns. Take a Hard Ride (1975) with Williamson, Jim Brown, Jim Kelly, and Lee Van Cleef is there, too.

Lee Van Cleef made bunches of Spaghetti Westerns after his two iconic Leone pictures, but I wouldn't say Bad Man's River (1971) is among the better ones. Death Rides a Horse, The Big Gundown, and Sabata are the ones to really seek out for other European Westerns starring Van Cleef without Eastwood and Leone. Day of Anger (1967), which is available on that YouTube page, is more worthwhile.

Brando's One-Eyed Jacks (1961) is buried down the page a bit. You may be able to find better prints of it around for free, but that one is surely worth watching. Peckinpah's low-budget debut The Deadly Companions (1961) is on there. Not one of his masterpieces but a good flick. Broken Arrow (1950) starring Jimmy Stewart is on there. A couple latter day John Waynes (Rio Lobo and Big Jake),


There's some decent stuff on that page, plenty of trash.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Most of those seem to be Spaghetti Westerns. That subgenre, once you get past the handful of truly great ones, becomes pretty interchangeable.

Warlock (1959, Edward Dmytryk) with Richard Widmark, Hank Fonda, and Anthony Quinn is a good one. I don't think Red Sun (1971) is especially good, but it is a pretty irresistible curio co-starring Charles Bronson, Toshirô Mifune, Alain Delon, and Ursula Andress (?!?!). It's directed by Terence Young, best known for the Bond pictures Dr. No, From Russia with Love, and Thunderball and the Audrey Hepburn thriller Wait Until Dark. But past the basic idea and oddball cast Red Sun can't live up to the classics like Yojimbo and Once Upon a Time in the West it is trading off of. Not a whole lot of style added. I wouldn't expect it to show up on a whole lot of ballots, but to see Mifune and Delon in this genre is what it is. 1975's Boss N!gger (aka Boss, aka The Black Bounty Killer) starring Fred Williamson is a good'un, for my money far and away the best of the subgenre of Blacksploitation Westerns. Take a Hard Ride (1975) with Williamson, Jim Brown, Jim Kelly, and Lee Van Cleef is there, too.

Lee Van Cleef made bunches of Spaghetti Westerns after his two iconic Leone pictures, but I wouldn't say Bad Man's River (1971) is among the better ones. Death Rides a Horse, The Big Gundown, and Sabata are the ones to really seek out for other European Westerns starring Van Cleef without Eastwood and Leone. Day of Anger (1967), which is available on that YouTube page, is more worthwhile.

Brando's One-Eyed Jacks (1961) is buried down the page a bit. You may be able to find better prints of it around for free, but that one is surely worth watching. Peckinpah's low-budget debut The Deadly Companions (1961) is on there. Not one of his masterpieces but a good flick. Broken Arrow (1950) starring Jimmy Stewart is on there. A couple latter day John Waynes (Rio Lobo and Big Jake),


There's some decent stuff on that page, plenty of trash.

Thanks for the info.

I watched Warlock (1959) recently, and I liked it enough that it might make my list.
__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.



Here's another round of some good, interesting curios and underseen Westerns from the late '60s and '70s to seek out once you get past the more famous ones...


Viva Maria!
1965, Louis Malle


Duel at Diablo
1966, Ralph Nelson


Waterhole #3
1967, William A. Graham


Monte Walsh
1970, William A. Fraker


Wild Rovers
1971, Blake Edwards


The Culpepper Cattle Co.
1972, Dick Richards


Dirty Little Billy
1972, Stan Dragoti


The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean
1972, John Huston


The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
1973, Richard C. Sarafian


The Spikes Gang
1974, Richard Fleischer


Posse
1975, Kirk Douglas


Goin' South
1978, Jack Nicholson



Watchlist is coming along here. I'm leaning towards binging a bunch of them to catch up in the last month or so leading up to the deadline, probably.



Here's another round of some good, underseen Westerns from the late '60s and '70s to seek out...

Goin' South
1978, Jack Nicholson
I thought this movie was pretty awful.
Rated it a
- when I watched it a few years back.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I may be hit or miss on western movies, but I'm loving listening to the theme songs.


Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985) - "Lasso The Moon" sung by Gary Morris


Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985) - "Last Of The Silver Screen Cowboys" sung by Rex Allen Jr.



North to Alaska (1960) - "North to Alaska" sung by Johnny Horton



High Noon (1952) - "The Ballad of High Noon" ("Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'") sung by Tex Ritter



The Mask of Zorro (1998) - "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You" sung by Tina Arena & Marc Anthony



Bob Dylan wrote "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" for Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid while he was on the set. Kris Kristofferson tells the story that Peckinpah wasn't even really aware who Dylan was, even after he hired him as an actor. He was cast in small role in the film, a friend of Kristofferson's obviously, and after he noodled the song during downtime Kris took it to Sam and had to explain, yeah, this Bob Dylan fella is a very well-known and respected songwriter, perhaps you should use this? Peckinpah used the song and had him score the film.






I watched an hour of Westworld and got bored. What a disappointment that turned out to be.

I'm going to see if I can find The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean, that looks like a crazy movie.



I watched an hour of Westworld and got bored. What a disappointment that turned out to be.

I'm going to see if I can find The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean, that looks like a crazy movie.
Wonderful western comedy. Loved the "Bad Bob" scenes with Stacy Keach.. One of Newman's few comedies, I think.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Been a while since I've seen Judge Roy Bean but I've always enjoyed it. Glad to hear you do too, @Zotis
__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
~Mr Minio



Judge Roy Bean was very refreshing, exactly the kind of Western I was hoping for.

I've been looking at some of Holden Pike's posts. Here's my to-watch list atm:

Dirty Little Billy
Goin' South
Warlock (1959)

Day of Anger (1967)
One-Eyed Jack (1961)
Deadly Companions (1961)
Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold

The first three are the ones I want to see most. I'm going to watch at least one today, maybe two. We'll see how I feel. My only regret when watching Judge Roy Bean was that I didn't have any alcohol. Man, that would have been a great movie to drink to.

Also there's one movie I wanted to recommend to others.



Hannie Caulder (1971)

It's a great revenge story and pretty well shot and acted for a 70's Western.

Also, on a separate note, I was kind of hoping to find a Western with a sort of damsel in distress theme, like a slave princess sort of thing. The artwork for Apache Woman gave me the idea, but the movie itself wasn't very good and didn't live up to the cover art.



The artwork looks great, very pulpy and sexy.



But the woman was very plain looking, and there was nothing so intense as the cover portrayed. The movie was actually quite tame.



There was a period in my early twenties when I was rather obsessed with John Huston's The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean. I probably watched it fifteen or twenty times over a few months.


"Not Dirty Bad Bob from New Mexico, but the original Bad Bob. The mean one. The albino."



I'll have to re-watch The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean. Loved it the last time I seen it. I'm still working on watching John Wayne films. Any of his lesser known western films that are a must see?



Yeah, that Bad Bob scene was priceless. And I love the part after where they're standing over his body talking about him. "He shot him in the back." "Who cares if he was shot in the front or the back, as long as the sun of a bitch is dead." The script in this movie was so good. I love how colorful it was. A lot of movies have cliche dialogue, or they say generic placeholder things just to get to the violence. Every bit of Judge Roy Bean had attention to subtle detail. The poker scenes were great, and all of the women were wonderful. I loved the way they handled the whores and contrasted them with the ladies. There were three great ladies, Maria the charming wife was my favorite, Rose his daughter was delightful, and Lily Langtry the classy opera singer.

I love it when you can watch a movie and savor in it afterwards. Sit back and give a heavy sigh and say, "Ah, now that was a great movie." I guarantee you it's going to make my list.



Also, on a separate note, I was kind of hoping to find a Western with a sort of damsel in distress theme, like a slave princess sort of thing. The artwork for Apache Woman gave me the idea, but the movie itself wasn't very good and didn't live up to the cover art.
Richard Brooks' The Professionals (1966) plays against the damsel in distress thing a bit with the stunning Claudia Cardinale, two years before she starred in Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. If you haven't seen that one yet definitely check it out.

It also has one of the best last lines of a movie ever.