The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean is the first from my list to make the countdown. It was my
#4. I think its weirdness has been exaggerated (it's no
El Topo or anything), but it's certainly an
unusual western. It sorta reminds me of a drunken, grumpy, sardonic cousin of
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. My write-up from the Yearly First Viewing Top Tens thread a couple years ago (I've seen the film a few times since then, and it's easy Top 100 material for me now):
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
An offbeat, revisionist, one-of-a-kind western from John Huston that's not so much about how things were but rather how things should've been. The plot is episodic, with many familiar faces, like Anthony Perkins and a hilarious, gun-slinging, albino Stacy Keach, popping in briefly only to never be seen again. Shootouts are brief but gripping. The humor is kooky yet cynical. Paul Newman, already one of my favorite actors, delivers one of his best performances as the gruff, no-nonsense, self-appointed judge who worships Lillie Langtry and has an affinity for hanging. This might be my new favorite performance from him. It's certainly one of my new favorite westerns. Hugely underrated/underseen. Also: best performance ever by a black bear.
I had planned on watching
The Dark Valley before the deadline, as it sounded very much like my kinda flick, but I ran out of time. Rectified that a few nights ago and was underwhelmed. Outside of a few bloody bursts of violence and an oppressively gloomy atmosphere, I don't think the movie has much going for it. I found the performances stilted, the characters one-note, and the narrative uninspiring. I'd hoped that the movie's country of origin would provide a fresh lens, but it's just your standard western-revenge served with all the typical tropes.
I went through a Peckinpah binge a few years ago, and was taken aback when
The Ballad of Cable Hogue lacked the violent, gritty, nihilistic tendencies I'd come to expect from the oft-drunk director. I still enjoyed the movie, but I think I'd appreciate it a lot more on a second viewing now that I'm aware of its comedic tone.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is awesome and I love it more than some of the films on my ballot, but to me it's a crime movie with a cowboy hat, so despite its eligibility, I chose to exclude it for "purer" westerns. Regardless, I'm happy it made the countdown.
Three Amigos! is just the right amount of stupid, and it garnered a surprising amounts of chuckles from me considering that I don't typically find Martin, Chase or Short particularly funny. The turtle bobbing its head to the rhythm of the campfire song is one of those small, random moments I found hilarious.
The Mercenary is full of cool, bad-ass moments synonymous with spaghetti westerns, but I found the film itself rather average. That viewing was a long time ago, however, and I was still in the post-Leone adjustment period where I expected other spaghetti westerns to be at or near his level of quality, so
The Mercenary likely suffered as a result of those unrealistic expectations.
My Name is Nobody, on the other hand, essentially feels like Leone, but with a comedic, exaggerated twist. It was in contention for my list and likely would've made the cut if I'd been able to squeeze in an overdue re-watch.
The Gold Rush is the first silent film I ever watched. For that reason, parts of it were a struggle, yet I still enjoyed it greatly and many scenes left an indelible impression. I've since become a big fan of Chaplin (I'm firmly Team Tramp in the eternal Chaplin/Keaton debate), and I expect to outright love
The Gold Rush when I get around to re-watching it. I thought
Day of the Outlaw would place quite a bit higher, as I've seen a lot of MoFos speak highly of it over the years. The movie makes great use of its snowy setting, and I remember the movie being uncommonly grim for its era, but most of the plot has left me.
As others have said, I think
High Plains Drifter is the more effective supernaturally-tinged Eastwood western, but
Pale Rider is still a good movie, though not particularly memorable, imo. I'm always getting
The Shooting and
Ride the Whirlwind confused. Same casts, same sparseness, same hippie vibes. I prefer the latter, as I felt occasionally lost during moments of
The Shooting, which then resulted in me being disengaged. The movie would likely play better on a re-watch, especially with the right chemical assistance.
Westworld doesn't come close to fulfilling the potential of its premise, but it's a fun movie and Yul Brynner is deservedly iconic as the robot gunslinger. Never seen the show, though I have seen the middling Peter Fonda sequel,
Futureworld.
Of the recent entries I haven't seen --
The Bravados,
Pursued,
Maverick and
The Frisco Kid --
Pursued sounds the most intriguing. I'm embarrassed to say that I'd never even heard of
The Frisco Kid, which is surprising given the cast.
Seen: 22/32