ten best westerns

One thing I’ve never understood is how the people from the North and South formed a line, but were able to get on with their differences after the Civil War, or did they.
Westerns gloss it over, the man in the grey uniform always made a heroic contribution and everything was OK in the end, but probably in real terms, it wasn’t so.
I’m not an expert in such matters, but I bet that there is still ‘Trouble in them there hills’.

Nothing was resolved till the 1970s, when the economy down south got better. I mean, between the end of the conflict and the second world war, when the defense industry sprung up all over the south and mid-west time stood still in Dixie – (over) simplified. Also mass media and their unifying influence played a big role here.

There are a few westerns that deal with post-civil-war times, like the southern-gentleman-turned gunslinger Paladin series and the James & Younger themed “just cause” themed movies. From the 1920’s there is “The Birth of a Nation”, the whole KKK thing. And a lot of westerns have a story that starts something like “heros home in the south devastated by the war, now he goes west to ….. (fill in).

One thing I’ve never understood is how the people from the North and South formed a line, but were able to get on with their differences after the Civil War, or did they.
Westerns gloss it over, the man in the grey uniform always made a heroic contribution and everything was OK in the end, but probably in real terms, it wasn’t so.
I’m not an expert in such matters, but I bet that there is still ‘Trouble in them there hills’.

Why we like Westerns? Probably just pure escapism, and with most of them, the feel – good factor of watching good triumph over evil. And maybe the simple morality of some of the earlier films in which, unlike real life, the bad guy always wore black, spoke with a sneer and spat at the feet of the eponymous hero. I couldn’t give a top ten, but I found anything with John Wayne in worthy of watching, my absolute favourite being True Grit, not least of all because of the shootout in the valley and the immortal line “Fill your hands you son of a …..”

…

I don’t know. A fascination with pure nature, a certain aversion to fellow men.
The fascination of binary decisions – life/death by multiple means. Mental escape from urbanized live. A good reason to make a big bowl of popcorn.

It’s too bad that there are so few, if any, westerns playing at an earlier period. During the colonial times, when crossing the Alleghenies into the Old Northwest was a serious and deadly undertaking, or when the French settled the Mississippi valley. Hudson’s Bay Co and North Western Co times and Rocky Mountain Fur Co trade times are also grossly underrepresented (also there is that movie with Clark Gable, which is not bad in some ways).

Must have been fascinating to come onto untouched land, to see the Trois Tetons for the first time. Or going all the way to the Spanish missions in Alta California and see the redwoods intact. Or just floating down the Ohio and Mississippi and going up the Natchez Trace.

The cattle trail empire between the end of the War of Northern Aggression and the mid-1880’s I find less fascinating. Except for the very first years that was already big business with money from the east and overseas. Appeals to the outlaw stance, Dodge, Abilene, Wichita, later “hell on wheels” like Cheyenne …

# ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ with Robert Redford
# ‘The Mountain Men’ with Charlton Heston
# ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ with Clint Eastwood
# ‘C’era una volta il West’
# ‘The Ballad of Cable Hogue’ with Jason Robards
# ‘Tom Horn’ with Steve McQueen
# ‘Nevada Smith’ with Steve McQueen
# ‘Ride the High Country’ with Randolph Scott
# ‘Heaven’s Gate’ with Kris Kristofferson
# ‘River of No Return’ with Marylin Monroe
# ‘Wild Rovers’ with William Holden
# ‘The Last Hunt’ with Robert Taylor
…
And I liked High Chaparral.

“The HIgh Chaparral”was the first(and probably the best)TV serial western to be screened on the then new BBC2 circa 1969,it ran for four years every episode was hour long(no ad breaks) with exellent storylines, it starred Leif Ericksson(John Cannon) Cameron Mitchell (Buck Cannon( Mark Slade (Billy Blue Cannon)and Henry Darrow (Manolito) the theme music was written by Harry Suckman, be nice to see it re run at some point.

Did anyone collect the Brittains cowboy figures.
They were fantastic, Cowboys, Indians, Cavalry and Confederates, the latter on horseback.
All are made in the UK and no doubt hand painted.
My son was the right age when I was able to collect them, I built a typical Western fort and we had endless battles, supplemented by some amazing plastic Union/Confederate figures that I bought and hand painted myself. I’ve got the complete set in the loft, presumably they aren’t made any more, not PC as usual, what would ‘Evil Bay’ make of that.

# ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ with Robert Redford
# ‘The Mountain Men’ with Charlton Heston
# ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ with Clint Eastwood
# ‘C’era una volta il West’
# ‘The Ballad of Cable Hogue’ with Jason Robards
# ‘Tom Horn’ with Steve McQueen
# ‘Nevada Smith’ with Steve McQueen
# ‘Ride the High Country’ with Randolph Scott
# ‘Heaven’s Gate’ with Kris Kristofferson
# ‘River of No Return’ with Marylin Monroe
# ‘Wild Rovers’ with William Holden
# ‘The Last Hunt’ with Robert Taylor
…
And I liked High Chaparral.

My best westerns

Being a stud like Burt Reynolds, my two favs are:

1) “Best Little (Hohouse) in Texas”; 1982, with Dolly Parton. 😉

2) “100 Rifles”; 1969, with Raquel Welch.;)

🙂

D1007 Western Harrier… :confused: 😀

I remember the old Westerns with a great deal of fondness and nostalgia ..when the bad guys wore black…and shows like Rawhide, Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Gunsmoke, Maverick were all compulsive viewing…those were the days when cowboys were real men … not these limp wristed Nancy Boy Brokeback Mountain types

The Last of the Mohicans (Daniel Day-Lewis 1992)

Back on topic, The Searchers with John Wayne was superb!!! 😀

Up there with True Grit.

Didn’t Lord Chelmsford display gross ineptitude by splitting his force at Isandlwhana?

That, and the underestimation of the Zulus, certainly seem to be the common criticism of Chelmsford and blame him primarily for the massacre at Isandlwana.

I think that is a little unfair to the Zulu nation. In my opinion Isandlwana was the result of a brilliant piece of tactical manoeuvring resulting in a surprise attack against a wrong-footed and unprepared enemy. Plus the fact that the camp at Isandlwana held only about 800 front-line troops against a Zulu force of well over 20,000 warriors!

The military or political career of Chelmsford didn’t seem to suffer that much, apart from him being relieved of command after Isandlwana, but that was after he had comprehensively defeated the Zulu at Ulundi, a victory that he snatched from under the nose of his successor with a good display of subterfuge.

It has been said the film ‘Zulu’ is a British ‘western’ and I suppose if you think back to when we had a film industry (and an empire) there were many of these ‘boys own’ type of adventure film.

Mind you, if the historic events of empire were the subject of a film today it would be the imperialists wearing the ‘black hats’!

I’m not questioning his bravery for a second and can only quote what I’ve read about his abilities as a commander.

Wouldn’t an officer of the infantry have taken command (of his own men) rather than an engineering officer of equal rank, but greater seniority?

Not sure about that. However, all this took place at a time when people with no military experience or aptitude could purchase commissions. A time when breeding and being known to people in ‘high places’ could ensure a glittering and meteoric career for those who could afford it. The only expense would be the lives of those they commanded. Didn’t Lord Chelmsford display gross ineptitude by splitting his force at Isandlwhana?

Regards,

kev35

And not forgetting Blazing Saddles! 😀

….whooops…I failed to sniff that one out…

Another western worth watching is ‘The Culpepper Cattle Company’ which is on BBC2 at 23:35 on Thursday 25th January.

I’m not questioning his bravery for a second and can only quote what I’ve read about his abilities as a commander.

Wouldn’t an officer of the infantry have taken command (of his own men) rather than an engineering officer of equal rank, but greater seniority?

If I remember correctly there was no dispute about who should command. Bromhead proved himself to be an excellent 2IC and also showed himself to be a brave man and as adept with a bayonet as he was as a marksman. The deafness apparently came on as a result of a previous action. I believe Dalton and Chard were the driving force behind the fortification, Dalton due to his previous experience as an infantryman and Chard because of his engineering insight. The only big mistake they made was leaving the water carts outside the fortified perimeter.

Regards,

kev35

Interesting point Pete makes about Rorke’s Drift.

However good a film Zulu was though, it seems the truth of the event was very different to the film.

Buuuzzzzz…time for a new thread!

I’ve read that there was some incredulity amongst his fellow officers about the award of the VC to Gonville Bromhead as he was not known for his military abilities, he also apparently suffered some degree of deafness, factors that may have lead to him ‘relinquishing’ command to John Chard.

James Dalton was awarded his VC at a later date than the others who took part in the action and was apparently only awarded the medal at all after some outcry by those who credited him with being the driving force behind the fortification and successful defence of Rorke’s Drift.

Another popular misconception, perpetuated by Stanley Baker, is that most of the defenders were Welsh.

‘Zulu’ is not historically accurate, no doubt about that…but it is still an excellent film!

My great great great Uncle George took part in the battle, I still have a Zulu knife that he liberated during the conflict, the cloth sheath is stained with blood, the family used to have a shield and assegai also from that event, but they have been shamefully lost.

I’ve tried to track him down without success.

What a fantastic piece of personal history to be able to research.

The coolest hero was Bronco Layne, played by Ty Hardin…he appeared as a spy/SS US army implant in the ‘Battle of the Bulge’, then dissapeared.

Not the MP in the classic ‘Does the road to Ambileve still lead to Malmedy?’ moment?

Those were the halcyon days of television..i dare say you and i Pete are the only ones old enough to remember great westerns like Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, Wagon train, The Texas Rangers, The Cisco Kid and Have Gun Will Travel..all great shows that the whole family could enjoy when television was free from profanities and sex

‘Hey Pancho, Hey Cisco’, I remember it well.

Why was ‘Sugarfoot’ called ‘Tenderfoot’ when it was switched to BBC, even the words of the title song got changed.

What intrigues me is that after so many years, individual episodes of these Westerns still stick out in my mind.
I recall the very first episode of ‘The Lone Ranger’, shown on a Saturday night after the football results, Clayton Moore being seriously injured in an ambush, the rest of his Texas Rangers mates being killed. Jay Silver Heels as Tonto found him barely alive in a gulley and nursed him back to life, that was the only episode where he appeared without his mask.

I recall an epic episode of ‘Wells Fargo’ when our hero, played by Dale Robertson?, I’m not looking up these names up by the way, was faced with the fastest gun in the west. Dale had an intrigueing solution to this, being left handed and only having one gun, he converted his holster so it swivelled, and he didn’t have to draw, therefore removing the fastest draw problem. How could we still love our hero after he cheated and shot the baddie through the heart.
Well, I removed the rivets from my holster so I could do the same thing, it worked too, I became the deadliest oponent in the Firbeck School Playground.

The coolest hero was Bronco Layne, played by Ty Hardin, we thought that was the best TV Western, what happened to him, he appeared as a spy/SS US army implant in the ‘Battle of the Bulge’, then dissapeared.

Kev 35
Thank you for those interesting comments on Rourkes Drift.
My great great great Uncle George took part in the battle, I still have a Zulu knife that he liberated during the conflict, the cloth sheath is stained with blood, the family used to have a shield and assegai also from that event, but they have been shamefully lost.
I’ve tried to track him down without success.
The story goes that during a lull in the battle, he was drinking from a stream, saw the reflection in the water of the warrior sneaking up on him, and shot the Zulu with his rifle, how true this is I don’t know, but I shall continue to track him down.

You missed one out Steve.An early cowboys-for-the-kids (circa 1960)….Four Feather Falls.Tex Tucker and his magic guns and,if memory serves me right,a talking horse.