LoC #112 -Top 50 Western Films

[Russoguru]

Uhhh George? I ranked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid as Number 3 on my list.

[George-2.0]

Uhhh George? I ranked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid as Number 3 on my list.

I checked the PM and you had it at #2, but it's a partial, so points wise it's actually comparable to other peoples 16th pick (10 pts). The spread sheet doesn't differentiate partials or fulls and so points was what I zeroed in on. I did give you credit for your #1 and i'll add a credit for Butch

[George-2.0]

#5 – A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
"Get three coffins ready." (gunfight ensues) "My mistake. Four coffins..." - Joe

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/-X2DtiE7VLw" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/-X2DtiE7VLw</a>
112 points on 8 of 13 lists - Highest Ranking: #2 (Linzoid)

Director: Sergio Leone

Stars: Clint Eastwood, Marianne Koch, John Wells, Jose Calvo, Joe Edger, Antonio Prieto, S. Rupp, W. Lukschy, Margherita Lozano

Subgenre: Spaghetti Western

By the time Sergio Leone made this film, Italians had already produced about 20 films ironically labelled "spaghetti westerns." Leone approached the genre with great love and humor. Although the plot was admittedly borrowed from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), Leone managed to create a work of his own that would serve as a model for many films to come. Clint Eastwood plays a cynical gunfighter who comes to a small border town and offers his services to two rivaling gangs. Neither gang is aware of his double play, and each thinks it is using him, but the stranger will outwit them both. The picture was the first installment in a cycle commonly known as the "Dollars" trilogy. Later, United Artists, who distributed it in the U.S., coined another term for it: the "Man With No Name" trilogy. While not as impressive as its follow-ups For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), A Fistful of Dollars contains all of Leone's eventual trademarks: taciturn characters, precise framing, extreme close-ups, and the haunting music of Ennio Morricone. Not released in the U.S. until 1967 due to copyright problems, the film was decisive in both Clint Eastwood's career and the recognition of the Italian western. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

He made stronger movies throughout his career, but A Fistful of Dollars, for all of its influence over the Western from the 1960s forward, is arguably his most important. - Andy Crump, Paste

Trivia:
The Man With No Name actually had names, or was called by something by someone (here he’s called Joe). This might be a nod to Yojimbo and its sequel, Sanjuro, in which the protagonist, when asked his name, would make something up, based on what he saw on the landscape, etc.

[George-2.0]

Damn it, my signals being real fussy tonight and I keep getting kicked off the Internet. I'm heading out in a few hours and will use the hot-spot there to post the final 4 (and a bonus). See you then...

[Russoguru]

Uhhh George? I ranked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid as Number 3 on my list.

I checked the PM and you had it at #2, but it's a partial, so points wise it's actually comparable to other peoples 16th pick (10 pts). The spread sheet doesn't differentiate partials or fulls and so points was what I zeroed in on. I did give you credit for your #1 and i'll add a credit for Butch

Ahhh, I see. Sorry George.

[George-2.0]

^ No prob

Well dad burn it and Gosh all fish hooks! (that's western sidekick swearing). Maybe it's the high winds we are having. But this isn't much better, But I should be able to post, it's just all very slow.

[George-2.0]

#4 – UNFORGIVEN
"It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have." - Will Munny

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/ftTX4FoBWlE" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/ftTX4FoBWlE</a>
147 points on 10 of 13 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (George 2.0)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett, Saul Rubinek, Frances Fisher

Subgenre: Revisionist Western

A ruthless killer turned pig farmer reluctantly takes one last job, and carnage ensues. Eastwood deconstructs the myths and legends of the Western and the result is a revisionist masterpiece that deservedly won Oscars for best picture and best director - Rotten Tomatoes

Trivia:
The script floated around Hollywood for around 20 years. In the early 80s Francis Ford Coppola got a hold of it and wanted John Malkovich for the William Munny part. Thankfully, Clint Eastwood found it in his hands soon after.

My Reflections:
A masterpiece. Unforgiven is my favorite western, my favorite Eastwood film, my favorite film of ‘92, one of my top 25 movies of all time. The thing I find fascinating about the picture is that it deconstructs western myths… it’s message on violence is profound and devastating - and then from the ashes it reconstructs these legends anew, as Munny embodies the myth and becomes that larger than life western figure at the end.

A few thoughts on a recent viewing:
* Munny’s basically was an animal that was domesticated. When we first meet him he can’t even shoot, or get on his horse. That changes at the end.

* There’s a fair amount of humor, more than I remembered. Morgan Freeman’s reaction to the kid’s wild shooting is priceless. Even Munny’s threats at the end have a thread of humor. He’s saying things he doesn’t mean, just to scare the town-folks shitless into doing what he wants.

* The early killings hurt. They break your heart. Death is spoken of so casually, and is so prevalent in westerns overall… that you forget the cost. Eastwood made me an emotional wreck over these killings, he made me feel the cost.

[George-2.0]

#3 – THE SEARCHERS
”That’ll be the day” - Ethan Edwards (after being asked if he wanted to quit)

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/XYOp3l9wL1k" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/XYOp3l9wL1k</a>
156 points on 7 of 13 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (Edward J. Grugg III, Fred Garvin)

Director: John Ford

Stars: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Natalie Wood, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Harry Brandon

Subgenre: Epic Western

The saga of a racist outsider’s search for his kidnapped niece still astounds in its dark power, beauty and all round magnificence. Complex, multi-layered and troubling, with a monumental performance from Wayne as the bigoted anti-hero, the film repays repeated viewing. - Graeme Ross, Independent

Wikipedia: Set during the Texas–Indian wars, John Wayne stars as a middle-aged Civil War veteran who spends years looking for his abducted niece (Natalie Wood), accompanied by his adoptive nephew (Jeffrey Hunter). Critic Roger Ebert found Wayne's character, Ethan Edwards, "one of the most compelling characters Ford and Wayne ever created".

The film was a commercial success. Since its release it has come to be considered a masterpiece and one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. It was named the greatest American western by the American Film Institute in 2008, and it placed 12th on the same organization's 2007 list of the 100 greatest American movies of all time. Entertainment Weekly also named it the best western. The British Film Institute's Sight & Sound magazine ranked it as the seventh best film of all time based on a 2012 international survey of film critics and in 2008, the French magazine Cahiers du Cinéma ranked The Searchers number 10 in their list of the 100 best films ever made.

Trivia
Why does Ethan specifically hate the Comanche? The answer to that is relayed in an indirect way… note the writing on the tombstone (which is the marker for Ethan’s mother) that Debbie hides behind during the attack. It states that she was killed by Comanche in her 41st year,

In the climactic scene, John Wayne and Natalie Wood run up the side of a hill in Monument Valley, Utah . . . and come down the other side of the hill in the Bronson Canyon area of Griffith Park, Los Angeles (647 miles away).

It’s said Buddy Holly wrote his song, “That’ll Be the Day” after seeing the picture.

My Review: https://letterboxd.com/captainquint/film/the-searchers/ - which also includes talk of a superb non-fiction book that details the real life stories that inspired a novel, and eventually a film.

[Edward J Grug III]

A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS - As I mentioned earlier, I got to see this on the big screen a couple of weeks ago, and I also revisited Yojimbo right after. Both are incredible.

[Edward J Grug III]

UNFORGIVEN - Never seen it.

THE SEARCHERS - I cannot believe this isn't number one. I'm gonna fight everyone who listed anything above it

[George-2.0]

And before revealing the winner of the big gun down between 2 obvious opponents. Here’s a look at several noteworthy pictures that just missed the 50.

This one got kicked off with the final list. Vera Cruz and the Coward Robert Ford took its place (and pushed the list to a Top 51)...

#52 - The Quick and the Dead
26 points on 2 of 13 lists - Highest Ranking #13 (MartyS (Gromit), Johnny Unusual)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/t5xZ-hupBS0" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/t5xZ-hupBS0</a>

Sam Raimi’s sincere neo-Western is notable for several reasons: Joss Whedon’s contributions to the script (along with, reportedly, John Sayles); the American film debut of Russell Crowe; the final screen appearance of Woody Strode (Spartacus, his close friend John Ford’s Westerns The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 7 Women and Two Rode Together); a gender-bending narrative that sends Sharon Stone’s monotone gunfighter, “The Lady,” on a righteous quest into the town of Redemption (natch) to avenge her father’s death via quick-draw contest. Gene Hackman relishes his turn as the tyrannical mayor, not so subtly named Herod, responsible for said killing, as does a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio as cocked-brow smartass “The Kid.” Not the least of note here is Dante Spinotti’s characteristically vivid cinematography. - Amanda Schurr, Paste (who ranked it #100)

After That…

#53 - Support Your Local Sheriff
Popped up on 2 lists (Freds and Coles) and received 25 points. It’s not a flick you’ll see on many western “Best Of” lists, but it is a funny one. I didn’t vote for it, but it’s worth checking out for a laugh.

#54 - Forty Guns
Also 25 points on 2 lists (Edward & Charles) - it’s no secret that the Western is a male dominated genre. But there are a few strong women to be found. From the classic era: Veronica Lake in Ramrod, Marie Windsor in Hellfire, Beverly Garland in Gunslinger… and was any gal tougher than Barbara Stanwyck - Who can be seen here and in Anthony Mann’s The Furies

#55 - Three Amigos
24 pts on 3 lists (Linzoid, Johnny, CJones) - 3 lists, but mostly at the bottom half - thus it was pushed out of the 50.

#56 - The Tall T
24 pts on 2 list - http://forum.rifftrax.com/index.php?topic=34351.msg1000390#msg1000390

#57 - Go West
Though they received a few votes, silent films were kept silent. Which is not surprising. Even Paste failed to name a single silent in their top 100… and Paste staff, You’ll never convince me that Riders of Destiny is a greater movie than 3 Bad Men, Hell’s Hinges, or this Keaton classic. Which received 22 points on 2 lists. (Mine and Stethan’s)

Others on multiple lists:
Serenity - 20 on 2 * Dances With Wolves - 19 pts on 3

And here are a few big titles that received 1 to 0 votes…

On NO lists- Little Big Man, The Man From Laramie, Django, The Missing, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, The Proposition, Pat Garret and Billy the Kid, 7 Women, Day of the Outlaw, Fort Apache

On 1 list - El Topo, 3:10 to Yuma (1957), Open Range, The Shooting & Ride the Whirlwind, Terror in a Texas Town (a cult favorite where a man with a whaling spear has a showdown with a gunfighter!!)

And well, there’s more… I could go on. But I wont - lets get to that final 2!

[George-2.0]

#2 – THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
”You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.” - Blondie

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/WCN5JJY_wiA" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/WCN5JJY_wiA</a>
212 points on 12 of 13 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (Stethancantus, Johnny Unusual, Russoguru [partial])

Director: Sergio Leone

Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè, Mario Brega, Luigi Pistilli

Subgenre: Spaghetti Western

In the last and the best installment of his so-called "Dollars" trilogy of Sergio Leone-directed "spaghetti westerns," Clint Eastwood reprised the role of a taciturn, enigmatic loner. Here he searches for a cache of stolen gold against rivals the Bad (Lee Van Cleef), a ruthless bounty hunter, and the Ugly (Eli Wallach), a Mexican bandit. Though dubbed "the Good," Eastwood's character is not much better than his opponents -- he is just smarter and shoots faster. The film's title reveals its ironic attitude toward the canonized heroes of the classical western. "The real West was the world of violence, fear, and brutal instincts," claimed Leone. "In pursuit of profit there is no such thing as good and evil, generosity or deviousness; everything depends on chance, and not the best wins but the luckiest." Immensely entertaining and beautifully shot in Techniscope by Tonino Delli Colli, the movie is a virtually definitive "spaghetti western," rivaled only by Leone's own Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). The main musical theme by Ennio Morricone hit #1 on the British pop charts. Originally released in Italy at 177 minutes, the movie was later cut for its international release. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

Trivia
In 1966 the Spanish Army built Sad Hill Cemetery with over 5000 graves at Mirandilla Valley in Burgos for the final sequence in the movie. When filming ended, the set was abandoned just like they built it and for half a century, nature has been trying to reclaim it. Then in October of 2015, a group of film fans decided to start digging... and under 3 inches of ground they found the original paved circle. For months, people from all around Europe travelled to Sad Hill to unearth and restore the iconic film set.

[George-2.0]

#1 – ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
"How can you trust a man that wears both a belt and suspenders? Man can't even trust his own pants." - Frank

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/Yw-Av9BpC-w" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/Yw-Av9BpC-w</a>
221 points on 11 of 13 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (MartyS [Gromit], PsychoGoatee, Charles Castle)

Director: Sergio Leone

Stars: Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Gabriele Ferzetti, Keenan Wynn

Subgenre: Epic/Spaghetti Western

‘Looks like we’re shy one horse!’ ‘No, you brought two too many…’ After 15 minutes of dripping water, squeaky windmills and buzzing flies, Sergio Leone has Charles Bronson dispense a line that’s not only one of the coolest ever delivered in the history of the Wild West, but one which reassures us that what he’s got in store will be well worth the wait. Bronson’s existential zinger also hints at the film’s thematic preoccupations.

This is an iron-horse opera: the railroad is presented as an implacable force that will eradicate the cowboy way. There’s no rerouting, delaying or impeding Leone’s locomotive. The characters all play out their roles as bystanders to the rush of progress – killing, bribing, seducing, deceiving each other even while the railhead pushes inexorably on, regardless of the human collateral.

Even the tycoon behind the venture doesn’t make the distance. The sweep of modernity through the Wild West has never been so pitiless, nor, in Leone’s vision, more terribly glorious. - Adam Lee Davies, Time Out

There’s a reason that Leone’s masterpiece is considered one of the greatest movies ever made and not just one of the great Westerns: Once Upon a Time in the West is an enduring monument of its era, its genre and filmmaking itself. - Andy Crump, Paste

Trivia:
The Indian woman who flees from the train station in the opening sequence was played by Hawaiian Princess Luukialuana (Luana) Kalaeloa (Luana Strode). She was the wife of Woody Strode.

John Carpenter, a huge fan of Sergio Leone and this film, had "Jill's Theme" by Ennio Morricone played as he walked down the aisle at his wedding with Adrienne Barbeau.

My Thoughts:
This operatic slow burn floored me the first time I saw it. It was so, so… grand, majestic, sweeping… and others words that escape me. Everything about it, from the cinematography to Morricone’s incredible score serves its epic nature and personality.

I also like how Leone plays with our expectation. Robards was best known at the time as an urbane Broadway actor, and yet he’s cast as the uncouth bandit. Bronson looks like a villain, Fonda looks like a hero, what with those blue eyes and that kind nature and thoughtful way of speaking. I don’t know if younger or casual viewers can appreciate what it did to us back then… I mean watch 12 Angry Men, THAT’S how we defined Fonda. So what he does here in his first appearance was shocking. Jaws hit the floor.

[Edward J Grug III]

I'm not surprised that no one else voted for The Shooting & Ride the Whirlwind, but really, no one else for the original 3:10 to Yuma. DISGRACEFUL.

Sad that Sam Fuller didn't make the list. 40 Guns is such a blast. Check it out!

[Edward J Grug III]

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST are both fantastically fun. I can certainly see why Leone placed so high.