post John Wayne westerns

[stuart.uk]

Spoiler Alert

many have said for many yrs that The Outlaw Josey Welles was the last great western, but i thought it overrated and said the same about Duke's The Shootist.

for a long time both on the big and small screen (The Quest is an example) you couldn't make a profitable western. however, in the 90s the western made a welcome comeback.

Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves is a monster of a western, though i had to correct younger people who said it was the first film to show the indian in a good light, telling them about They Died With Their Boots On and Broken Arrow.

Daniel Day Lewis in one of his more normal heroic roles played Hawkeye in Last Of The Mochians oppisite Madeline Stowe, who came close to playing an action heroine.

Stowe showed she really could play action heroines in Bad Girls, killing her boyfriends killer, an ex-lover in a gunfight. Drew Barrymore was also good in the movie

The Quick And The Dead seens fast draw Sharon Stone avenging her father's death while taking part in a fast draw competition

Tombstone with Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer outstanding as Doc Holiday. i think it's the best account of The Gunfight At The OK Corral as it seems to be the closest to the facts, though i still think there was some dramatic license

Open Range-Just when i was begining to think DWWs was a one hit classic for Kevin Costner, he again starred and directed this great epic. he had a great leading lady in Annette Benning, but if anything the star of the film was Robert Duvall, who along with James Arness in the Gunsmoke movies, is the best plus 70 actor i've seen in the saddle.

the five Gunsmoke movies, a more grittier James Arness as Matt Dillon, who discovers he has a grown up daughter Beth

[movieman1957]

(Here I am again. I love westerns.)

I think "Josey Wales" runs out of steam. I prefer "Pale Rider" and "Unforgiven."

"Open Range" was first rate. Good, realistic action. Properly nasty bad guys. I liked Annette Benning.

"The Quick and The Dead" was so much styling. I prefer the 1987 Sam Elliott movie of the same name. "Tomstone" is a fun picture as is "Silverado." Those two I put on for background sometimes.

The "Gunsmoke" movies were ok but I enjoyed the series of Tom Selleck westerns he made for TV. (Unsure whether they made to you.) Elioot made some good ones too, especially "Conagher."

Did you catch last year's "3:10 To Yuma"?

[stuart.uk]

the only Elliott tv series i saw was The Yellow Rolls, a modern western, which was bordering on soap. he was the illigitimet son of Jane Russell and i think the half brother of David Soul, who appeared to be the series star. Elliott was romantically involved with feisty tomboyish Sybil Shepard

apoligies to Anne, but Russell's ex was played by Chuck Conners in one of his later roles and he was a right nasty piece of work. also featured were Eddie Albert jnr and Noah, post Rockford, Beery jnr

in Tombstone Sam Elliott showed hinself worthy of better movie roles when he played Virgil Earp

[stuart.uk]

Chris

there were only two Elliott tv series i saw. one was The Yellow Rolls, a modern western, which was bordering on soap. he was the illigitimet son of Jane Russell and i think the half brother of David Soul, who appeared to be the series star. Elliott was romantically involved with feisty tomboyish Sybil Shepard

apoligies to Anne, but Russell's ex was played by Chuck Conners in one of his later roles and he was a right nasty piece of work. also featured were Eddie Albert jnr and Noah, post Rockford, Beery jnr

in Tombstone Sam Elliott showed hinself worthy of better movie roles when he played Virgil Earp. he first came to the attention in the UK in the mini-series Aspen to rave reviews, but didn't hit the heights expected afterwards

[Lzcutter]

Stuart,

I thought I was the only person who remembered "the Yellow Rose". It was years ago.

I really enjoyed Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot in the two tv movies they did- "The Sacketts" and "The Shadow Riders" though I agree with Chris that one of Elliot's best is "Conagher". He started out years ago with a small role in "Butch Cassidy" which is where he met Katherine Ross but she was romantically interested in someone else and the d.p. on that movie, Conrad Hall, was in love with her as well.

Dennis Quaid is great as Doc Holliday in "Wyatt Earp". He is the best thing about that movie. I like Val Kilmer's take on Holliday in "Tombstone" but Quaid's is better in my opinion. A real comeback role for him that he sunk his teeth into and walked away with the movie.

I really enjoyed "Silverado" and wish it had done better at the box office because a sequel would have been good. It has one of the best scores of the 1980s.

I'm with Chris on "Josey Wales", I like "Pale Rider" and "Unforgiven" better.

While not technically a western, I will drop everything and watch "Last of the Mohicans" any time, any where, even on AMC.

I'm glad Robert Duvall is still making westerns. I loved him and Tommy Lee Jones in "Lonesome Dove" and one of these days have to watch "Open Range" and the one he did for AMC.

Speaking of which "Dove's" director, Simon Wincer, directed Selleck in one of his best westerns "Quigley Down Under" with Alan Rickman deliciously evil in that one though I prefer the romantic Rickman of "Sense and Sensibility".

I remember the first time I saw "Dances" and how much it took my breath away with its cinematography and I really enjoyed the movie. I try not to watch it too often as I don't ruin that illusion.

I also enjoyed the modern western, "Thunderheart" with Graham Green and Val Kilmer, based on real-life incidents on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Co-stars Sam Shepard and Fred Ward who should have had more of a career.

[knitwit45]

OK, Lynn, it sounds like you might know the answer to this:

Did Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott make a series of beer commercials together? I remember thinking they were so funny, and neither of the guys was hard to look at, either. They were a couple of cowboys (naturally!) who longed to see the city, while surrounded by this breathtaking western scenery.

I've tried to research this, but no luck so far.

Thanks!
Nancy

[moira finnie]

Like others who've posted here, I usually look for anything with Sam Elliot and Tom Selleck in them, particularly Westerns. I'm glad that Lynn mentioned the splendid Lawrence Kasdan Western Silverado (1985). Not only does it have a great cast, good story and score, but if you ever have a chance to see this one in a movie theater--by all means, go! Cinematographer John Bailey's gorgeous cinematography deserves to be seen on the big screen, particularly those scenes that emphasize the golden light in canyons and caves and the sense of newness of the town set in the middle of nowhere.

One of my other favorite Westerns of the last 20 years is The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) with Suzy Amis, (who's terrific) Ian McKellen, Bo Hopkins & David Chung. Based on historical fact, here's a brief account of the real Josephine Monaghan:

Woman Poses as Cowboy in Idaho for 25 Years
by Brandi Andrade, Ph.D.

“Woman Poses as Cowboy in Idaho for 25 Years” ... read headlines all over the country when Josephine Monaghan’s death in 1903 revealed her well-kept secret. This diminutive rancher, homesteader, miner, and sheep-wrangler, who stood a mere 5’2” in her cowboy boots, had lived successfully as a man since she’d headed west in 1867. Born into a prominent Buffalo family in 1843, Josephine had run away to New York City to give birth to her illegitimate child. At the tender age of 24, she left Laddie in the care of her sister and supported him from afar, sending money back east every month until her death.

Monaghan’s life tantalizes history buffs, cross-dressers, feminists, and ranchers alike! In a time when size matters, and speculations on genetic propensities have refueled the gender war, a tiny woman cowboy succeeding at things she would have undoubtedly been considered absolutely incapable of doing had her gender been known seems like a fantastic, feminist triumph. But of course economic and social positions, as well as violence, are vital feminist concerns, too—and Monaghan’s story hints at them in less triumphant ways. The combination of intrigue and food for thought has proven to be a source of inspiration for artists: in addition to Lebow’s play, Monaghan’s life was imagined by filmmaker Maggie Greenwald in The Ballad of Little Jo

[movieman1957]

Moira:

Suzy Amis was in Selleck's "Last Stand At Sabre River" (along with a couple of Carradines.) That's a good one and the one that started all those westerns made for TNT.

Wincer also directed Selleck's "Crossfire Trail." Based on a Louis L'Amour novel. Does anyone remember "The New Riders of The Purple Sage" with Ed Harris. I thought is was pretty good with a most unusual ending.

I just looked up Wincer. No wonder he did "Quigley" (or as my daughter used to call it "That Q Guy.") He's from Australia.

If you like Selleck you might check those recent made for CBS movies where he is the small town sheriff in MA. OK stuff but he's good to watch.

Nancy:

I don't recall a commercial like you describe.

[mrsl]

Movieman 1957:

I agree that Tom Selleck is always a good pleasure to watch. If you mean the 'Stone' series for CBS, you are correct. I've only seen the first one - Stone Cold, but caught the last half hour of the second one. Selleck and Elliott together are a terrific team, just as Stewart and Widmark turned out to be in Two Rode Together. They play off each other like old friends who are just having a great time together.

I guess our westerns are primarily from TV now, but with some of the writing, I feel TV writers are miles better than movie writers, or the powers that be in TV and have the power to choose, have better taste than those in movie circles only. Often I find myself preferring to watch (even with commercials), mystery movies that have been made for TV, over commercial free movies offered by HBO, etc., simply because the mystery holds until the final 15 minutes, rather than giving out earlier on to allow a silly love affair to evolve, or to enable a car chase, or fist fight for 'excitement'.

Anne

[movieman1957]

Anne:

I do mean the "Stone" series by Selleck. I'm sorry I forgot to mention it. I just saw the first one and have the others on my Netflix list. He seems "western" qualities about his character.

You're quite right about the TV angle. "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" and "Into The West" are good examples of things that probably wouldn't do at movies because they are either too long or may be geared toward a more mature audience. (So rare in movies now.)

[MikeBSG]

Don't forget "The Grey Fox," which starred Richard Farnsworth and was very witty and charming.

As for TNT's westerns, I think "Conagher" which starred Sam Elliot and katherine Ross, was the best. It was "Shane" with a happy ending, and Ken Curtis was there for some nice support.

[mrsl]

Movieman1957:

I was kind of disappointed in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. I expected a deeper examination into the before, during and after of the massacre, but it was really just a resulting aftermath, wherein it's just repeated how insincere, cruel, and unjust our government has always, and seemingly always will be toward the American Indian.

Anne