The Silver Screen Oasis

What are the 15 most under-rated, over-looked and neglected westerns of the 1950s?
That's the decade running from 1951 to 1960.
Here is my list:

1960 The Unforgiven (MGM) directed by John Huston.
1960 Hell Bent for Leather (Universal) directed by George Sherman.
1960 Flaming Star (Paramount) directed by Don Siegel.
1959 The Wonderful Country (MGM) directed by Robert Parrish.
1959 The Hanging Tree (WB) directed by Delmar Daves.
1958 Tonka (Disney) directed by Lewis R. Foster.
1958 The Legend of Tom Dooley (Columbia) directed by Ted Post.
1958 From Hell to Texas (Fox) directed by Henry Hathaway.
1958 Fort Dobbs (WB) written by Burt Kennedy, directed by Gordon Douglas.
1957 Run Of the Arrow (RKO) directed by Sam Fuller.
1957 The Ride Back (MGM) directed by Allen H. Miner.
1956 Star In the Dust (Universal) directed by Charles Haas.
1956 Reprisal! (Columbia) directed by George Sherman.
1956 The Man From Del Rio (MGM) directed by Harry Horner.
1955 The Last Command (Republic) directed by Frank Lloyd. Trucolor.
1954 The Outcasts (Republic) directed by William Witney. Trucolor.
1954 Four Guns to the Border (Universal) directed by Richard Carlson.
1953 Gun Fury 3-D (Columbia) directed by Raoul Walsh.
1953 The Charge At Feather River 3-D (WB) directed by Gordon Douglas.
1952 Ride the Man Down (Republic) story by Luke Short, directed by Joseph Kane. Trucolor.
1951 Vengeance Valley (MGM) story by Luke Short, directed by Richard Thorpe.

Perhaps the rest of you know of an over-looked and under-rated western from the 1950s?

Great List Here ... I agree with you on your selections ...

Love The Hanging Tree, Richard.

Glad to see Gun Fury on someone's list. I'm a Walsh fan.

I've got The Unforgiven waiting here for me to watch one of these days.

Here are some of my favorite westerns from the 50's, though some of them are more well known. The fifties isn't my forte.

The Baron of Arizona
Westward the Women
Devil's Doorway
Jubal
Rawhide
The Last Hunt
Decision at Sundown
Last Train from Gun Hill
The Fastest Gun Alive
Cariboo Trail

Again, since I don't see a 1940's thread for underrated westerns, I'll add this one here:

Four Faces West

I don't know what's underrated and what's not. But I like THE BIG COUNTRY. It's not perfect. The conclusion is too convenient. But the characters are commanding and theatrical (could Burl Ives be anything else?). The story is dramatic, if not brilliant. I'll second the mention of RAWHIDE and "Gun Hill." I like John Sturges' GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL a lot. Maybe that doesn't qualify for this discussion. THE GUNFIGHTER just misses the established parameters at 1950. But Henry King's poetic THE BRAVADOS perfectly fits. I fell for this mature drama at twelve years old; admire it to this day.

The Bravados is excellent.

Wendy, you did my list. Some of my favorites are there.

Great minds....

Out of Richard's list only a few them are on Netflix.

Bummer. We'll have to find another way.

kingrat wrote:I only know two of the films on Richard's list, The Hanging Tree and The Unforgiven, but really like both. There are some problems with the last 20 minutes of The Unforgiven, but much good stuff early on.

Two much underrated westerns from 1959: They Came to Cordura, with Robert Rossen directing Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth, and These Thousand Hills, with Don Murray as the young innocent who becomes corrupted and Lee Remick superb as yet another hooker with a heart of gold.

Because Richard's list of underrated 40s films will run 1941-1950, I'll nominate Two Flags West (1950), yet another solid film directed by Robert Wise, with Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, and Joseph Cotten.

Richard, welcome to the SSO.

Among some of the other films mentioned, I'm a big fan of Westward the Women, Devil's Doorway, and The Big Country.

My Thoughts

Very true about the Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth - in Cordura Kingrat and I completely forgot all about These Thousand Hills and that is so underrated and its not funny that these two westerns do not get credit due. Especially Hills 1st and Cordura 2nd.

And, last and not least Westward the Woman and Big Country ... I have not seen Devil's Doorway yet - and that's on my list to see someday.

RedRiver wrote:I don't know what's underrated and what's not. But I like THE BIG COUNTRY. It's not perfect. The conclusion is too convenient. But the characters are commanding and theatrical (could Burl Ives be anything else?). The story is dramatic, if not brilliant. I'll second the mention of RAWHIDE and "Gun Hill." I like John Sturges' GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL a lot. Maybe that doesn't qualify for this discussion. THE GUNFIGHTER just misses the established parameters at 1950. But Henry King's poetic THE BRAVADOS perfectly fits. I fell for this mature drama at twelve years old; admire it to this day.

I love BIG COUNTRY ... a great theatrical western and I love Burl ives here.

Hondo-John Wayne/Geraldine Paige/Ward Bond
Gunsmoke-Audie Murphy/Susan Cabot
Ride Clear Of Diablo-Audie Murphy/Susan Cabot
Duel At Silver Creek-Audie Murphy/Susan Cabot
Drums Across The River-Audie Murphy/Walter Brennan
Walk The Proud Land-Audie Murphy/Anne Bancroft/Pat Crawley
Gunman's Walk-Van Heflin/Tab Hunter/James Darren
Gun For A Coward-Fred MacMurray/ Jeffrey Hunter/Dean Stockwell
Tall Man Riding-Randolph Scott/Dorothy Malone
A Lawless Street-Randolph Scott/Angela Lansbury
Cattle Queen Of Montana-Barbara Stanwyck/Ronald Reagen
The Tall Stranger-Joel McRea/Virginia Mayo
Trooper Hook-Joel McRea/Barbara Stanwyck
Tension At Table Rock-Richard Egan/Cameron Mitchell/Dorothy Malone
Strange Lady In Town-Greer Garson/Dana Andrews/Cameron Mitchell

Day of the Outlaw (Andre de Toth 1959)
The Baron of Arizona (Samuel Fuller 1950)
Run of the Arrow (Samuel Fuller 1957)
Forty Guns (Samuel Fuller 1957)
Terror in a Texas Town (Joseph H. Lewis 1958)
Devil's Doorway (Anthony Mann 1950)
Stranger on Horseback (Jacques Tourneur 1955)
Wichita (Jacques Tourneur 1955)
Great Day in the Morning (Jacques Tourneur 1956)
Little Big Horn (Charles Marquis Warren 1951)