Discovering Westerns on Film - A 3DD Production on Sky arts

 

I'm catching up on these previously shown episodes in Sky Arts' Discovering series. Westerns was previously shown in 2021. Like those already noted on this blog: Discovering Sci Fi (2nd May 2022) and Discovering Horror (2nd November 2023), it comprises a countdown of the best in the genre. Again the presenters are Ian Nathan, Neil Norman and Stephen Armstrong.

No 25 Johnny Guitar from 1954. Neil Norman said it was 2not like any other Western". it was unheard of to have two female leads, including Joan Crawford.

No 24 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid from 1973. A Sam Peckinpah movie that Neil Norman thought "ponderous". I wanted to find out who composed the music. It was Bob Dylan!

No 23 Dances with Wolves from 1990. Kevin Costner's film that took the point of the native American. No mention again of the music. It was composed and conducted by John Barry.

No 22 The Sons of Katie Elder from 1965. The first John Wayne movie on the list, but far from the last. Ian Nathan explained the story behind the band of brothers.

No 21 Fort Apache from 1948. a black and white classic. Ian Nathan told us it was the first in John Ford's cavalry trilogy. John Wayne again.

No 20 Winchester '73 from 1950. James Stewart in a story about the gun changing hands.

No 19 The Gunfighter from 1950. Gregory Peck "trying to put the past behind him".

No 18 True Grit from 1969. Stephen Armstrong told us how John Wayne finally won his Oscar.

No 17 Gunfight at the OK Coral from 1957. Ian Nathan told us that "Wyatt Earp became the model for so many future Westerns. A John Sturges film with Bert Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.

No 16 The Professionals from 1966. One film I had never heard of, starring Lee Marvin and Jack Palance. Apparently it was too complicated and too much dialogue.

No 15 Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid from 1969. Robert Redford and Paul Newman star but it is the script by William Goldman that marks the film as a classic.

No 14 The Magnificent Seven from 1960. Yul and the gang star in the John Sturges movie that Ian Nathan called "one of the most famous Westerns ever made".

No 13 My Darling Clementine from 1946. Only the second film I did not recognise. John Ford's black and white film telling the story of Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral.

No 12 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from 1966. Sergio Leone's trilogy ends after A Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More. Clint Eastwood stars with a heavenly score.

No 11 High Noon from 1952. Fred Zimmerman's classic black and white movie filmed in almost real time. Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly star.

No10 Shane from 1953. Alan Ladd leads, but the star is the landscape. Told from a child's perspective.

No 9 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance from 1962. Another black and white film with John Wayne, again, with Lee Marvin and James Stewart. Ian Nathan said of this John Ford movie was his "most subtle and ironic, almost like a silent Western".

No 8 The Outlaw Josey Wales from 1976. A story of vengeance with a Civil War background. 

No 7 Stagecoach from 1939. An early John Wayne directed by John Ford when pictures moved on from the silent era. Stephen Armstrong called it "an ensemble piece". Great shots of Monuments Valley. 

No 6 The Wild Bunch from 1969. Sam Peckinpah restored Italian Westerns to America. Notable for that "extraordinary opening sequence". When the gang are down to four, we are told these \are the four horsemen of the apocalypse.  William Holden stars.

No 5 Red River from 1948. Only the third of those films I didn't know. John Wayne again, obviously, with this time Montgomery Clift. Moving a herd of cattle doesn't sound like much.

No 4 Unforgiven from 1992. Clint Eastwood in "a summation of his career" as an aging gunfighter. Neil Norman thought that it "unravels the myth of the West". The landscape is fantastic as are those last shots in the rain.

No 3 Rio Bravo from 1959. John Wayne, Dean Martin and Walter Brennan in Howard Hawks film.

No 2 The Searchers from 1956. John Wayne directed by John Ford again. Stephen Armstrong said that it was " uncomfortable to watch" but that it was "the most glorious widescreen movie ever made". The superb landscape needs the biggest screen to watch it.

No 1 Once Upon a Time in the West from 1968. Called Sergio Leone's masterpiece that actually transcends the earlier trilogy. The landscape, the music and Charles Bronson as a stone cold killer with Claudia Cardinale as his co-star. That Enrico Morricone harmonica unforgettable, and civilisation  arrives with the first train at the very end.

I'm now not a fan of Westerns, if I ever was, but I'm glad I watched this programme. Some of the clips were outstanding.