Westerns

In the years following the Civil War, Kansas is in the middle of a difficult time. homesteaders are moving into the west, trying to start new lives, and are going head to head against cattlemen who have been settled in that territory for years. In Abilene, one of the biggest cattle towns of the west, the town is on the brink of a confrontation between the cattlemen and the homesteaders.

Tim McCoy plays Gentleman Jim Madigan, a professional gambler that comes to the aid of a Mexican family. Tim McCoy was interesting in real life. He was a famous Hollywood star, but he also was really fast at quick draw and was an expert on Old West and Indian folklore.

John Wayne, James Stewart, Henry Fonda and Andy Devine star in this documentary about filmmaking legend John Ford. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ford directed 140 films (although nearly all of his silent films are now lost) and he came to be regarded as one of the finest American filmmakers of his generation. Ford’s films and personality have been highly influential, leading colleagues such as Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles to name him as one of the greatest directors of all time.

This is one of my favorite John Wayne Movies. Quirt Evans gets introduced to Quakers, who take him in after he gets shot over a land deal. He likes the Quakers, especially the farmers daughter played by Gail Russell.

Get out the soda pop and the bubble gum for this Saturday Afternoon Bob Steele western. Bob Steele goes after the gang that killed his father.

In 1900, lumberman Jim Fallon (Kirk Douglas) greedily eyes the big trees in the virgin region of northern California. The land is already settled by, among others, a religious group led by Elder Bixby (Charles Meredith). Jim is attracted to Bixby’s daughter, Alicia (Eve Miller), though that does not change his plan to cheat the homesteaders.

Blue Steel is a 1934 Western film in which John Wayne plays a U.S. Marshal who is trying to capture the Polka Dot Bandit, who has taken off with $4,000.

In this episode of Bonanza, the sheriff wants to control his daughter, but she’s gonna run off with the first bad guy that will have her.

The Cartwrights go to San Francisco and one by one they get Shanghaied and sold off to merchant ships as crew.

This movie is also known as “Trailing the Killer”. Plain and simple this is a dog movie in the character of Rin-Tin-Tin. Caesar is as smart as Rinty.

Here’s another Lone Star Picture with John Wayne. John Wayne goes after the guys that killed his dad.

Here’s a 1967 spaghetti western with Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law. Bill Meceita, a boy whose family was murdered in front of him by a gang, sets out 15 years later to exact revenge. On his journey, he finds himself continually sparring and occasionally cooperating with Ryan, a gunfighter on his own quest for vengeance, who knows more than he says about Bill’s tragedy.

Rodeo star John Scott (John Wayne) and his gambler friend Kansas Charlie (Eddy Chandler) are wrongly accused of armed robbery at the Rattlesnake Gulch rodeo just after John Scott gets his rodeo prize money. The Rodeo Official is robbed and murdered by Pete (Paul Fix) a minute after Scott and Kansas Charlie leave.

The Drifter is a vaudevillian drama about a man who returns from prison to get tangled up in a lot of intrigue with the shady characters around him.

Father John (Lee Van Cleef) turns vigilante and hunts down a gang of criminals, led by Sam Clayton (Jack Palance) who kill the local priest.

James Caan (Jud McGraw) and Stefanie Powers (Little Moon) have one thing in common. They hate this little town they came across. Sammy Davis Jr. didn’t like it much either.

This movie stars Dennis O’Keefe and Gail Russell. It’s the true story about Dan Patch, who held the record for being the fastest harness horse in the world from 1909 to 1938.

The Three Mesquiteers protect settlers against an evil politician trying to steal their land after a flood. Starring Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune and Robert Livingston.

The Range Busters take on Rance and his outlaw gang over a shipment of gold bullion. Rance has his men impersonating ghosts to keep people away from the ranch where he suspects the gold is hidden.

Bud Spencer plays Hiram Coburn ; a drifter. Jack Palance plays Sunny ; a gunfighter who wants him to marry his sister. A little boy (Renato Cestie) and Jack Palances gun save him from hanging, but the boys uncle gets killed so Bud Spencer adopts the waif. I don’t want to give away too much on the plot, but the interaction between Palance and Bud Spencer is pretty funny.

Bill Carson (Tim McCoy) finds out that the sheriff and his men hung the wrong man for holding up the stage.

John Wayne stars in this western movie about two ranchers who strike it rich with a gold mine and the bad guys that want the gold.

McLintock! is a 1963 comedy Western starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, and loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The film is famous (or infamous) for its two spanking scenes, in which mother and daughter are each paddled with coal shovels: the daughter by her suitor, the mother by her estranged husband.

An artist working in a remote army post is juggling the storekeeper’s daughter, his fiancée newly arrived from the east, and the Indian Chief’s daughter. But when a vengeful settler manages to get the army and the braves at each other’s throats his troubles really begin.

Randolph Scott, Dorothy Malone and Forrest Tucker tell the tale of the mysterious stranger who tangles with evil ranchers and bank robbers.

The Outlaw is a 1943 Western movie, directed by Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks (uncredited), which turned Jane Russell into one of Hollywood’s movie legends. The film also starred Jack Buetel, Thomas Mitchell, and Walter Huston.

John Wyatt (John Wayne) is a government agent sent to smash a counterfeiting operation near the Mexican border. Joining Doc Carter’s medicine show they arrive in the town where Curly Joe (Yakima Canutt) , who once framed Carter, resides…

A group of five Confederate mercenaries led by Sergeant Will Hansen must choose sides carefully in a small village where they find themselves trapped in the middle of a rebellion. Starring Chuck Connors and Cesar Romero.

Four of the Reno brothers are outlaws. One is a respected farmer. It’s the biggest double-cross in Western history. Randolph Scott is a secret agent sent to bring the Reno brothers and their conspirators to justice.

He’s a vintage John Wayne film from 1934. I always like these. Bandits lead by Matt the Mute enter a bar and kill multiple people. Randy Bowers comes to town and is framed by Matt the Mute, who is working with the sheriff (who doesn’t know the Matt is really a criminal).

Here John Wayne plays Singin’ Sandy Saunders, the screen’s first singing cowboy. Singin’ Sandy’s ten-gallon hat was black instead of white. This movie is a little more intense than your normal musical cowbody movie of the time. Sandy says “the streets soon running with blood” and “you’ll be drinking your drinks with the dead”, which in not the tamest John Wayne of the 1930′s.

Here’s a good old fashioned Bob Steele western. Meanwhile back at the ranch, kidnappers have grabbed Tom Martin so his dad Jim will sell out. It’s Riders of the Sage to the rescue.

Cass Callicot arrives in North Fork to challenge Lucas McCain to a shooting contest, but McCain is a lilly livered coward who won’t fight and won’t hunt. Then Callicot kidnaps Mark, but regrets it because Mark is so annoying. As usual the Rifleman concludes with the Rifleman not actually shooting anyone.

Isabelle sent off for a new husband named Mr. Jupiter. She’s afraid the local riff raff is gonna bother him. Not too Much.

Dave Stafford is an old friend of Lucas McCain. What no one knows is that he’s in North Fork to make sure the railroad spur line goes to another town, while pretending he’s on North Fork’s side

Tim McCoy plays a hired gunman Rancher Morgan hired in response to a range war. The leading lady was a woman named Rosalinda Price. It was her only movie.

U.S. Marshal John Travers (John Wayne), becomes sheriff of a town where several murders have occurred, hoping to flush out an outlaw chieftain known only as “The Shadow”.

Jim Davis (Jock Ewing from Dallas) plays a fictional railroad detective who roams the west chasing famous bad guys.

Here’s another Tim McCoy western. Martin hid a half a million dollars in government bonds on his ranch before someone did him in. Inspector Carson (Tim McCoy) must capture the murderer and recover the bonds.

This is a western with a cast consisting entirely of little people. It’s obvious that Tiny Town was built for normal sized people who were killed and eaten by the towns citizens.

Sheriff John Higgins quits and goes into prospecting after he thinks he has killed his best friend in shooting it out with robbers. He encounters his dead buddy’s sister and helps her run her ranch. Then she finds out about his past.

This is the second episode of the Lone Ranger in 1949 where the Lone Ranger needs to find out what is happening to supplies meant for the Indians that are getting hijacked.

Here’s a cute little western from 1942. It’s got the precocious ranchers daughter, the evil vigilantes and the Range Busters, who come to the rescue. Just the sort of thing for a Sunday Afternoon matinee. Ed Cole (Charles King) plays the head of the local vigilantes, and secretly the head of the outlaws. The Range Busters, Dusty King (John King), Davy Sharpe (David Sharpe) and Alibi Terhune (Max Terhune), to come and restore order to the town. If you liked the John Wayne, Monogram Pictures westerns I have around here, you should like this movie too.

This is from when John Wayne wasn’t a star yet. Tim McCoy was. Rancher Tim Clark borrows money from Bob Russell, who then rustles Clark’s cattle so he will be unable to repay the money. Thus Russell is able to cheat Clark out of his ranch. Clark becomes a prospector for silver and ultimately comes to settle accounts with Russell and crooked deputy Bendix.

This is sort of a Cain and Abel story about a rancher (Burt Lancaster) that takes in an orphaned boy. His real son gets jealous and tries to get his adopted brother in trouble, so that he can get the whole ranch.

Here’s an old John Wayne Monogram western from 1934. This is a pretty basic b-western but the attraction is seeing a young John Wayne.

Have you ever wondered how hungry William Shatner must have been after Star Trek? This movie answers that question! Please Bill, don’t kill me for showing this one. Here William Shatner plays Johnny Moon, the good cowboy. He also plays Notah, his evil Comanche half-brother, who eats peyote and enjoys rape, plunder and pillage. They meet for the final showdown in Rio Hondo.

John Wayne plays John Blair. He and his partner, Larry Adams (Lane Chandler) are out of work when the arrival of telegraph ends the Pony Express. They get swindled by Cal Drake for a telegraph line and equipment to a ghost town. John determines that he will operate the line and learns that a coach race will be staged and he signs up for it. The fastest team in the race will win a $25,000 government contract.