I should have been more clear. I ment greats.
I haven’t seen this one is years; I remember it being very, very good. The Harpoon climax is something else.
Now that sounds like a great ;D.
Actually I’ve only seen one American 50’s Western so I shouldn’t judge this fast 
but I’ve heard enough about all the romance, melodrama, patriotism and not to mention John Wayne to have any real interest.
There were many, many Westerns made then that didn’t feature John Wayne; to avoide an entire decade worth of Westerns is a great waste as there are some truly fantastic Westerns in there.
Ok I’ll give them a try, I need film for the summer anyway and older films (50’s and older that is) somehow seems to be good to watch on the countryside in the summer!
James Dean in The Giant [1956]
You never know you may start to like some.
What’s with the Dean, Lindberg? He didn’t make any westerns, I think.
Just came to think of James Dean and the film The Giant
Sort of a semi-western I think, bit like The Misfits with Monroe
Both Monroe and Dean are still iconic 1950s symbols
Both had rather tragic lives and died young
I was really reluctant to get on board with westerns until I saw The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I always thought of it as the genre of my dad or grandpa and mostly associated it with John Wayne and The Lone Ranger. It wasn’t until a few years ago netflix sent me GBU that I absolutely fell in love with the genre. I first got obsessed with Spaghetti Westerns, then broadened my horizons. Still not a fan of most “classic” westerns, or anything featuring John Wayne.
Might I also recomend the 1950 Western Broken Arrow?It made history in its day for the first major film to side with the Indians. James Stewart stars, and apart from a rather ropey romantic subplot, it’s a ratterling good yarn.
Of course, the more recommendations the better :).
I could PM you a Top 10 1950’s Westerns list if you want, to give you an idea what to watch.
Silence, the Fifties is the best decade for American Westerns, IMO. It’s when the genre came of age, and began to question the myths that had always underpinned it. Some personal faves (including only one Wayne/Ford title):
Broken Arrow
Devil’s Doorway
The Furies
The Gunfighter
Winchester 73
Rawhide
Bend of the River
High Noon
Rancho Notorious
The Naked Spur
Shane
Apache
Johnny Guitar
Vera Cruz
The Far Country
A Man Alone
The Man from Laramie
The Man with the Gun
Backlash
The Searchers
Seven Men from Now
Decision at Sundown
Forty Guns
Run of the Arrow
The Tall T
3.10 to Yuma
The Tin Star
Buchanan Rides Alone
The Fiend who Walked the West
The Law and Jake Wade
The Left Handed Gun
Man of the West
Terror in a Texas Town
Day of the Outlaw
No Name on the Bullet
Ride Lonesome
Warlock
The Wonderful Country
Actually, I can’t add to that list. All the ones there apart from The Searchers that I have seen, are very, very good.
I could watch The Searches as well, I’ve heard that Wayne doesn’t play that type of character I usually hate in 50’s AWs!
I suppose you should watch it as The Searchers is a classic, even if I didn’t enjoy it. But then; you should be allowed to make your own mind up about it.
Heres a good scene from McLintock! But Pilgrim...! - YouTube
I myself prefer the spaghetti westerns. To me they feel more realistic than most of the american produced westerns from the early 50’s and 60’s. The spaghetti westerns are much more raw and visceral in their style. There a no real clear cut good and bad guys in most SW’s, the gunslingers look dirty and sweaty and don’t hesitate to shoot each other in the back or double cross each other at the drop of a dime. This representation of the west seems much more in tune with my idea of what the west probably would have looked like back then.
To me that makes much more sense than a nicely dressed and well shaven John Wayne who shoots the evil bad guy (preferably dressed black) and in the end get’s girl while being respected by everyone. I have a hard time imagining that things would be so black and white in such a turbulent time in history. It simply doesn’t feel realistic to me.
Of course there are some exceptions like the marvelous Peckinpah westerns which are quite visceral in the representation of the old west. I also tend to like the more modern westerns like “Appaloosa” or “The Proposition” which tends towards a more realistic approach of the west. It’s fun to see one guy shoots six guys in 2 seconds but it’s hardly realistic. These new westerns probably give the most realistic representation of the west and often have a little more substance then your regular SW.
So it depends mostly on my mood. If i want something more realistic with a little more substance i’ll watch one of the newer modern westerns. And if i’m in the mood for some mindless fun and action i’ll watch a SW. But the clean and virtuous American westerns of the 50’s and 60’s are just not my cup of tea.
Only that most of the good US westerns were even in the 50s not that simple. And surely not in the 60s and 70s.
You probably haven’t seen much US westerns.