The Last Western You Watched? ver.2.0

When I saw TRUE GRIT people actually walked out because they got fed up of Bridge’s drawl…it is funny too me because of my local Yorkshire accent which is sometimes incomprehensible to me!
A man marched past me muttering,
“A cant understant a bloody werd ee’s sayin’.”

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Doc (1971)

As far as movies about O.K. Corral Gunfight go, this is a weird and bold one, not because the story is told from prespective of Doc Holliday, rather it feels like this one is trying to deconstruct the way event was told and characters were portrayed in prior adaptations.

You can find some story elements that are straight-up big time reminiscent of John Ford’s My Darling Clementine in it’s unclean romance between Doc and the prostitute he picks up on the way to Tombstone. And it also gets gritty actions of John Struges 1957 verison and even very modern feel of George P. Cosmatos’s Tombstone. Together all of them are packed into a package and deliver to audiences, while also staying true to the vein of revisionist westerns and frame old wild west as morally decaying place, Wyatt Earp as a person who in his pursue of lawfulness becomes as corrupt as the Clantons, and Doc as someone who is already fed up with violence and unluckily caught up in the affair. The last gunfight is not glamourious or badass, it is depicted as the battle for survival between the last two breeds of dying species. A little talky and can be boring at times, but wholly interesting.

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Forgotten Pistolero…one of the first SWs I saw years ago and still an enjoyable watch. The score is pretty decent too…

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’Boot Hill’ (1969)

I wasn’t up for Spagvember this time, but last night I felt the urge to watch the restored HD version of the 3rd installment of the ‘Cat Stevens/Hutch Bessy’ triology.

This was a French TV rip, with optional Italian soundtrack, which I opted for … pretty easy to follow the action even if you don’t speak the language.

The film looks so good now, that you can actually see what’s happening in those damned night scenes - The costumes, makeup, locations and intense closeups are perfect SW style, worthy of a Leone production … shame that the story line isn’t stronger, or this would rate as a top 20 classic. But I still enjoyed it very much … 8 out of 10 just for the visuals … 6 for the movie overall.

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Never had this problem with my version (dvd), night scenes were all in all visible and crispy.

I first watched a PAN SCAN VHS … based on that experience, the film would get a 3 out of 10 … but I have seen a dvd too, but not so crispy. :wink:

Terror in a Texas Town. Very good.

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I’m looking forward to rewatching it on the new Blu-ray released by Explosive Media in November.

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That is of course how I watched it. Enjoy!

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The Arrow release is pretty good as well.

Bullwhip (1958), directed by Harmon Jones

Steve Daley, accused of murder, must make a quick decision: gallows noose or wedding ring? If he agrees to marry Miss O’Malley, he will be released from jail. Only later does he find out that she was required to get wed in order to remain boss of her recently deceased father’s lucrative business enterprise, the O’Malley Mercantile and Fur Trading Co. But that’s just one of many unpleasant revelations life has in store for Steve Daley as a married man.

What could be the starting point for an interesting story about gender-struggle and -roles, emancipation and patriarchalism is never satisfactorily developed by director Harmon Jones and screenwriter Adele Buffington. The plot threads, convoluted at the beginning, simply fizzle out into nothing after a running time of only eighty minutes.

Guy Madison plays his part as Steve Daley completely uninvolved; Rhonda Fleming, whose character goes by the name of Cheyenne Julia O’Malley White Deer, is supposed to portray the daughter of a Euro-American father and an “Indian princess.” Neither he nor she has the slightest concept for their characters and their interaction.

After A Day of Fury (1956), starring Dale Robertson and Mara Corday, Bullwhip is the second Western directed by Jones that I have watched. The former at least offers some dramatic tension and intensity of performance, while the latter really has almost nothing to commend itself other than Madison’s and Fleming’s physical attractiveness (referring to a famous statement by Leone that some of the most successful American Westerns have been ruined by the Rhonda Flemings or Grace Kellys of this world, it is only fair to say that some of the worst American Westerns have been saved by the Rhonda Flemings or Grace Kellys of this world). Even the title tune, sung by Frankie Laine, sounds dull and boring.

Just watched 5 westerns last week. Liked them all.

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News of the World. Loved it, very nice movie.

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I rewatched a few of my favourite American westerns recently. I watched both versions of Ulzana’s Raid (1972). It remains my favourite American western and I’m still hoping a company like Criterion will remaster Lancaster’s print and give it the release it deserves.
Arrowhead (1953) is, without a doubt, one of the most hateful westerns ever made but it captures the attitude of many frontiersmen very well and it differs from other cavalry films. I can see some similarities with Ulzana’s Raid but Arrowhead is unique in the sense that it is the lead character’s hatred of Apaches that triumphs and I don’t remember another film like it. It had been a while since I watched this one and I had forgotten about how dark the film is. Its bleakness is part of its appeal and it’s probably my favourite cavalry western of the 50s. Heston’s performance is excellent.
El Condor (1970) - still a personal favourite and perhaps even a guilty pleasure because I can recognise its flaws but the action sequences and Van Cleef’s performance make it worthwhile.
Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) - not exactly Audie Murphy’s finest but I did have fun with it. It feels very unrealistic and the Comanches are a bit too ridiculous to be believable characters. If you’re looking for mindless entertainment, I suppose you can’t go wrong with this one.

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A Western double-bill…

A undisputed Classic, which never ages…Wonderful entertainment, up-and-coming mega-stars, accompanied by a cracking Elmer Bernstein score…

Tough, gritty, and one of Burt Lancaster’s best movies…with more renowned character actors than you can shake a stick at…Bloody marvellous…

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Cool law man image

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Watched this one… What can I say…

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I just watched Catlow with Yul Brynner. This is the second time I’ve watched it but the last time was more than 10 years ago, so I couldn’t remember half of it. Well, I can see why I didn’t bother with it for so long. It has a nice opening but that’s about it. It feels like an uneven mess to me and the intentional comedy didn’t make me laugh much. It would have been better as a straight film.

The Sisters Brothers (Audiard / 2018)

Watched this for the first time last night and really enjoyed it.Solid performances all round and a compelling story well told for me.

A question for our @Admin.
As a French co-production filmed in Spain with a french director and largely European crew does this not qualify as a Eurowestern and should therefore be in the database?

excellent question… now that you put it that way, we have far less european films in the database :slight_smile: