Westerns *you* like but no one else does.

RED SUN (1971) -- Train robber Charles Bronson teams up with Samurai
Toshiro Mifune to get New Orleans gambler Alain Delon. If this had
been released a few years later (post-DEATH WISH) it might have been a
big hit.

THE DESERTER (1970). Great cast: John Huston, Slim Pickens, Chuck
Connors, Ian Bannen... IIRC it was written by Clair Huffaker and
directed by Burt Kennedy, the WAR WAGON team, and it has quite a bit
of black humor. Unfortunately, the star is Bekim Fehmiu (sp?), who
combines an inexpressive face with great difficulty speaking English.
With another lead, it might have been a classic.

GUNFIGHT IN ABILENE (1967) In this Universal second feature (remake of
a jock Mahoney oater of the 50s), Gunfighter Bobby Darin (!!) must put
on a tin star and save Abilene from villainous Leslie Nielsen (!!).
Perhaps it was not especially remarkable as a film, but over the
credits Darin sings a lovely pastoral ballad called "Amy", which he
wrote himself. I keep hoping some adventurous alt.country or Americana
singer wlill cover it (are you listening Ryan Adams?).

ROUGH NIGHT IN JERICHO (1967) A top-notch cast -- George Peppard, Jean
Simmons, Slim Pickens -- but the film is stolen by Dean Martin as a
suave but deadly town boss.

WALK LIKE A DRAGON (1960) Written and directed by James "Shogun"
Clavell, concerning a Chinese immigrant (James Shigeta) who becomes a
fast draw. Notable b/c the role of Shigeta's gunslinging teacher is
played by Mel Torme (!), which is actually not surprising if you know
that Torme was in the forefront of Hollywood's fast draw craze of the
50s. I've read that Audie Murphy was the fastest H'wood draw -- other
contenders for the title being Torme, Glenn Ford (as you can see in
THE FASTEST GUN ALIVE), and, BION, Sammy Davis, Jr! (Davis even
included fast draws in his nightclub act)

INCIDENT AT PHANTOM HILL (1965). A Universal programmer, but the cast
(Dan Duryea, Claude Akins, Noah Beery, Robert Fuller and a little
appreciated actress named Jocelyn Lane) and the script (story by
Borden Chase), make it entertaining.

THE RIDE TO HANGMAN'S TREE (1966). Miss Lane is also in this remake of
BLACK BART (1948), co-starring Jack Lord (in the closest he ever came
to a comedy part, and he's pretty good) along with Universal contract
players Don Galloway (hamming atrociously in the role first played by
Percy "Pa Kettle" Kilbride) and the underrated James Farentino.

I don't know if William Goldman ever saw BLACK BART, but historians
may wish to chart the "bantering outlaws" technique from BB through
VERA CRUZ (1954) and THE WAR WAGON (1967) all the way to Goldman's
BUTCH CASSIDY (1969).
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

"Magnus, Robot Fighter" wrote:

>The Quick and the Dead......it's a cartoon! With Gene Hackman. Who
>doesn't like cartoons??
>
>Wyatt Earp....yes it's slowish and long, but I liked it.
>
>Speaking of Kasdan...Silverado doesn't seem to have aged well.

Whirlwind with Gene Autry







____
Baron von Swieten: "I need a man who can say 'No' when I talk nonsense.
Are you that man?"

Beethoven: "No."
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

*Day of Anger* with Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma as Scott Mary.
Featuring a fat guy who tells of "El four day battle" which he later
describes as "lasting three days." A banjo picker with a Winchester
built in. An Injun named Alleycat who stands on tall buildings. That's
all, just stands there, and is sometimes catapulted out of canyons by
standing on one end of a long board while the fat guy levers a boulder
onto the other end. A bunch of riders come through town and there's lots
of shooting and they ride out again, and, I swear, me and my brother
were asking "Who were those guys?" two years before Butch & the Kid came
along.

*El Topo* We liked that one because the madman who made it, around
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, included at least one madman we used to see on
the streets of that city. It was a surrealist western. At one point, it
was snowing rabbits. Dead rabbits thick as a blizzard. My buddy Chico
shrugged, "Why not?" It was one of them why not movies.

And here's my favorite tagline of all time:

> Baron von Swieten: "I need a man who can say 'No' when I talk nonsense.
> Are you that man?"
>
> Beethoven: "No."


--
'... my name is Noman; this is what my father and mother and my friends
have always called me.' - Odyssey; Book IX
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

On Oct 15, 2:12 pm, No Man wrote:
> *Day of Anger* with Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma as Scott Mary.
> Featuring a fat guy who tells of "El four day battle" which he later
> describes as "lasting three days." A banjo picker with a Winchester
> built in. An Injun named Alleycat who stands on tall buildings. That's
> all, just stands there, and is sometimes catapulted out of canyons by
> standing on one end of a long board while the fat guy levers a boulder
> onto the other end. A bunch of riders come through town and there's lots
> of shooting and they ride out again, and, I swear, me and my brother
> were asking "Who were those guys?" two years before Butch & the Kid came
> along.


<< Are you sure you haven't mixed three or four "spaghettis" together
in your cerebrum? >>
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

On Oct 15, 4:58 pm, "Lincoln Spector" wrote:
> "Magnus, Robot Fighter" wrote in messagenews:eqc7h3tic4k2a0g0ncr13jalmbsjjqjgrd@4ax.com...
>
> > The Quick and the Dead......it's a cartoon! With Gene Hackman. Who
> > doesn't like cartoons??
>
> > Wyatt Earp....yes it's slowish and long, but I liked it.
>
> > Speaking of Kasdan...Silverado doesn't seem to have aged well.
>
> I like Silverado--a lot. It's simplistic, turn-off-the-brain fun, but it's
> well-done simplistic, turn-off-the-brain fun.
>
> I have a very soft spot for Support Your Local Sheriff. The music score
> stinks, but otherwise its one of the best comedy westerns.

As to the latter, the actors were all in top form, with Jack Elam
getting the lion's share of laughs! The (sort of) sequel, 'Support
Your Local Gunfighter', didn't quite equal it.

> Lincoln

Best
LT
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

On Oct 15, 2:41?pm, "Magnus, Robot Fighter" wrote:
> The Quick and the Dead......it's a cartoon! With Gene Hackman. Who
> doesn't like cartoons??
>
> Wyatt Earp....yes it's slowish and long, but I liked it.

There's the parts with Dennis Quaid, and there's the parts without.
One of these days I'll burn it with the pause button under my thumb.
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

xanthus666.TakeThisOut@att.net wrote:

> << Are you sure you haven't mixed three or four "spaghettis" together
> in your cerebrum? >>

I'm never quite sure. That's what makes remembering so much fun. If you
was to just replay the past like a roll of film it'd be dull as an Elvis
western after a while...



--
'... my name is Noman; this is what my father and mother and my friends
have always called me.' - Odyssey; Book IX
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

No Man wrote:

>And here's my favorite tagline of all time:
>
>> Baron von Swieten: "I need a man who can say 'No' when I talk nonsense.
>> Are you that man?"
>>
>> Beethoven: "No."

Did I ever tell you the story about Beethoven's landowner brother?
It's a riot!







____
Baron von Swieten: "I need a man who can say 'No' when I talk nonsense.
Are you that man?"

Beethoven: "No."
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

"Magnus, Robot Fighter" wrote in message

>
> The Quick and the Dead......it's a cartoon! With Gene Hackman. Who
> doesn't like cartoons??
>
> Wyatt Earp....yes it's slowish and long, but I liked it.
>
> Speaking of Kasdan...Silverado doesn't seem to have aged well.
I like Silverado--a lot. It's simplistic, turn-off-the-brain fun, but it's
well-done simplistic, turn-off-the-brain fun.

I have a very soft spot for Support Your Local Sheriff. The music score
stinks, but otherwise its one of the best comedy westerns.

Lincoln
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

No Man wrote:

>*El Topo*

I'm not sure if that surreal tantric-christian redemption-enlightenment-
resurrection movie should be called a western. But I love it.

Jodorowsky's "The Holy Mountain" is even more weird. Very strange
stuff.


Manfred
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

"smee" wrote in message

>
> I have always been a sucker for Elmore Leonard's works. There is just
> something about the dialog that I enjoy. Directors have certainly
> proven capable of ruining his novels/screenplays: One of the most
> egregious cases was _Stick_ (1985), a vanity project directed by Burt
> Reynolds which totally trashed a fine crime novel.
>
> Folks typically rank _Hombre_ (1967, based on the Elmore Leonard
> novel) fairly high. But I don't think anyone has yet mentioned one of
> my personal favorites, _Valdez Is Coming_ (1971), a Burt Lancaster
> vehicle also based on one of Leonard's Westerns. I even liked _Joe
> Kidd_ (1972, Leonard screenplay), although I notice it's mention by
> someone else in the "100 Favorite Westerns" thread raised an eyebrow
> or two.

Best Elmore Leonard Western: THE TALL T.

Jim Beaver
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

"Magnus, Robot Fighter" wrote in message

>
> The Quick and the Dead......it's a cartoon! With Gene Hackman. Who
> doesn't like cartoons??
>
> Wyatt Earp....yes it's slowish and long, but I liked it.
>
> Speaking of Kasdan...Silverado doesn't seem to have aged well.

A Big Hand for the Little Lady
From Noon Till Three
Denver and Rio Grande

I've never seen Lewton's "Apache Drums," but I'd like to.

PBT
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does. 

"Paul B. Thompson" wrote in message

>
> "Magnus, Robot Fighter" wrote in message
>
>>
>> The Quick and the Dead......it's a cartoon! With Gene Hackman. Who
>> doesn't like cartoons??
>>
>> Wyatt Earp....yes it's slowish and long, but I liked it.
>>
>> Speaking of Kasdan...Silverado doesn't seem to have aged well.
>
> A Big Hand for the Little Lady

You ain't the only one who likes BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY.

Jim Beaver
 >> Stay informed about: Westerns *you* like but no one else does.