Tonight we celebrate a genre that has been largely forgotten in the modern movie era, the Western. Set in a time when the Old West was still wild, the Western is a nostalgic look back at the untamed American frontier during the late 19th century and embodies America’s sense of conquest, honour and personal justice.
Westerns are a defining genre of American film history and tonight our contender’s range from the movie that established the Western genre and made John Wayne a leading man (Stagecoach) to the movie that some say ended the genre with an Oscar-worthy deconstruction of the Western myth (Unforgiven).
The contender’s for tonight’s Western Shootout:
Stagecoach (1939) – 96min:
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948) – 126 min:
Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, two Americans searching for work in Mexico, convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Rio Bravo (1959) – 141min:
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a cripple, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
The Magnificent Seven (1960) 128min:
An oppressed Mexican peasant village assembles seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.
A Fistful of Dollars: (1964) – 99min:
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a cripple, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
The Wild Bunch (1969) – 145min:
An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the “traditional” American West is disappearing around them.
Blazing Saddles (1974) – 93min:
To ruin a western town, a corrupt political boss appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
Unforgiven (1992) – 131min:
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man.