A-Z of Westerns | Page 3 | Vital Football

A-Z of Westerns

R is more fruitful than P and I will go for another classic of the Western TV heyday of late 1950s-early 1960s. Rawhide with Eric Fleming as trail boss Gil Favor and Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates. Loved it. Paul Brinegar played the grizzled old cook, Wishbone.
 
Maybe "Ponderosa" was aimed at the "Little house on the prairie" (Alternative "L") audience? Wasn't successful, if that was the plan.

We missed an obvious one ...
Alternative P ... (The) Paleface - comedy Western film (1948), starring Bob Hope in the lead role as "Painless Potter" with Jane Russell as "Calamity Jane". Watched this film many times as a kid - it was often on tv at Xmas and Bank Holidays. Also features the well-known song, "Buttons and Bows" (Clip on YouTube). Good fun.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have missed out "Q"...

Q Quick Draw McGraw - Hanna-Barbera tv cartoon show from late 50's/early 60's. Quick Draw was a white horse who was a Wild West sherriff. He sometimes made cameo appearances in other Hanna-Barbera cartoons too.
 
Last edited:
My fault for missing Q. Alternative (The) Quick and the Dead. Enjoyable 1987 film clearly inspired by Shane and starring Sam Elliot, Tom Conti and Kate Capshaw.
mikemiller said:
Maybe "Ponderosa" was aimed at the "Little house on the prairie" (Alternative "L") audience? Wasn't successful, if that was the plan.

We missed an obvious one ...
Alternative P ... (The) Paleface - comedy Western film (1948), starring Bob Hope in the lead role as "Painless Potter" with Jane Russell as "Calamity Jane". Watched this film many times as a kid - it was often on tv at Xmas and Bank Holidays. Also features the well-known song, "Buttons and Bows" (Clip on YouTube). Good fun.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have missed out "Q"...

Q Quick Draw McGraw - Hanna-Barbera tv cartoon show from late 50's/early 60's. Quick Draw was a white horse who was a Wild West sherriff. He sometimes made cameo appearances in other Hanna-Barbera cartoons too.
Click to expand...
Quick Draw I think was also the title of a comedy western series but I know nothing about it.
 
S - Lots of choice with at least two of the generally recognised top 5 or so Western films. Will go with Shane the 1953 classic with Alan Ladd, the marvellous Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Jack Palance, Ben Johnson, Elisha Cook Jnr and Brandon de Wilde as the boy.
 
or... (The) Shootist - US film (1976), based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout. John Wayne's last film role. Won several awards.
 
T The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - great film.

I know it starts with 'the' but you can't have the film without the 'the's'!
 
mikemiller said:
or... (The) Shootist - US film (1976), based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout. John Wayne's last film role. Won several awards.
Click to expand...
Excellent film and a very good performance by Wayne. Two alternative S with Wayne that make many top ten lists are Stagecoach and (The) Searchers.
 
Last edited:
U - Two films jump out. I will go with Ulzana's Raid a 1972 film with a great performance by Burt Lancaster.
 
mikemiller said:
V Vengance Valley - US film (1951 ) also starring Burt Lancaster
Click to expand...
Excellent choice, Mike. I enjoyed this film. The conflict between a flawed son and an "adopted" stalwart has some similarities to the 1955 James Stewart classic The Man From Laramie.
 
The other U that is a great film is Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven with a great cast of Eastwood, Richard Harris, Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman.
 
Alternative V - has to be that long running 1960s series with James Drury and Doug McClure - (The) Virginian.
 
Just realised that we missed a sitter for "P" - Paint your wagon. Musical western starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Jean Seberg, etc. It also had the UK hit single in it - "I was born under a wandrin' star" , which later became a terrace anthem too (in slightly modified form). The film often used to be on tv at Xmas.
 
Last edited:
W - For me has to be classic series from the "Golden Age" - Wagon Train with Ward Bond 1957-1960 (when he died at age 57) and then John McIntire. The series was a spin-off from the 1950 John Ford film with Bond, Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jnr, Wagon Master which I have seen several times.
 
mikemiller said:
Just realised that we missed a sitter for "P" - Paint your wagon. Musical western starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Jean Seberg, etc. It also had the UK hit single in it - "I was born under a wandrin' star" , which later became a terrace anthem too (in slightly modified form). The film often used to be on tv at Xmas.
Click to expand...
The film reminds me in some ways of the 1960 film, North To Alaska, with John Wayne and Stewart Granger partners in a gold mine and both after the same woman played by Capucine (who sadly committed suicide age 62).
 
mikemiller said:
or... (The) Shootist - US film (1976), based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout. John Wayne's last film role. Won several awards.
Click to expand...
Two other films I enjoyed based on Swarthout novels were They Came To Cordura with Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth and the 2014 film The Homesman with Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.