THE WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA, a non-profit organisation set up in the 1950's to promote the work of western writers everywhere. The membership is made up of over six hundred professional writers and last year they polled their members for the movies they consider the best ever. This month True West Magazine published the list and whilst all lists of this nature are bound to be contentious there do seem to be some off choices in the WMA 100 Best Western Movies of all time.
At the top spot we have Shane which would not be my choice for the best western ever, though I would most certainly place it in the top ten. My own choice for number one is The Searchers which comes in at number three, below High Noon and Shane. OK the merits between Shane and The Searchers can be argued but there's no way that High Noon is a better movie than The Searchers.
At positions four and five are Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid and Dances with Wolves - both fine movie but better than The Wild Bunch, which comes in at number 6 and Red River at 7. I think not.
The highest rated Eastwood western is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at number 12 - the Unforgiven clocks in at number 16 while the Outlaw Josey Wales is at number 18. The fact that The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is higher rated than Unforgiven is arguable and to be honest I sometimes feel that way myself. But each of these three movies should be higher up the list. They are certainly better westerns than Open Range at number 1o.
One particular absurdity is that the original 3-10 to Yuma comes in at 32 while the inferior re-make is rated at 23. I mean opinions differ but that's insane. The re-make was a good solid western but I wouldn't put it in the top 50 while the original certainly deserves a better placing.
The list also includes modern westerns - No Country for Old Men, The Misfits and Hud - the inclusion of these films has angered some fans but whilst I'm OK with including contemporary west movies I do find it absurd that they've ignored Cogan's Bluff which is far more deserving to be called a western.
The full list is posted below - what do you think?
The WMA are now polling for the best western TV series - it seems a certain thing that their bizarre choices will probably include The Dukes of Hazard and Little House on the Prairie.
WWA Top 100 Westerns 1. Shane 2. High Noon 3. The Searchers 4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 5. Dances with Wolves 6. The Wild Bunch 7. Red River 8. Tombstone 9. The Magnificent Seven 10. Open Range 11. Treasure of the Sierra Madre 12. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 13. True Grit 14. The Shootist 15. Stagecoach (1939) 16. Unforgiven 17. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 18. The Outlaw Josey Wales 19. Ride the High Country 20. Jeremiah Johnson 21. The Cowboys 22. My Darling Clementine 23. 3:10 to Yuma (2007) 24. Rio Bravo 25. The Ox-Bow Incident 26. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 27. Lonely are the Brave 28. Will Penny 29. Hud 30. Winchester '73 31. Little Big Man 32. 3:10 to Yuma (1957) 33. The Grey Fox 34. The Alamo (1960) 35. Silverado 36. Ulzana's Raid 37. Once upon a Time in the West 38. Rio Grande 39. The Rounders 40. The Big Country 41. The Hi-Lo Country 42. Duel in the Sun 43. Fort Apache 44. The Last of the Mohicans (1992) 45. The Last Picture Show 46. The Grapes of Wrath 47. Bad Day at Black Rock 48. The Long Riders 49. The Tall T 50. Cat Ballou 51. Tumbleweeds 52. The Iron Horse 53. Man of the West 54. Seven Men from Now 55. The Big Trail 56. Three Godfathers 57. Hell's Hinges 58. The Wind (1928) 59. The Westerner 60. Support Your Local Sheriff 61. They Died with Their Boots On 62. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 63. The Professionals 64. The Cheyenne Social Club 65. El Dorado 66. Thunderheart 67. The Virginian (1929) 68. A Man Called Horse 69. Hombre 70. Barbarosa 71. Chisum 72. The Big Sky 73. Young Guns 74. Destry Rides Again 75. Junior Bonner 76. Angel and the Badman 77. Warlock 78. The Misfits 79. No Country for Old Men 80. Monte Walsh 81. Four Faces West 82. The Naked Spur 83. The Gunfighter 84. High Plains Drifter 85. Devil's Doorway 86. Law and Order (1932) 87. Coroner Creek 88. Valdez is Coming 89. Hondo 90. The Man from Laramie 91. The Unforgiven (1960) 92. Broken Arrow 93. Bend of the River 94. Giant 95. Blazing Saddles 96. The Culpepper Cattle Company 97. Three Bad Men 98. Pursued 99. McCabe and Mrs. Miller 100. The Great Train Robbery (1903)
22 comments:
Opinions are like arses, we've all got one, but Once Upon A time in the West at 37, 3 places behing the interminable Alamo?
And a list with a number of absences.
But it is a list that's generating discussion--as was the intention.
I have a few quibbles with it myself. Not enough B-Westerns for my blood.
Cheers,
Matt
I'm not sure about "No Country For Old Men" could qualify as a western.
While the locale was Texas, it was definitely not a western (at least in my opinion). I think it was more of character piece (like Pulp Fiction) that happened to be set in the west, than a western.
Calling that one a western is like calling "Hoosiers" a chick flick.
As Mathew says the point of this list is to provoke debate but I have to agree with Ian - Wayne's Alamo is a plodding western while Once Upon a Time in the West is a classic - I think THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY is better than Once Upon a Time but they are both better than The Alamo. It's rating the remake of 3.10 to Yuma above the orignal that got me.
I have a piece in last month's True West on the WWA's 100 best Westerns list. It's still up if you go to their website --twmag.com-- and find Movies in the menu and click on Westerns.
I have a piece in last month's True West on the WWA's 100 best Westerns list. Go to twmag.com and click on movies/westerns. There's a lovely shot of Jane Russell who broke out in an interesting Western.
Tombstone at 8 drives me crazy, especially when it was influenced by many that come after it on the list. It was a lot of fun, but better than Unforgiven or The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly? Are you kidding me?
These lists are simultaneously a lot of fun and tremendously aggravating. (:
Although the ending to 3:10 to Yuma made no sense it would be in our top twenty.Not that we're dissing the original but the new version appeals to our generation.
We would have rated that film higher if the Russell Crowe version kept to the original ending.
Films that we think should've made the list include One-Eyed Jacks, Hombre, Vera Cruz and Last Train From Gun Hill.
Great comments all. As a WWA member who voted on the list, I won't defend the final outcome except to say it comes from a diverse group in age and experience. BTW: For me, the last few few seconds of the new 3:10 to Yuma was a classic throwback to the old B/W 'B' Oaters.
My comment on this list at the time of its publication was that no list without RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY in the top 10 could be considered legit. I still fell that way.
Or feel that way. Take your pick.
Another bit of bizarreness is that True Grit ended up higher than the 1939 Stagecoach. Please.
All missing:
Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid
Missouri Breaks
One-Eyed Jacks
The Ballad of Cable Hogue
Also, I'd have the Searchers at number 1 and My Darling Clementine Higher. And I don't think I noticed The Westerner on there (the one with Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean). If it's not then it should be (especially since some of these films aren't really westerns at all).
The more I think of it, I can't believe Tombstone is 8. The fact that it cracked the Top 50 is beyond me.
Wow, this is really a bizarre list without much apparent rhyme or reason. HI-LO COUNTRY (great novel, mediocre movie at best) rated higher than the Budd Boetticher and Anthony Mann films? THE COWBOYS better than SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON? It's a stretch to call HUD, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, GIANT, and THE LAST PICTURE SHOW "westerns" by most reasonable criteria. It looks like somebody just put a bunch of titles in a hat and listed the first 100 they pulled out. Sadly, there are many well-made western movies from the '40s and '50s that should be better known and more highly regarded than they are.
Don't get me wrong. I myself like reading these lists because I use them as a handy check-off to make sure there aren't any that I've not seen. Now that my memory is completely shot, I need lists for everything.
LOL, Laurie! I use these lists in the same way!
Like Chris I wouldn't have put TOMBSTONE so high but I would defend it in the fact that it's a bloody good western.
Hum, I'm afraid my list would be very different. I agree with I. J. Once upon a time in the west should be much further up.
Wow! What were they thinking?
My opinion is like a lot of others here in that "The Searchers" should be #1. I also think that "The Shootist", "The Cowboys"
and "Rio Bravo" should be higher. Also some of the Eastwood vehicles like "High Plains Drifter" rank much lower than they should.
The re-make for "3:10 to Yuma" shouldn't even be on this list, let alone rank above the original. What's up with that?
And since when was "Last of the Mohicans" considered a western? May as well throw "The Patriot" in there with it.
http://old-west.blogspot.com/
Kerby Jackson.com
Remember this list was put together mostly by Americans. No wonder "Once Upon A Time In The West" isn't rated higher - or "High Plains Drifter" for that matter. My Number Ones are "The Searchers" and "My Darling Clementine".
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