HF Westerns

[Kurtlg]

I watched a Gun smoke episode yesterday. The scenario was that Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce was heading to Washington for a meeting with the president about being allowed back on their land. It was 1879 when Joseph went to Washington. In the story Joseph is sick , Doc pulls him through and there is a local who stirs up the town folk because his brother was killed in the Nez Perce war (June to October 1877). Just as things are getting hot , Matt received a telegraph from DC saying that Joseph is under the protection of the US government. It is signed by President Grant , who left office in March of 1877 . So is this just sloppy research by the Gun smoke writers or did Grant serve as shadow president during Rutherford Hayes's tenure? As a crossover from another thread , was Grant aware that Booth survived the war and moved to India?

 

[Pollaco]

Has anyone seen "Border River" with Joel McCrea? I'm getting mixed information about it. One source states McCrea is a Confederate sympathizer smuggling cotton. Another states McCrea is a Confederate Officer buying guns in Mexico. It sounds interesting but I seriously doubt it's Historic Accuracy.It and Vera Cruz both came out in 1954 and it sounds like they both seem to center around Mexico/Maximilian.

 

[MAJOR DUNDEE]

It's called "The Rebels" over here ; JMC is on a secret mission into Mexico's "Zona Libre", it's a bit boring I remember, in fact that's all I can say about that film...need to watch it again.

Border River (1954) - Once Upon a Time in a Western

Joel McCrea is Clete Mattson, who just makes it across the Mexican border ahead of a troop of Union cavalry.

onceuponatimeinawestern.com

 

[TallTallMan]

Has anyone seen "Border River" with Joel McCrea? I'm getting mixed information about it. One source states McCrea is a Confederate sympathizer smuggling cotton. Another states McCrea is a Confederate Officer buying guns in Mexico. It sounds interesting but I seriously doubt it's Historic Accuracy.It and Vera Cruz both came out in 1954 and it sounds like they both seem to center around Mexico/Maximilian.

I vaguely remember reading about it in Last of the Cowboy Heroes, but no, I've never read it.

 

[MAJOR DUNDEE]

Cannes film festival has just ended, it's usually rubbish films that are celebrated, but in 1957, they gave the "palme d'or" to this good civil war drama starring Gary Cooper.

Friendly Persuasion (1956) - Once Upon a Time in a Western

Gary Cooper is Jess Birdwell; Dorothy McGuire is his wife, Eliza, in this story of a Quaker couple with three children in the 1860s.

onceuponatimeinawestern.com

 

[Pollaco]

I saw 'Virginia City" with Errol Flynn last night. The portrayal of Jefferson Davis was interesting. They seemed to have went out of their way to make the character look like Abraham Lincoln. Dark hair, beard but no mustache etc. They even had him wearing glasses.

 

[TallTallMan]

I saw 'Virginia City" with Errol Flynn last night. The portrayal of Jefferson Davis was interesting. They seemed to have went out of their way to make the character look like Abraham Lincoln. Dark hair, beard but no mustache etc. They even had him wearing glasses.

The fact that Bogart, Scott, and Flynn are all in it astonishes me.

 

[Pollaco]

The fact that Bogart, Scott, and Flynn are all in it astonishes me.

It was an All Star cast.

 

[Pollaco]

The fact that Bogart, Scott, and Flynn are all in it astonishes me.

Bogart was not in too many Westerns.

 

[Kurtlg]

Bogart was not in too many Westerns.

Only a few but Treasure of the Sierra Madre was one of the best.

 

[Kurtlg]

I saw Siege at Red River a few days ago.So the warring tribe gets a Gatling gun and shoots at an infamous Hollywood log western fort . The Gatling gun is completely ineffective against the fort yet the army launches a futile charge against them .Why not wait until they run out of ammunition ? Typical anachronistic firearms. I guess a typical second tier 1950s western

 

[MAJOR DUNDEE]

Got to see it again, I'm the luckiest owner of the dvd !

 

[TallTallMan]

Only a few but Treasure of the Sierra Madre was one of the best.

Close to my favorite single film. But considering it's set in the late 20s I don't think it qualifies as a Western IMO.

 

[Kurtlg]

Close to my favorite single film. But considering it's set in the late 20s I don't think it qualifies as a Western IMO.

Well it took place in a Western area that just was a bit more southerly. Some folks claim Last of the Mohicans and Drums Along the Mohawk are westerns which is absurd. So when is something no longer a Western? No Country for Old Men is too modern. Certainly not The Last Picture Show. Were the Roy Rogers episodes featuring a 1940s Jeep Westerns If automobiles are featured is it a Western ?? I think Roy Rogers episodes would be considered "modern" westerns. An interesting topic.

 

[TallTallMan]

Well it took place in a Western area that just was a bit more southerly. Some folks claim Last of the Mohicans and Drums Along the Mohawk are westerns which is absurd. So when is something no longer a Western? No Country for Old Men is too modern. Certainly not The Last Picture Show. Were the Roy Rogers episodes featuring a 1940s Jeep Westerns If automobiles are featured is it a Western ?? I think Roy Rogers episodes would be considered "modern" westerns. An interesting topic.

Actually, Howard/Walter Huston is old enough to have lived in the Old West.

 

[MAJOR DUNDEE]

I would consider a Western beeing between the end of the 1700's and the beginning of the 1900's (so for me : from "Unconquered" to " They came to Cordura"), it's location beeing the U.S, Canada, or Mexico (admiting a very few passings to other places like Butch Cassidy to Bolivia...), it may include many USCW related films also (because of their location, the way they are directed, the players..."Josey Wales" is a Western, while " Glory" can't be considered so).
At a level, we think here (Europe) that some rare exceptions can be admitted, "Lonely are the brave" and "The walking hills" are registered as Westerns, while they include cars and take place after WW2.

The Walking Hills (1949) - Once Upon a Time in a Western

A modern Western, set near the border of Mexico. A card game turns into a gold hunt when one of the players mentions that his horse tripped on a wagon wheel

onceuponatimeinawestern.com

 

[Library Lady]

Not a movie, but possibly a book of interest for frequent posters to this thread is The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild by Bryan Burrough. It was new in the library this morning as it was released on June 3, 2025.

THE GUNFIGHTERS | Kirkus Reviews

A rootin’-tootin’ history of the Wild West’s legacy of cold steel.

www.kirkusreviews.com

The Gunfighters by Bryan Burrough: 9781984878922 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Named a Best Book of 2025 by Bloomberg “One hell of a good read.” —The New York Times “One of the most important books written on the American West in many years.” —True...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

 

[TallTallMan]

Not a movie, but possibly a book of interest for frequent posters to this thread is The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild by Bryan Burrough. It was new in the library this morning as it was released on June 3, 2025.

THE GUNFIGHTERS | Kirkus Reviews

A rootin’-tootin’ history of the Wild West’s legacy of cold steel.

www.kirkusreviews.com

The Gunfighters by Bryan Burrough: 9781984878922 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Named a Best Book of 2025 by Bloomberg “One hell of a good read.” —The New York Times “One of the most important books written on the American West in many years.” —True...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

I invite conversations about Westerns, period--not just movies!

I read the review in the recent True West. It sounds really interesting.

 

[Philip Leigh]

Three Godfathers, 1936 version.

 

[damYankee]

Well it took place in a Western area that just was a bit more southerly. Some folks claim Last of the Mohicans and Drums Along the Mohawk are westerns which is absurd. So when is something no longer a Western? No Country for Old Men is too modern. Certainly not The Last Picture Show. Were the Roy Rogers episodes featuring a 1940s Jeep Westerns If automobiles are featured is it a Western ?? I think Roy Rogers episodes would be considered "modern" westerns. An interesting topic.

You raise an interesting point, didn't the west begin on the eastern shores?
The first wars between the whites and the natives began as soon as the whites set foot on the eastern shores.