Overall, I like Westerns, although there have been a whole lot of crappy Westerns produced. Today, I like the older ones, from the 1930s to the 1950s. I don't know if I have my timelines right because I haven't exactly studied it, but for quite a while, I think from the 1960s to 1970s, most of the Westerns made were pretty bad. Then, there was a time when Westerns were rarely made, but those that were produced were very good. The characters actually had some depth to them. It was no longer Black Hat versus White Hat, Good Guy versus Bad Guy, Cowboys versus Indians, and so on. The characters had both good and bad in them. However, Westerns produced over the past few years are too dark for me. In these shows, life is not worth living, everything is dreary, and there is no good in anything.
That is GREAT!!! I can still hear the tune coming from that pocket watch. I love that movie. Eli Wallach looks like he had an enviable (and fun) career...the antithesis of being type-cast. He played such a broad spectrum of characters.
I watched this movie also several times....and recently I saw a video of the theme song recording. Fascinating.
I loved them and watched every Saturday morning. Roy, Lone Ranger, Sky King. Loved the movies. North to Alaska, Original True Grit, Quigley, Maverick with Mel Gibson. Maverick, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot....
Speaking of Charles Bronson, I like this scene (although nothing like this ever really happened in the ole west) Bronson: "You brought one too many!"
I like westerns. But like any other genre there are good one and bad ones and I suppose, in-between ones. I have read western novels since I was twelve years old.I also read a few mysteries, adventures stories and most anything except Syfi novels. I did read one syfi, "Farmer In The Sky." It's plot could have applied to a western or I suppose any other genre. But I'm not a writer nor a critic. Whenever I think I might read and maybe enjoy a SyFi, I instead buy myself a western story and relax wwith it.
Thanks for that one, Hugh. I only just now realised that Woody Straba had a part in this flick. So far I had only known him for his part in Spartacus playing Kirk Douglas' (Spartacus) opponent as a gladiator for which he was rightly nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Don't care much for westerns loaded with shoot 'em up scenes. It's hard to believe they are realistic. I like westerns that spend time depicting how the settlers moved across the country. Think I'll watch The Big Trail (1930), because it is on YouTube HERE. It is very old, but supposed to be a classic.
One of my favorites was Stagecoach. I liked both the original 1939 version and the later 1986 version.