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Thomas Butt
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Thomas Butt is a senior writer. An avid film connoisseur, Thomas actively logs his film consumption on Letterboxd and vows to connect with many more cinephiles through the platform. He is immensely passionate about the work of Martin Scorsese, John Ford, and Albert Brooks. His work can be read on Collider and Taste of Cinema. He also writes for his own blog, The Empty Theater, on Substack. He is also a big fan of courtroom dramas and DVD commentary tracks. For Thomas, movie theaters are a second home. A native of Wakefield, MA, he is often found scrolling through the scheduled programming on Turner Classic Movies and making more room for his physical media collection. Thomas habitually increases his watchlist and jumps down a YouTube rabbit hole of archived interviews with directors and actors. He is inspired to write about film to uphold the medium's artistic value and to express his undying love for the art form. Thomas looks to cinema as an outlet to better understand the world, human emotions, and himself.
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The genre may be in a relatively stagnant period, at least on the big screen (Taylor Sheridan is keeping it alive and well on television), but the Western is essential to the fabric of American cinema. Westerns, defined by open vistas of the American frontier, cowboys, villages, outlaws, pistols, and horseback riding, are as old as the medium itself. At their best, the genre represents the pinnacle of cinema, as its picaresque storytelling and painterly visual language offer peak levels of entertainment and artistic enrichment. Not only do they serve filmmaking perfectly, but the genre also exists to re-examine American history and propagate and/or deconstruct myths about our founding and establishment.
While there are hundreds of Westerns across various subgenres, these 10 movies, ranging from emblems of classic Hollywood to modern revisionist takes, are incredible from start to finish.
10 'The Ox-Bow Incident' (1943)
Henry Fonda and Leigh Whipper sitting on horses standing next to each other in The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)Image via Warner Bros.
Some Westerns, especially during Hollywood's Golden Age, are escapist entertainment. However, The Ox-Bow Incident is nothing like your average cowboy versus outlaw shoot-em-up/chase picture, as William A. Wellman's 1943 film depicting the trial of three men wrongfully accused of murder grapples with Western justice and America's troubled history with savage vigilantism. Based on an equally dark and punishing novel, the film does not romanticize anything about the American West.
The Ox-Bow Incident follows the confrontation and mock trial of three men who are believed to have killed a rancher and stolen his cattle from the perspective of two patient and skeptical cowboys, Gil Carter (Henry Fonda) and Art Croft (Harry Morgan). Gil and Art are enraged by the murder and are willing to join the lynch mob, but remain cautious of rushing to judgment and viciously hanging the suspected posse. The Ox-Bow Incident taps into the blind sentimental thinking that upends the law, as well as the West's racially-charged stereotypes, as one of the men, played by Anthony Quinn, is of Mexican descent. At a brisk 75 minutes, the film is sheer poetry about the failure of justice in America.
9 'My Darling Clementine' (1946)
Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) leaning in a chair with his leg on a post in My Darling ClementineImage via 20th Century Fox
The story of Wyatt Earp, the Tombstone sheriff who engaged in a famous duel at the O.K. Corral, is one of the West's signature legends. Naturally, John Ford, the poet laureate of cinematic American history and ultimate Western mythmaker, was perfect to direct a sweeping, romantic, and bittersweet portrait of Earp in My Darling Clementine. The 1946 film is an extraordinary blend of classic sentimental Westerns about morality in the face of evil and the incoming revisionist Western that reconsidered history and the validity of justice and honor.
Clouded by John Ford's recent combat experience in World War II, My Darling Clementine, featuring Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp in arguably a career-best performance, feels haunted by the threat of danger and the loss of innocence in American values. However, Earp is defined by his unflappable sense of right, which motivates him to carry the responsibility of town sheriff despite his own cynicism. The overbearing guilt and regret expressed by Doc Holliday (Victor Mature) go hand-in-hand with Earp's longing for love and peace. Ford displayed his aching heart and moral quandaries on the screen in his beautiful and touching My Darling Clementine.
8 'Winchester '73' (1950)
Jimmy Stewart as Lin McAdam holding a shotgun in Winchester '73Image via Universal Pictures
For the first half of his career, Jimmy Stewart represented the idealism of the American everyman, capturing the essence of moral decency in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. After fighting in World War II, his worldview darkened, leading to his fruitful partnership with Western/noir director Anthony Mann, who realized the underlying savagery and the nation's long-running history of violence in Winchester '73. The harsh but riveting 1950 Western set the template for Stewart's future roles that upended his earnest, Boy Scout, demeanor, as in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and Vertigo.
The central figure in Winchester '73 is not an outlaw, lone ranger, or conflict, but rather, the coveted titular rifle that leads to a crime spree of endless bloodshed. After winning a Winchester '73 in a shooting contest before it was stolen by bandits, Lin McAdam (Stewart) embarks on a journey across the West to retrieve his weapon that will determine the fate of the American frontier. Told with the brutality of a grim noir, Mann uses the MacGuffin item to highlight the fetishization of guns in the Old West, a sentiment that still feels relevant today. Stewart displays unimaginable levels of menace and despicable behavior—a far cry from his work with Frank Capra.
7 'The Searchers' (1956)
You could feasibly construct a list of the 10 greatest Westerns solely comprised of films by John Ford, the preeminent voice of the American West who simultaneously shaped the nation's myths and deconstructed them across his six-decade career. When you think of Ford, the first film that comes to mind is The Searchers—and for good reason. Overlooked upon release as just another Western about cowboys and horses that needlessly vilifies Native Americans, the 1956 movie is widely accepted as a masterpiece and a high watermark for Ford, John Wayne, and cinema as a whole.
Shot in immersive VistaVision, The Searchers is a gorgeous-looking film with the most vibrant colors and textural detail that's ever been put to the screen. Beneath the glossy visual language is a punishing, poignant diatribe against racism and post-war malaise, as we watch as Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards (Wayne) rescues his niece from a Comanche tribe. However, his quest is merely a vessel to unleash his hatred for the Indigenous people and sense of masculine insecurity and unchecked trauma. Ethan is a violent man without a home, a description that could apply to every Western "hero."
6 'Rio Bravo' (1959)
John T. Chance (John Wayne) speaks with Feathers (Angie Dickinson) in 'Rio Bravo'Image via Warner Bros.
On paper, there's seemingly nothing that special about Rio Bravo, another Western starring John Wayne as a sheriff protecting a town from a group of bandits looking to break out one of their members from jail. From the first minute of Howard Hawks' 1959 hangout Western, you'll learn just how wonderful the film is, and you'll never want to leave the town where John Chance (Wayne), Dude (Dean Martin), Colorado (Ricky Nelson), and Feathers (Angie Dickinson) reside. Hawks, a master of character building, makes these people feel like lifelong friends.
The simple premise of Rio Bravo complements Hawks' notion of directing films only with good scenes and no bad ones. Capturing the essence of a comforting hangout dramedy, the film explores Western ideals and traits through behavior and dialogue between this unlikely team-up between an aging sheriff, a gunfighter cursed by past trauma and substance abuse, and a plucky young outlaw. The Western world is surrounded by death, impending doom, and the loss of American idealism, but its denizens can always count on honor, loyalty, courage, and respect for moral codes and virtues.
5 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly' (1966)
The Man with No Name looking ahead while standing in the desert in 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'Image via United Artists
The Western is closely associated with Hollywood and American culture and history. In the 1960s, however, Italian filmmakers proved they had a unique spin on the genre known as the Spaghetti Western, led by the face of the subgenre, Sergio Leone. Not only did Leone direct a masterful film in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in 1966, but he also concluded a spiritual trilogy of revisionist Westerns and modern-day shogun movies in A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. If that wasn't enough, he also transformed Clint Eastwood from a TV star to a global superstar and symbol of the Old West and menacing authority.
The most epic take on a Spaghetti Western upon release, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly embodies Leone's immersive visual flair, marked by his shift between grand wide shots of the open vista and intense close-up shots of the eyes of Eastwood and Eli Wallach in a duel. Still maintaining the trappings of a classic B-Western, the film's American Civil War setting crystallizes Leone's commentary on the savage nature of old West violence and the unscrupulous greed that clouds over the picturesque settings. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly's grimy treatment of a romanticized milieu is endlessly gripping and a formative influence on the future of revisionist Westerns.
4 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1969)
Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) sitting on a cave in 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'Image via 20th Century Studios
The dominating principle in Westerns is that, when you encounter a threat to yourself or your community, you face off against them in a one-on-one duel. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid asked, "What if two respected outlaws ran away instead?" The 1969 film that spawned the legendary duo of Paul Newman and Robert Redford is also one of the most clever, sharp, and soulful takes on the Western genre, released at a time when the form was unfashionable. Luckily, director George Roy Hill and screenwriter William Goldman converged classic Hollywood charm with New Hollywood pathos to create something timeless.
Notorious train robbers Butch Cassidy (Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Redford) attempt to flee to Bolivia to evade a posse looking to catch them. Along the way, the pair engages in a fair share of shootouts, but their best course of action is to just keep running until they find peace. Studios initially scoffed at the idea of Western heroes, roles inhabited by John Wayne running away, but Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid reflected its era of American cynicism toward trusted institutions and our venerated leaders. The loose, shaggy hangout vibe of the film was perfect for an era of meandering, exploratory cinema, and no characters are unhappier being stuck in a Western than the titular pair.
3 'McCabe and Mrs. Miller' (1971)
Warren Beatty and Julie Christie in 'McCabe and Mrs Miller'Image via Warner Bros.
When Robert Altman announced that he wanted to make a Western, everyone expected something off-kilter, but few could have predicted the product would be this strange, punishing, and eerily comforting. McCabe and Mrs. Miller, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie in the titular roles as prospective business partners swallowed up by cutthroat capitalism, is a picture-perfect representation of a Western being turned into a downbeat New Hollywood character drama. Stylistically speaking, Altman's 1971 anti-Western is a one-of-one, as his signature overlapping dialogue and kaleidoscopic camera are intoxicating.
McCabe and Mrs. Miller shows that engaging in capitalism and the American Dream is far more fatalistic than any gunfight between an outlaw and a sheriff.
McCabe and Mrs. Miller shows that engaging in capitalism and the American Dream is far more fatalistic than any gunfight between an outlaw and a sheriff. A Western with more financial negotiations than six-shooters, the film imbues the essence of a chilly and dreary Western into contemporary angst surrounding American life, feelings that remain evergreen. McCabe and Mrs. Miller strips away any sense of nobility and Western justice, underlining that money outmatches any gun or a cowboy's intuition. Altman's decry of corporate America is harsh, but his impeccably crafted atmosphere oozes with warmth and personality, and you'll wish you could live inside this world, just as long as you're aware of the futility of obtaining a prosperous, independent life.
2 'Unforgiven' (1992)
Clint Eastwood in front with Aline Levasseur and Shane Thomas Meier behind in the doorway in Unforgiven.Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
It's no secret that Westerns have seen a significant drop in production and popularity in the last 30 years. In fairness, when Unforgiven hit theaters in 1992, it signaled the genre's death knell. In his finest achievement as an actor and director, Clint Eastwood said everything that needed to be said about the genre, a perfect encapsulation of his career that continued regardless. Any Western released in its aftermath must live up to the standards of Unforgiven, the tentpole revisionist Western.
William Munny (Eastwood), an archetypal Western outlaw notorious for his quick trigger, aged along with Eastwood in Unforgiven, which sees him reckoning with the kind of menacing, antiheroic character that shot first and asked questions later. The film treats the Old West as a hellscape clouded by death and unjust actions. Featuring a legendary performance by Gene Hackman as the vicious, tyrannical sheriff, Bill Daggett, Unforgiven undercuts the morality of all its figures by demonstrating its characters propagating Western myths themselves. Both Munny and Daggett believe they're in the right, exemplified by their performative acts of nobility, notably in the latter's quest to build a house. It's also worth noting that Unforgiven is pure cinematic bliss as a Western filled with gorgeous vistas and white-knuckle sequences.
1 'True Grit' (2010)
Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) and Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) talking while riding horses in True Grit.Image via Paramount Pictures
The original True Grit from 1969 is remembered for winning John Wayne an Oscar, but it was due for a re-imagining. Who better to make a vastly superior adaptation of the Charles Portis novel than Joel and Ethan Coen? The 2010 film, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld, might end up being one of the last canonical Western classics on the big screen, but this elegiac portrait of companionship and justice was unlikely material for the sardonic Coen Brothers, who superbly modernized the genre and showcased their untapped sentimentality.
Moral quandaries and the thin line between humanity and nihilism are the dominating themes of the Coens' filmography, making a Western a perfect canvas for their artistic sensibilities. Shot by their recurring cinematographer, Roger Deakins, the genre never looked more visually appealing and authentic than in True Grit, a comforting and rhythmic movie that can be background noise or an intense watch where you want to analyze every frame. The Coens' dialogue packs the punch of Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) firing his six-shooter, a gruff cowboy who meets his match by the fierce child looking for retribution, Mattie Ross (Steinfeld). Amid all the tough-guy antics is an aching heart that lingers with each character. True Grit refutes any notion that the Coens hate their characters.
Like
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
R
Western
Drama
Release Date
July 8, 1971
Runtime
120 Minutes
Director
Robert Altman
Writers
Edmund Naughton, Robert Altman, Brian McKay, Robert Towne, Joseph Calvelli
Cast
See All-
Warren Beatty
John McCabe
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Julie Christie
Constance Miller
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