What Was The Last Western You Watched?

El Dorado, very similar too Rio Bravo but still good on it's own merits, not ideal to watch it straight after Rio Bravo though.

Irish Duke, you have excellent taste. If you don't mind me comparing, I prefer El Dorado to Rio Bravo although they are both excellent movies. I've had many a discussion comparing the two with another Duke fan I know well. As cool as Rickey Nelson was and as real a performance Dean Martin gave, I have to give the nod to Jimmy Cann's Mississippi (nelsons colorado) and Mitchum's Sheriff for sheer believable and real perfromances. In the lady's department Angie Dickenson definitely gets the nod and Stumpy over Bull although Bull was very strong too. I also thought Ed Asner and Christopher George were real quality people in supporting roles.
Cole Thorten was also a superior character imo for Duke. Either way both were excellent especially for their times which were different era's.

Kevin McDonald, come out and get your boy.

All good points Kirby and Caan certainly was a much better actor than Nelson but i'll always have a soft spot for ol Deano even though Mitchum was certainly the better actor. With those films being so similar I think it can depend which you see first when forming your opinion and for me it was Rio Bravo. I just didn't think El Dorado had as strong a story although it did have some good performances. I would put Rio Lobo over El Dorado aswell in those three similar films Duke made with Hawks.

Quote from The Irish Duke

All good points Kirby and Caan certainly was a much better actor than Nelson but i'll always have a soft spot for ol Deano even though Mitchum was certainly the better actor. With those films being so similar I think it can depend which you see first when forming your opinion and for me it was Rio Bravo. I just didn't think El Dorado had as strong a story although it did have some good performances. I would put Rio Lobo over El Dorado aswell in those three similar films Duke made with Hawks.

ID, you and I have very similar tastes in films. "Rio Bravo" has always been my favorite Duke movie but I liked all the supporting cast very much too. Like you, Deano was always one of my favorite singers (and actors). Along with "Rio Bravo", I especially liked him in "Bandolero".

As for the other two films you named, I didn't much care for "Rio Lobo" but did enjoy "El Dorado".

Bandelero

I too very much like Bandolero Stumpy, it was actually the film that got me into Jimmy Stewart Westerns as I was watching it for Dean, i'll always be grateful too it for that. Nice little film with a very good cast. Rio Bravo is also my favorite Wayne movie, that's what really sucked me in and made me go off and see a few other of his films before I became a huge fan.

I feel the same as you do, Stumpy. I never cared as much for Rio Lobo as I have for Rio Bravo and El Dorado, with Bravo being my favorite of the 3. The only problem I have with El Dorado is when Duke's hand goes numb from the old bullet wound, he holds his hand upright and to his side and keeps it there. Looks weird! I know it's a minor issue, but it bothers me. I liked Dino over Mitchum and Stumpy over Bull, but give the nod to Caan over Nelson. I also think Angie did a better job than Charlene Holt.

Now, back on topic, I watched Angel and the Badman last night. An oldie, but a goodie! I can't wait for it to come out on BR.

Mark

The Train Robbers, & A Lawless Street

Well, it's not quite a western movie, but Retroplex is airing episodes of the 1967 series "Cimarron Strip" which ran 90 minutes, so it's close.
Anyway, the episode "The Roarer" co-starred Richard Boone as a cavalry sergeant who could out drink, outfight and out talk anyone. Boone must have taken the role because it was hand tailored for him and because he and Whitman had co-starred in "Rio Conchos" a couple years previously. The chemistry between them was palpable.
As a small bonus, Robert Duvall also was featured.
There were only 23 episodes made, so I'm guessing it was too expensive for network TV in those days when westerns were waning.
This deserves a DVD box set. If you have an opportunity to view it, you shouldn't be disappointed.

We deal in lead, friend.

A Few Dollars More

Quote from ethanedwards

A Few Dollars More

Thanks for the comments re: Rio Bravo and El Dorado. I am in agreement with those who feel Rio Lobo does not live up to El Dorado. It's not even close to either movie imo. I think that Rio Bravo was definitely considered to be more of a major motion picture release for it's time than El Dorado was for it's time. Dean Martin and Walter Brennan were big stars and Rickey Nelson was very popular while Angie Dickenson was a very hot up and coming leading lady. El Dorado was probably looked at as more of a Duke western and in it's formula it certainly was. Bob Mitchum was a huge star but was getting older then and not in the demand he was at one time.
What I liked as a kid in El Dorado was that Duke played more of a lead role than he did in Rio Bravo. He was one of four top gunmen with a rep and he played the part perfectly. The "professional courtesy" angle was prominent throughout with Duke and Christopher George. Add to the drama that he was carrying a bullet in his back (and the guilt) and it's effects through the whole movie.
One part that was classic Duke was when the sister of the boy he had to kill shoots him and says 'I don't know how I missed from there"...and Duke gets up and wipes his blood on her shirt and says ' You didn't miss"..
Not looking for any controversy here. To each their own and with Duke we are all winners.

MacDonald. Kevin MacDonald. Come out and get your boy".

There's nothing wrong with abit of controversy, we all enjoy a good debate around here and everyone respects each's opinions. I always like to see abit more discussion in this thread. Seems i'm the only fan of rio lobo though

Pale Rider

Rio Lobo is fine for what it is. It's hard to put it in the same class with the other 2 films tho. Except for the veteran actor like Duke, Elam, Davis, etc., the rest of the cast comes off amateurish. With another star of Duke' caliber, and better actresses, it may have been something special. As it is, it's still entertaining.

Watched "How the West Was Won" again yesterday in flat screen "living room Cinerama".

Deb's Meadow where the "True Grit" showdown shootout would take place 7 years later in 1968/69 played center stage in many of the scenes of this same "West Was Won" movie as did "Courthouse Mountain" and "Chimney Peak" (all True Grit locations). Even the creek-side campsite where Rooster says to LaBoeuf ~ "If ever I meet one of you Texas waddies who ain't drunk from a hoofprint, I think I'll, I'll shake their hand or buy'em a Daniel Webster cigar!" ~ is also the very same location where a major scene is played between Robert Preston and Debbie Reynolds almost 7 years earlier.

Henry Hathaway was one of several directors on this movie and he would later go on to also direct True Grit. He obviously fell in love with the scenery there in the San Juan mountains and thanks to that ~ a beautifully photographed True Grit would go on to become a movie classic.

Hour of the Gun with James Garner, Jason Robards, and slew of up and comings, including Jon Voight as Curly Bill Brocious. Talk about a poor casting job there! Still, next to Tombstone, and My darling Clementine, Hour of the Gun is one of my favorite Wyatt Earp films.

well I was a little sneaky, the miss's watches ghost international, ghost adventures, ghost hunters, so do you see a pattern? a bunch of grown men and women making statements, like, if you want me come and get me! and then a stray cat, or something makes a noise, and it's help me help me! and then run like a sissy girl, now how many times can you watch that? oh well, or better yet bigfoot the search for, or bigfoot in alaska, or big foot alaska, or oops! there I go again. anyway I found my chance at the channel changer and there was john elder getting ready to take care or morgan hastings! now i think maybe I have viewed it 4 or 5 times..... uh that's followed by two 00's nothing wrong with that, then......amc week finished off with the shootist. I really like the opening in black and white. I think Ron Howard bet me out of the roll I should have had! LOL but I have myself a grandson turning 3 and I'll bet my chicago leg amputater he'll be just as savey on the duke as his dad and granddad are. I know there are bad western's out there, but thats Hollywood, tom selleck and sam elliott are our last hold outs as far as i can see. recently I saw a double movie sale at wal mart. it was HONDO and True Grit. only it was the new True Grit. What the ^*(&^(*&)&*^(*_$&^(_(+ that just isn't right! but my worse nightmare is when they put duke on and then one of the other channels shows a randolph scott western, sure glad i have a dvd player. ok ive written more words than I usually write in a whole week! and Colorado Bob if you read this keep your mouth shut!

Silverado

how the west was won

High Plains Drifter