Today I am remembering the late great John Wayne, star actor of westerns, war epics, and assorted other movies. Wayne passed away this day in 1979. Of his one hundred and forty-two screen appearances, eighty-three of them were westerns. Yes, old Duke liked his horsie pictures.
When I was a kid, and even a teenager, I saw nothing interesting in westerns whenever I'd trip upon one on TV. I'd skip them without a second thought. I think I watched a few of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns when I was in my mid-to-late teens, but they didn't really make an impression. For me, Clint was Dirty Harry, the cop with a cannon in his holster, just waiting to blow away some street punk.
It took me a good long time to truly enjoy a western. This sort of movie wasn't always very prominent in the cinemas anyway, and good ones were tough to come by. The genre had fizzled after the 70's. Audiences simply weren't interested in The Old West any more. We just wanted space battles and robots. But '85 saw a minor resurgence with the Hollywood release of Pale Rider (with the reliably squinty-eyed Eastwood) and Silverado (with Kevin Costner backed by a fine supporting cast). A few years later, Young Guns made a bit of a splash with its assembly of hunky cowboy actors. Not a big deal to me, but it was a start.
I remember seeing commercials for the TV mini-series Lonesome Dove back in '89, but it didn't look like my kind of thing. More on that later.
When an aging Eastwood produced, directed, and starred in 1992's Unforgiven, I snapped to attention. Here was something different, something dark and moody, not exactly the formulaic cowboy and Indian flick of yore... you know, circle the wagons, kill the bad guys dressed in black, then ride off into the sunset. Unforgiven boasted an all-star cast that helped bring the film great success and accolades. And I was totally on board.
The late great Robert Duvall as lovable old Gus McCrae
in the original Lonesome Dove TV mini-series
In the mid-90's, I tackled the huge novel Lonesome Dove and totally loved it. And that was the first time I shed a tear while reading a book... that sad, sad scene near the end was a killer. And that book led me to the continuing series of novels, all of which I bought and read as quickly as I could. This was masterful storytelling by author Larry McMurtry, perhaps the best epic tale I'd ever read (sorry, Mr. Tolkien).
Then I remembered that TV mini-series based on McMurtry's books. I found all of the Lonesome Dove movies in a well-stocked rarities video store, and added them to my collection. Being a movie fan just getting started building my own personal film library, I loved adding such treasures to my shelves.
Not long after, one weekend morning, I discovered a Lonesome Dove spin-off series, The Outlaw Years, on TV. Whoa - just what the doctor (Doc Holliday?) ordered! I ended up recording every episode off the tube, watching and re-watching them voraciously. Then yet another Dove series showed up on TV, a sort of prequel series... same deal there. Great stuff.
As I began to realize I had a real thing for this genre, I finally got down to seeing other modern classics, or what would become modern classics. Like the stunning 1990 epic, Dances With Wolves. There was also a sequel to Young Guns, which I skipped since it was so evident this was not quality Old West material. Quigley Down Under was a bit underwhelming, though City Slickers was a favourite with its comedic star, Billy Crystal. The Last of the Mohicans was an impressive American historical drama that sort of fell within the western category. The stylish low-budgeter El Mariachi was a fun flick, while Thunderheart took a more sober approach as it told a western murder mystery set on an American Native Indian reservation.
Now here's a different kind of Jimmy Stewart...
my kind... in Winchester '73
I also began to find joy in watching the early cinematic westerns: Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, My Darling Clementine, High Noon, Winchester '73 (probably my fave of the genre), The Big Country, Stagecoach, The Searchers, and Rio Bravo. John Wayne figured into many of the old classics. I noted the stylish spaghetti westerns, but even ol' Clint couldn't draw me in very far. These felt a bit empty to me, lacking in the acting and story departments, relying more on quiet symbolism in the visuals: dusty boots and cloaks and cigarillos. Oh, and the violence, which was amped up when this new breed of western emerged in the 60's. I did enjoy the minimalism of revisionist fare like The Wild Bunch, Heaven's Gate, and The Long Riders... a little more substance to go with the style, perhaps?
I continued to monitor the current Hollywood scene for anything of worth. The 90's film version of Geronimo left me wanting more. Tombstone was a bit better with its big-name cast, including Kurt Russell, in its re-telling of the gunfight at O.K. Corral. Based on the relative popularity of these modern westerns, Hollywood pumped out more and more films, including comedies like City Slickers 2, Maverick, and The Cowboy Way. But way too much horsing around for my taste.
Wyatt Earp was okay-ish, while Johnny Depp's Dead Man earned some respect for its weird and imaginative tone. Desperado looked far too desperate for box-office returns, eschewing the grit of its "prequel" El Mariachi for a glamorous, modern action hero kind of flick. One viewing was enough for me. The Quick and the Dead also aimed for the big bucks with sex (Sharon Stone) and silly action thrills... so I stayed far, far away from that one.
Amid the numerous weak attempts at cowboy adventures, the occasional gem popped to the surface. Lone Star, with Chris Cooper, was one of those better pictures.
I don't claim to have seen very many of the newer westerns, and I'm guilty of intentionally steering away from many of them. These modern films and remakes so rarely get it right. How can do-overs of High Noon and The Virginian come anywhere close to the originals, the definitive versions that could never be matched, let alone bested.
Hey, now wait just a gol-durn minute thar....
isn't that Gus (Duvall from Lonesome Dove)
alongside Costner in Open Range? Yep.
Kevin Costner's Open Range was an exception, paying sincere homage to the glory days of epic frontier adventures. One of my favourites. The remake of 3:10 to Yuma was okay, but I much prefer the seminal 1957 version. Appaloosa was a god-awful mess, in my opinion... I blame Zellweger's annoying performance and Ed Harris' lack of vision for this failure.
Not much else comes to mind these days. My heart belongs to the oldies, as far back as the films of John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Randolph Scott, Henry Fonda, and Glenn Ford (just to name a few of the biggest stars).
Since good new westerns - movies, that is - are tough to come by, I dig back in time for the stuff that made the genre what every boy used to dream about... chasing down and shooting bad guys on horseback and sleeping by a campfire under the stars.
And I have become a bit of a western novel reader, too. Lonesome Dove got me started years ago, but even nowadays, I like the odd Louis L'Amour and I love the works of Cormack McCarthy. So whether I'm reading or viewing a film, I'm keeping up the cowboy way.
Giddy-up! Move along!
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