Back in the saddle - The Westerns Week rides again on Sky Movies Classics with seven days of back-to-back gunfights, quick draws and yeehaws. Here’s our best of the West from over 60 years of cowpoke action...<\/p>","url":"2009/3/23/Pale-Rider04-4.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"Pale Rider04"},{"captionHeading":"Best Classic ","caption":"
Ah, the Duke. Christened Marion Morrison, John Wayne’s legend was carved in the epic red rock of Monument Valley by John Ford, and The Searchers was the height of their collaboration. Swapping the black and white morality of their earlier films (they first worked together in 1928, when Wayne was an uncredited extra on Four Sons) for a deeper cautionary tale, The Searchers sees Wayne’s aging Civil War vet obsessed with finding his niece (Natalie Wood) who’s been abducted by Indians. The Duke’s swagger dominates, towering over Ford’s sweeping landscapes, and his final moment, loping away from the family homestead into the wilderness, is the height of poignant Western cinema. <\/p>
Check out the John Wayne triple-bill, starting at 11.20am on Saturday 14 Nov: Hondo (1953), The Searchers (1956) and True Grit (1969).<\/p>","url":"2009/6/29/True-Grit-01-4.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"True Grit 01"},{"captionHeading":"Best Baddie","caption":"
Brad Pitt as Jesse James. The modern Western has a tradition of celebrating anti-heroes – Clint Eastwood made his career off some pretty unlikeable characters – and Brad Pitt chalks his name on that esteemed blackboard as the younger James brother in Andrew Dominik’s thoughtful, poetic take on Jesse’s legend. <\/p>
The real baddie is Casey Affleck’s assassin of the title, but Pitt doesn’t shy away from James’ seedier, paranoid nature. He’s a killer. Pure and simple. And Pitt is brilliant. <\/p>
As seen in: The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007) showing Weds 11 Nov at 9pm<\/p>","url":"2008/8/21/Westerns-The-Assassination-of-Jesse-James-By-the-Coward-Robert-Ford-1.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"Westerns - The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford"},{"captionHeading":"Best Exit","caption":"
Alan Ladd’s Shane leaves town Alan Ladd may have stood on a box – he was short – but that doesn’t stop his Old West classic from towering over the whole canon. On the surface it’s a simple morality tale of a farming family saved by a stranger, but there’s all sorts bubbling underneath. Shane holds off, seeming quite the weedy dandy then, when things look bleak: blam! “Shane! Come back!” hollers little Joey as Ladd rides out of town. <\/p>
He can’t, Joey. He just can’t. Ask Mommy why. <\/p>
As seen in: Shane (1953). Showing Weds 11 Nov at 6.50pm.<\/p>","url":"2008/8/21/Westerns-Shane-1.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"Westerns - Shane"},{"captionHeading":"Best Spoof","caption":"
Gene Wilder as The Waco Kid.<\/p>
“Look at my hand,” says Wilder’s wayward Waco, aka Jim, raising said appendage to show Cleavon Little’s sheriff. <\/p>
“Steady as a rock,” he admires. <\/p>
“Yeah, but I shoot with this one,” Jim counters, raising his other, violently shaking, hand. <\/p>
Mel Brooks’ landmark parody targets serious issues – racism, slavery – but never loses sight of its mission to mock. Coolest moment? Brooks’ regular Wilder making for the most unlikely fastdraw. <\/p>
As seen in: Blazing Saddles (1974) showing Fri 13 Nov at 9pm<\/p>","url":"2008/6/26/Blazing-Saddles-3.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"Blazing Saddles"},{"captionHeading":"Best Shoot-Out","caption":"
Gunfight At The O.K. Corral.<\/p>
Only the most famous gunfight in history! The exchange of bullets between the Earps teamed with Doc Holliday against the McLowerys, the Clantons and Billy Claiborne has been mythologised more than any other. Who fired first? Who was in the right? <\/p>
Did it stretch out or was it over in mere seconds? Wyatt Earp’s name became legend and Burt Lancaster cut a heroic dash. Kurt Russell did, too, nearly 40 years later in Tombstone. <\/p>
Gunfight At the O.K. Corral (1957) showing Tues 10 Nov at 6.50pm<\/p>","url":"2008/8/21/Westerns-Gunfight-at-the-OK-Corral-1.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"Westerns - Gunfight at the OK Corral"},{"captionHeading":"Best 'Tache","caption":"
Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp - This is some handlebar ’tache!<\/p>
For a long time Hollywood eschewed history and offered up cowboys clean shaven, but once Clint sported stubble, there was a gradual embracing of what photos and paintings from the era showed – bushy beards sprouting out all over the place. <\/p>
It reached its pinnacle in the mid-’90s with Gettysburg’s account of that famous battle peopled by bristly combatants. The same year, Kurt Russell played Earp and proudly sported his own fancy face topiary. <\/p>
As seen in: Tombstone (1993) showing Mon 9 Nov at 9pm<\/p>","url":"2009/6/25/Tombstone-06-4.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"Tombstone 06"},{"captionHeading":"Best Saddle Action","caption":"
Steve McQueen as Junior ‘JR’ Bonner.<\/p>
Steve McQueen was born with cow poop in his ears, so it’s fitting to see this Magnificent Seven member filmed riding rodeo steeds by Wild Bunch director Sam Peckinpah. <\/p>
Testosterone fills the air as the rodeo circuit takes Bonner to his hometown, his estranged family and the bull that almost killed him. <\/p>
Peckinpah’s theme of people set adrift as times change is even more potent 37 years later, the “men are men” homilies harking back to a bygone decade and century. Who’d have thought men riding livestock could be so deep?<\/p>
As seen in: Junior Bonner (1972) showing Weds 11 Nov at 5pm.<\/p>","url":"2009/8/6/Junior-Bonner-07-4.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"Junior Bonner 07"},{"captionHeading":"Biggest Icon","caption":"
It’s hard to imagine a time when Clint Eastwood’s squint-eyed, gun-for-hire wasn’t in the public consciousness, let alone the seismic shocks he created back in 1964, when he burst into superstardom, cigarello lodged firmly between teeth, grit-streaked poncho flung over his shoulder to reveal dual six shooters and that quiet, sardonic, gravelly voice... <\/p>
When you hear the word “Western”, Clint’s in your mind’s eye. His hardened cynic with- six guns defined the modern concept of the Old West and saved Eastwood from going back to his old lifeguard job when TV show Rawhide was finally cancelled. <\/p>
He turned director and rolled out classic after classic, including The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider and Unforgiven. <\/p>
Because of his talent behind the camera and in the saddle, no single cowboy has brought so much to the Western. <\/p>
Check out the Clint Eastwood triple-bill, starting at 10.50am on Sunday 15 Nov: Two Mules For Sister Sara (1970), Joe Kidd (1972) and Pale Rider (1985).<\/p>","url":"2009/3/23/Pale-Rider03-4.jpg","width":570,"height":364,"alt":"Pale Rider03"}];