Westerns

I have been brewing up this crazy plan for a while now, waiting for a few of my other marathons to see their way to conclusion.

I know what lies ahead of me is daunting, and perhaps more daunting and ambitious than I even know, but I just wanted to thoroughly discover and examine the genre of Westerns, as I have always loved the genre, but never really truly explored its depths. One of the main things that has drawn me to this marathon is the subject matter itself. As many of you may know, my college degree is in history, so I am certainly a bit of a history buff, and I have always found the Wild West time period to be the most fascinating in American history. This certainly draws me to the genre. Even as I was researching the list, I began to realize the wonders to come with so many great stars and directors involved. It should be a lot of fun to see the many spins on the Wild West and beyond.

With the gracious help and support of my friend Charles Canzoneri, here is the list going into a marathon that is likely to take years to complete. Please, I would love your support in following along and joining the conversation.

I hope this will be so much fun! As I traditionally do, I will try to work the list chronologically as much as possible, and hopefully I can find most of these titles available. Most of these I have never seen, as, according to Letterboxd, I have seen just 47 of 337 coming into the marathon, as it will certainly grow with new releases (notice I already have four “future” releases listed, though it will be years before I can get to them).

The list, it’s a doozy….

  1. The Great Train Robbery (Edwin S. Porter, 1903)
  2. The Covered Wagon (James Cruze, 1923)
  3. The Iron Horse (John Ford, 1924)
  4. The Vanishing American (George B. Seitz, 1925)
  5. Go West (Buster Keaton, 1925)
  6. Tumbleweeds (King Baggot, 1925)
  7. 3 Bad Men (John Ford, 1926)
  8. The Wind (Victor Sjostrom, 1928)
  9. The Virginian (Victor Fleming, 1929)
  10. The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh, 1930)
  11. Cimarron (Wesley Ruggles, 1931)
  12. Law and Order (Edward L. Cahn, 1932)
  13. Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey, 1935)
  14. Annie Oakley (George Stevens, 1935)
  15. The Plainsman (Cecil B. DeMille, 1936)
  16. Way Out West (James W. Horne, 1937)
  17. The Cowboy and the Lady (H.C. Potter, 1938)
  18. Jesse James (Henry King, 1939)
  19. Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939)
  20. The Oklahoma Kid (Lloyd Bacon, 1939)
  21. Dodge City (Michael Curtiz, 1939)
  22. Union Pacific (Cecil B. DeMille, 1939)
  23. Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939)
  24. Northwest Passage (King Vidor, 1940)
  25. Virginia City (Michael Curtiz, 1940)
  26. The Return of Frank James (Fritz Lang, 1940)
  27. The Westerner (William Wyler, 1940)
  28. Sante Fe Trail (Michael Curtiz, 1940)
  29. Trail of the Vigilantes (Allan Dwan, 1940)
  30. Arizona (Wesley Ruggles, 1940)
  31. Western Union (Fritz Lang, 1941)
  32. They Died with Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh, 1941)
  33. The Spoilers (Ray Enright, 1942)
  34. The Outlaw (Howard Hughes & Howard Hawks, 1943)
  35. The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, 1943)
  36. A Lady Takes a Chance (William A. Seiter, 1943)
  37. Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin, 1944)
  38. Along Came Jones (Stuart Heisler, 1945)
  39. Don’t Fence Me In (John English, 1945)
  40. The Virginian (Stuart Gilmore, 1946)
  41. Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourneur, 1946)
  42. My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946)
  43. Duel in the Sun (King Vidor, 1946)
  44. Angel and the Badman (James Edward Grant, 1947)
  45. Pursued (Raoul Walsh, 1947)
  46. Ramrod (Andre de Toth, 1947)
  47. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948)
  48. Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948)
  49. Four Faces West (Alfred E. Green, 1948)
  50. Red River (Howard Hawks & Arthur Rosson, 1948)
  51. Station West (Sidney Lanfield, 1948)
  52. Blood on the Moon (Robert Wise, 1948)
  53. 3 Godfathers (John Ford, 1948)
  54. Yellow Sky (William A. Wellman, 1948)
  55. The Paleface (Norman Z. McLeod, 1948)
  56. I Shot Jesse James (Samuel Fuller, 1949)
  57. Colorado Territory (Raoul Walsh, 1949)
  58. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (John Ford, 1949)
  59. The Baron of Arizona (Samuel Fuller, 1950)
  60. Wagon Master (John Ford, 1950)
  61. Stars in My Crown (Jacques Tourneur, 1950)
  62. The Gunfighter (Henry King, 1950)
  63. Winchester ’73 (Anthony Mann, 1950)
  64. Broken Arrow (Delmer Daves, 1950)
  65. The Furies (Anthony Mann, 1950)
  66. Devil’s Doorway (Anthony Mann, 1950)
  67. Rio Grande (John Ford, 1950)
  68. Rawhide (Henry Hathaway, 1951)
  69. Only the Valiant (Gordon Douglas, 1951)
  70. Across the Wide Missouri (William A. Wellman, 1951)
  71. Distant Drums (Raoul Walsh, 1951)
  72. Viva Zapata! (Elia Kazan, 1952)
  73. Bend of the River (Anthony Mann, 1952)
  74. Rancho Notorious (Fritz Lang, 1952)
  75. High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952)
  76. Son of Paleface (Frank Tashlin, 1952)
  77. The Big Sky (Howard Hawks, 1952)
  78. The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray & Robert Parrish, 1952)
  79. Hangman’s Knot (Roy Huggins, 1952)
  80. Calamity Jane (David Butler, 1953)
  81. The Naked Spur (Anthony Mann, 1953)
  82. Shane (George Stevens, 1953)
  83. The Moonlighter (Roy Rowland, 1953)
  84. Hondo (John Farrow, 1953)
  85. Escape from Fort Bravo (John Sturges, 1953)
  86. Border River (George Sherman, 1954)
  87. Ride Clear of Diablo (Jesse Hibbs, 1954)
  88. River of No Return (Otto Preminger, 1954)
  89. Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954)
  90. The Far Country (Anthony Mann, 1954)
  91. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Stanley Donen, 1954)
  92. Silver Lode (Allan Dwan, 1954)
  93. Track of the Cat (William A. Wellman, 1954)
  94. Vera Cruz (Robert Aldrich, 1954)
  95. Bad Day at Black Rock (John Sturges, 1955)
  96. The Violent Men (Rudolph Mate, 1955)
  97. Ten Wanted Men (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1955)
  98. Man Without a Star (King Vidor, 1955)
  99. Wichita (Jacques Tourneur, 1955)
  100. The Kentuckian (Burt Lancaster, 1955)
  101. The Man from Laramie (Anthony Mann, 1955)
  102. Oklahoma! (Fred Zinnemann, 1955)
  103. Man with the Gun (Richard Wilson, 1955)
  104. The Indian Fighter (Andre de Toth, 1955)
  105. Jubal (Delmer Daves, 1956)
  106. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
  107. Backlash (John Sturges, 1956)
  108. The Maverick Queen (Joseph Kane, 1956)
  109. The Fastest Gun Alive (Russell Rouse, 1956)
  110. Seven Men from Now (Budd Boetticher, 1956)
  111. Giant (George Stevens, 1956)
  112. Love Me Tender (Robert D. Webb, 1956)
  113. Night Passage (James Neilson, 1957)
  114. Gun for a Coward (Abner Biberman, 1957)
  115. The Tall T (Budd Boetticher, 1957)
  116. Gunfight at O.K. Corral (John Sturges, 1957)
  117. Gun Glory (Roy Rowland, 1957)
  118. 3:10 to Yuma (Delmer Daves, 1957)
  119. Forty Guns (Samuel Fuller, 1957)
  120. Run of the Arrow (Samuel Fuller, 1957)
  121. The Tin Star (Anthony Mann, 1957)
  122. Decision at Sundown (Budd Boetticher, 1957)
  123. Cowboy (Delmer Daves, 1958)
  124. The Bravados (Henry King, 1958)
  125. Terror in a Texas Town (Joseph H. Lewis, 1958)
  126. The Big Country (William Wyler, 1958)
  127. Man of the West (Anthony Mann, 1958)
  128. Good Day for a Hanging (Nathan H. Juran, 1959)
  129. No Name on the Bullet (Jack Arnold, 1959)
  130. Ride Lonesome (Budd Boetticher, 1959)
  131. The Hanging Tree (Delmer Daves, 1959)
  132. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959)
  133. Warlock (Edward Dmytryk, 1959)
  134. The Horse Soldiers (John Ford, 1959)
  135. Day of the Outlaw (Andre de Toth, 1959)
  136. Last Train from Gun Hill (John Sturges, 1959)
  137. Comanche Station (Budd Boetticher, 1960)
  138. Sergeant Rutledge (John Ford, 1960)
  139. The Magnificent Seven (John Sturges, 1960)
  140. The Alamo (John Wayne, 1960)
  141. North to Alaska (Henry Hathaway, 1960)
  142. Cimarron (Anthony Mann, 1960)
  143. The Misfits (John Huston, 1961)
  144. One-Eyed Jacks (Marlon Brando, 1961)
  145. Two Rode Together (John Ford, 1961)
  146. A Thunder of Drums (Joseph M. Newman, 1961)
  147. The Comancheros (Michael Curtiz, 1961)
  148. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962)
  149. Lonely are the Brave (David Miller, 1962)
  150. Ride the High Country (Sam Peckinpah, 1962)
  151. How the West was Won (Ford, Hathaway, Marshall & Thorpe, 1962)
  152. McLintock! (Andrew V. McLagen, 1963)
  153. A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)
  154. Cheyenne Autumn (John Ford, 1964)
  155. Major Dundee (Sam Peckinpah, 1965)
  156. Shenandoah (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1965)
  157. Cat Ballou (Elliot Silverstein, 1965)
  158. The Return of Ringo (Duccio Tessari, 1965)
  159. For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)
  160. The Sons of Katie Elder (Henry Hathaway, 1965)
  161. 7 Women (John Ford, 1966)
  162. Django (Sergio Corbucci, 1966)
  163. A Big Hand for the Little Lady (Fielder Cook, 1966)
  164. Massacre Time (Lucio Fulci, 1966)
  165. The Shooting (Monte Hellman, 1966)
  166. Ride in the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman, 1966)
  167. The Professionals (Richard Brooks, 1966)
  168. Navajo Joe (Sergio Corbucci, 1966)
  169. The Big Gundown (Sergio Sollima, 1966)
  170. A Bullet for the General (Damiano Damiani, 1966)
  171. El Dorado (Howard Hawks, 1966)
  172. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
  173. The Hellbenders (Sergio Corbucci, 1967)
  174. Kill and Pray (Carlo Lizzani, 1967)
  175. Hombre (Martin Ritt, 1967)
  176. Django Kill…If You Live, Shoot! (Guilio Questi, 1967)
  177. The War Wagon (Burt Kennedy, 1967)
  178. Death Rides a Horse (Guilio Petroni, 1967)
  179. Face to Face (Sergio Sollima, 1967)
  180. Day of Anger (Tonino Valerii, 1967)
  181. Will Penny (Tom Gries, 1967)
  182. The Ruthless Four (Giorgio Capitani, 1968)
  183. Bandolero! (Andrew V. McLagen, 1968)
  184. Hang ‘em High (Ted Post, 1968)
  185. If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (Gianfranco Parolini, 1968)
  186. The Mercenary (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
  187. Run, Man, Run (Sergio Sollima, 1968)
  188. The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
  189. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
  190. The Stalking Moon (Robert Mulligan, 1968)
  191. Mackenna’s Gold (J. Lee Thompson, 1969)
  192. Cemetery Without Crosses (Robert Hossein, 1969)
  193. Support Your Local Sheriff (Burt Kennedy, 1969)
  194. True Grit (Henry Hathaway, 1969)
  195. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
  196. Sabata (Gianfranco Parolini, 1969)
  197. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969)
  198. The Undefeated (Andrew V. McLagen, 1969)
  199. Paint Your Wagon (Joshua Logan, 1969)
  200. The Five Man Army (Italo Zingarelli & Don Taylor, 1969)
  201. A Man Called Horse (Elliot Silverstein, 1970)
  202. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (Sam Peckinpah, 1970)
  203. Two Mules for Sister Sara (Don Siegel, 1970)
  204. Chisum (Andrew V. McLagen, 1970)
  205. Little Big Man (Arthur Penn, 1970)
  206. Companeros (Sergio Corbucci, 1970)
  207. El Topo (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1970)
  208. Rio Lobo (Howard Hawks, 1970)
  209. They Call Me Trinity (Enzo Barboni, 1970)
  210. Lawman (Michael Winner, 1971)
  211. Support Your Local Gunfighter (Burt Kennedy, 1971)
  212. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
  213. The Hired Hand (Peter Fonda, 1971)
  214. Red Sun (Terence Young, 1971)
  215. Duck, You Sucker (Sergio Leone, 1971)
  216. Hannie Caulder (Burt Kennedy, 1971)
  217. Ulzana’s Raid (Robert Aldrich, 1972)
  218. The Cowboys (Mark Rydell, 1972)
  219. Buck and the Preacher (Sidney Poitier & Joseph Sargent, 1972)
  220. Joe Kidd (John Sturges, 1972)
  221. Junior Bonner (Sam Peckinpah, 1972)
  222. Jeremiah Johnson (Sydney Pollack, 1972)
  223. Bad Company (Robert Benton, 1972)
  224. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (John Huston, 1972)
  225. The Grand Duel (Giancarlo Santi, 1972)
  226. The Train Robbers (Burt Kennedy, 1973)
  227. High Plains Drifter (Clint Eastwood, 1973)
  228. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1973)
  229. Westworld (Michael Crichton, 1973)
  230. My Name is Nobody (Tonino Valerii, 1973)
  231. Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)
  232. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah, 1974)
  233. Rancho Deluxe (Frank Perry, 1975)
  234. Bite the Bullet (Richard Brooks, 1975)
  235. Hearts of the West (Howard Zieff, 1975)
  236. Rooster Cogburn (Stuart Millar, 1975)
  237. The Missouri Breaks (Arthur Penn, 1976)
  238. The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood, 1976)
  239. The Shootist (Don Siegel, 1976)
  240. Keoma (Enzo G. Castellari, 1976)
  241. The Frisco Kid (Robert Aldrich, 1979)
  242. The Long Riders (Walter Hill, 1980)
  243. Heaven’s Gate (Michael Cimino, 1980)
  244. Barbarosa (Fred Schepisi, 1982)
  245. The Man from Snowy River (George T. Miller, 1982)
  246. Pale Rider (Clint Eastwood, 1985)
  247. Silverado (Lawrence Kasdan, 1985)
  248. ¡Three Amigos! (John Landis, 1986)
  249. Walker (Alex Cox, 1987)
  250. The Man from Snowy River II (Geoff Burrowes, 1988)
  251. Young Guns (Christopher Cain, 1988)
  252. Lonesome Dove (Simon Wincer, 1989)
  253. Tremors (Ron Underwood, 1990)
  254. Back to the Future Part III (Robert Zemeckis, 1990)
  255. Young Guns II (Geoff Murphy, 1990)
  256. Quigley Down Under (Simon Wincer, 1990)
  257. Dances with Wolves (Kevin Costner, 1990)
  258. City Slickers (Ron Underwood, 1991)
  259. An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (Phil Nibbelink & Simon Wells, 1991)
  260. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)
  261. The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992)
  262. The Ballad of Little Jo (Maggie Greenwald, 1993)
  263. Cannibal! The Musical (Trey Parker, 1993)
  264. Tombstone (George P. Cosmatos, 1993)
  265. Bad Girls (Jonathan Kaplan, 1994)
  266. Maverick (Richard Donner, 1994)
  267. City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold (Paul Weiland, 1994)
  268. Wyatt Earp (Lawrence Kasdan, 1994)
  269. Legends of the Fall (Edward Zwick, 1994)
  270. The Quick and the Dead (Sam Raimi, 1995)
  271. Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995)
  272. Wild Bill (Walter Hill, 1995)
  273. Lone Star (John Sayles, 1996)
  274. The Horse Whisperer (Robert Redford, 1998)
  275. Almost Heroes (Christopher Guest, 1998)
  276. The Mask of Zorro (Martin Campbell, 1998)
  277. Ravenous (Antonia Bird, 1999)
  278. Wild Wild West (Barry Sonnenfield, 1999)
  279. Ride with the Devil (Ang Lee, 1999)
  280. Shanghai Noon (Tom Dey, 2000)
  281. Tears of the Black Tiger (Wisit Sasanatieng, 2000)
  282. All the Pretty Horses (Billy Bob Thornton, 2000)
  283. The Claim (Michael Winterbottom, 2000)
  284. American Outlaws (Les Mayfield, 2001)
  285. Texas Rangers (Steve Miner, 2001)
  286. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (Kelly Asbury & Lorna Cook, 2002)
  287. Ned Kelly (Gregor Jordan, 2003)
  288. Open Range (Kevin Costner, 2003)
  289. The Missing (Ron Howard, 2003)
  290. Hidalgo (Joe Johnston, 2004)
  291. The Alamo (John Lee Hancock, 2004)
  292. Home on the Range (Will Finn & John Sanford, 2004)
  293. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
  294. The Proposition (David Hillcoat, 2005)
  295. The Legend of Zorro (Martin Campbell, 2005)
  296. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Tommy Lee Jones, 2005)
  297. Bandidas (Joaquim Ronning & Espen Sandberg, 2006)
  298. Seraphim Falls (David Von Ancken, 2006)
  299. September Dawn (Christopher Cain, 2007)
  300. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
  301. 3:10 to Yuma (James Mangold, 2007)
  302. Sukiyaki Western Django (Takashi Miike, 2007)
  303. No Country for Old Men (Joe & Ethan Coen, 2007)
  304. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
  305. The Good, The Bad, The Weird (Kim Jee-woon, 2008)
  306. Appaloosa (Ed Harris, 2008)
  307. Jonah Hex (Jimmy Hayward, 2010)
  308. Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2010)
  309. Let the Bullets Fly (Jiang Wen, 2010)
  310. True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2010)
  311. Rango (Gore Verbinski, 2011)
  312. Cowboys & Aliens (Jon Favreau, 2011)
  313. Blackthorn (Mateo Gil, 2011)
  314. Casa De Mi Padre (Matt Piedmont, 2012)
  315. Dead Man’s Burden (Jared Moshe, 2012)
  316. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012)
  317. The Lone Ranger (Gore Verbinski, 2013)
  318. The Homesman (Tommy Lee Jones, 2014)
  319. The Salvation (Kristian Levring, 2014)
  320. A Million Ways to Die in the West (Seth MacFarlane, 2014)
  321. Slow West (John Maclean2015)
  322. Forsaken (Jon Cassar, 2015)
  323. Bone Tomahawk (S. Craig Zahler, 2015)
  324. The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino, 2015)
  325. The Revenant (Alejandro G. Inarritu, 2015)
  326. Jane Got a Gun (Gavin O’Connor, 2015)
  327. In a Valley of Violence (Ti West, 2016)
  328. The Magnificent Seven (Antoine Fuqua, 2016)
  329. The Duel (Kieran Darcy-Smith, 2016)
  330. The Ballad of Lefty Brown (Jared Moshe, 2017)
  331. The Rider (Chloe Zhao, 2017)
  332. Hostiles (Scott Cooper, 2017)
  333. Woman Walks Ahead (Susanna White, 2017)
  334. Damsel (David & Nathan Zellner, 2018)
  335. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2018)
  336. The Sisters Brothers (Jacques Audiard, 2018)
  337. The Wind (Emma Tammi, 2018)
  338. The Kid (Vincent D’Onofrio, 2019)