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Stagecoach
Perfect 66 Points 1939

What a trip – iconic images before they were cliches, John Wayne’s star-making performance, a crisply compelling story. Legendary director John Ford’s first talkie Western warrants its status as one of the most influential movies of all time. Clocking in at a mere 96 minutes, it’s also tautly e…

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WikChip Image A star is born.
Destry Rides Again
None Yet 0 Points 1939
In Old California
Good 66 Points 1942

In Old California is a simpleminded recreation of Old Sacramento in 1848 and then 1849, made in 1942. A quasi-historical tale, it mostly exists to showcase John Wayne looking quite-the-dandy, from Boston even. The settings are the thing now: pre-49er San Francisco and then up the river to Old…

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WikChip Image John Wayne, the Boston Dandy
Red River
None Yet 0 Points 1948
Fort Apache
None Yet 0 Points 1948
She Wore a Yell...
None Yet 0 Points 1949
Winchester '73
Very Good 66 Points 1950

Classic Westerns come no more accomplished than Winchester ’73. It ably weaves a tale around “The Gun that Won the West,” the Winchester 1873. This Precious changes hands almost as often as My Precious in Lord of the Rings, …

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WikChip Image Rock Hudson before Indians played Ind...
High Noon
Great 66 Points 1952

Gary Cooper walking alone down a dusty Western street to confront a gang of killers is as iconic as Hollywood gets, making High Noon an archetype even more than a legend. That’s quite a weight.

Fortunately the movie itself is engaging, suspenseful and tight. A mere 85 minutes, it runs in ne…

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WikChip Video High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My D...
Shane
Great 66 Points 1953

“Shane, come back!” could have been a Simon & Garfunkel lyric. Instead, the troubadours chose Joe DiMaggio, another icon of mid-Century American manhood. Yet, Shane endures as a cultural touchstone.

Thousands of baby boomers were christened with his clarion clear name

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WikChip Image Jack Palance: a badass star is born
Hondo
Good 66 Points 1953

John Wayne starring in an Old West fairytale based on a Louis L’Amour story endows Hondo with loads of old fashioned panache, yet saddles it with too many cliches for enduring greatness. That’s in 2D however. Having seen it years ago in 3D, I recall it as being better but still not great.

It…

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WikChip Video The trailer hypes Hondo a bit too much.