Saddle Up & Ride Hard!

This week...this week...why this week we here at Blogagaard have been left to our own devices while our ladybug traipses around the East Coast singing and raising seven shades of hell. We've decided to use this time to catch up on seven great western movies we've never seen before. We used a couple different websites to narrow down our selections and shall give a brief overview/review of each on this here very blog.

Stagecoach (1939)

Directed by John Ford and staring (among others) a young John Wayne, this movie above all others helped Westerns blow up big time and stand on their own as pieces of good old film craft. A bunch of strangers are crammed into a stagecoach and sent through perilous country while Geronimo is on the war path (for some reason). I enjoyed this rollicking little diddy quite a bit and you can watch the whole film online for free.

Here's the trailer (remember when they were like small movies themselves?)



Once Upon A Time in the West (1968)

A big old plate of spaghetti western, this baby stars Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, and Jason Robard. Directed by Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad, and the The Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars, etc.) Once Upon a Time in the West was ranked on one list as THE greatest western of all-time. It's big, bold, and comes in at a little under three hours. The soundtrack incorporates a scorching harmonica, the set is elaborate and inspired by John Ford's love of Monument Valley, and there's plenty of crossing and double-crossing and some great sets and lots o gun fights. Yeah!