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Author Topic: Westerns  (Read 46059 times)

Corndog

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Re: Westerns
« Reply #150 on: January 31, 2017, 10:07:17 AM »
Yea, that clearly confirms that you just don't really like any of these movies very much. That's the first review I can agree with lol.

Why do you hate movies 1SO? jk
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1SO

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Re: Westerns
« Reply #151 on: January 31, 2017, 01:40:58 PM »
I think my low ratings are because I look at them as endorsements or recommendations and I don't want to recommend something just because it's not bad, I want to recommend with confidence. Even then there are bugs in the system (McLintock!) but I think I do pretty well.

Corndog

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Re: Westerns
« Reply #152 on: February 28, 2017, 02:59:25 PM »
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

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Re: Westerns
« Reply #153 on: February 28, 2017, 05:48:06 PM »
I didn't rank your list of films, but I'm pretty sure Union Pacific would be in my Bottom 10. It would be down there because I have the same problems with DeMille's structure and pace. It would be down there because The Iron Horse shows that you need to make a film about the people and let the events happen around them. Most of all it would be down there because it contains my least favorite performance by my favorite actress. This is my least favorite Stanwyck performance because of that terrible Irish accent, which I cannot get past. It puts up a barrier thick and high between me and her acting, bringing the film down every time she opens her mouth.

This is your first Western with Joel McCrea. You have a lot more ahead, including 3 Very Good ones directed by Jacques Tourneur. Although he's an unusual Western hero, too nice to a fault at times, I like him more in this genre than anywhere else.

He also worked with Stanwyck 6 times. I've seen 5 of them and recommend none.

Corndog

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Re: Westerns
« Reply #154 on: March 02, 2017, 01:49:21 PM »
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

Corndog

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Re: Westerns
« Reply #155 on: March 02, 2017, 01:57:30 PM »
I didn't rank your list of films, but I'm pretty sure Union Pacific would be in my Bottom 10. It would be down there because I have the same problems with DeMille's structure and pace. It would be down there because The Iron Horse shows that you need to make a film about the people and let the events happen around them. Most of all it would be down there because it contains my least favorite performance by my favorite actress. This is my least favorite Stanwyck performance because of that terrible Irish accent, which I cannot get past. It puts up a barrier thick and high between me and her acting, bringing the film down every time she opens her mouth.

This is your first Western with Joel McCrea. You have a lot more ahead, including 3 Very Good ones directed by Jacques Tourneur. Although he's an unusual Western hero, too nice to a fault at times, I like him more in this genre than anywhere else.

He also worked with Stanwyck 6 times. I've seen 5 of them and recommend none.

You certainly dislike it much more than me. I found some things to enjoy, and definitely didn't like Stanwyck's accent, but it also didn't ruin her performance for me. McCrea was great, and a big reason why I didn't hate the film, though it is definitely a film that will rank as below average, I imagine, at the end of the marathon. Uneven to be sure, but not without its moments.

Also, Destry Rides Again was my last 1930s Western, so onto the 1940s. More than twice as many in that decade as in the 30s. I'll stay in the 50s for a while though, the decade with the most Westerns on my list.
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oldkid

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Re: Westerns
« Reply #156 on: March 02, 2017, 04:28:02 PM »
Destry continues to be one of my favorite westerns of all time.  I think I'm calling it a keeper.
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Re: Westerns
« Reply #157 on: March 02, 2017, 11:27:19 PM »
Destry is #113 on my List of Essentials and my favorite film of 1939, although in a year that produced Mr. Smith, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Wizard, Ninotchka and Mr. Chips among other classics I'm inviting unnecessary negativity with such a claim. (I doubt it could even make a noble effort against Stagecoach in a Deathmatch.) So, I'm glad you had a Great time.

Where I disagree with you is I think Destry is very much a Comedy, a Screwball Comedy at that. The pushover drunk deputy and his reaction to Destry's parables, the entire subplot with Boris' pants, including bartender Billy Gilbert (His Girl Friday). There's Allen Jenkins ("No more cheese"), and you won't find a more loose and goofy performance from Marlene Dietrich. I love the scene you mentioned with the makeup, but I also love post-fight when she sees herself in the mirror, the betting scene with Boris, and the moment where she trips over her furniture that I'm not sure was intentional. Destry's refusal to carry a gun is a comedy plot and even the somewhat dramatic climax has the broad inclusion of all the women of the town. (The one time where the polished narrative starts to creak.)

I don't want to overload your Marathon list, but in 1954 the same director remade the film, and it's interesting to compare the differences. The cast of the remake doesn't have a spark of the charisma of this cast, but it does go for a more straight and serious ending, the one part I would say improves on the original, (though I love the way Dietrich relishes her big moment at the end.)


I don't know if you recognized Brian Donlevy. He's the one who starts all the trouble in Jesse James by strong-arming people out of their land and he's in Union Pacific, killing Indians for fun. He's really good at playing jerks. The scene in the image above is one of my favorite scenes in the genre. That's mostly a credit to Stewart for the way he disarms a tense situation, but like the "am I a clown?" scene in Goodfellas, it's the reaction of the other guy who isn't sure what to do that helps make the scene a classic.

I will agree with you about Destry not being a musical, but there's been talk around here recently about Earworm Songs and I would put "Little Joe" on that list, especially with Wash doing a 2nd version and a reprise at the end.

It's a film I can see myself returning to, time after time, if for no other reason than for James Stewart.
I told my wife that some people will probably be watching Destry Rides Again this month so I might want to re-watch it, and she replied, "I'm ready." I believe this is the 4th post I've written about Destry and they're all around the same length. I never get tired of talking about the film. It never gets old.


Corndog

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Re: Westerns
« Reply #158 on: March 03, 2017, 08:02:43 AM »
I knew Donlevy looked familiar! I can easily place him in both those films now!
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Re: Westerns
« Reply #159 on: March 03, 2017, 09:01:22 AM »
He was in 6 movies in 1939, earning an Oscar nomination for Beau Geste. Four of the films were Westerns. The one you didn't watch is Allegheny Uprising, starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor and George Sanders. Despite the cast, that one is just okay.

You'll see him again in Canyon Passage.