Robert Redford‘s celebrated career in Hollywood has seen him cross paths with the western genre occasionally, and an underrated ’70s gem is actually his best. Redford was already a known quanтιтy in movies by the time he co-starred alongside Paul Newman in 1969’s Butch Cᴀssidy and the Sundance Kid, but it was that film that helped propel him into leading-man territory. Redford would continue to turn in award-winning performances across the next few decades, and would even pop up occasionally to star in a hit or two well into the new millennium.

Besides his acting, Redford moved behind the camera for 1980’s Ordinary People, and his directorial debut scored four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Redford pulled double-duty for decades, starring in hit movies and making his own as well, but it was his early work that has always defined his legendary career. Butch Cᴀssidy and the Sundance Kid has gone down as one of the most important films in the western genre, and it is certainly one of Redford’s most iconic performances. However, another of the actor’s western outings steals the show, and deserves to be considered his best.

Robert Redford’s Best Western Is Jeremiah Johnson, Not Butch Cᴀssidy & The Sundance Kid

The 1972 Film Is A Much Stronger Western

Though Butch Cᴀssidy and the Sundance Kid is one of the most important films from the late 1960s, it is actually outshone by the less famous 1972 western, Jeremiah Johnson. The film stars Redford as the тιтular character, a Mexican War veteran who traverses the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains to live as a trapper. The would-be mountain man learns valuable lessons about how to live off the land and has various encounters with the Crow and Blackfoot tribes that also occupy that territory. The sprawling story borrows heavily from the life of John Jeremiah Johnson, but embellishes details.

Unlike Butch Cᴀssidy, Jeremiah Johnson is a much more straightforward western that eschews anachronistic humor for a realistic tone instead. Though the film still has a firm anti-violence message, and could be considered an anti-western in many respects, it still lives up to the hallmarks of the genre. The action is crisp and exciting, and the Utah filming locations are some of the most beautiful vistas in ’70s cinema. As more and more westerns moved away from the tried and true formula, Jeremiah Johnson used them to their fullest effect.

That’s not to say the Sydney Pollack-directed movie is cliché or derivative. Instead, the tropes are subverted in a much subtler way, allowing for two types of viewing experiences to take place at once. For the more conventional western fan, Jeremiah Johnson has wilderness action, but for a more cerebral experience, it also criticizes the violence of the past and the present. On top of that, Robert Redford himself is allowed to shine in the starring role, and Johnson is every bit the aloof hero of Eastwood of Wayne, but with a softer edge that only Redford could deliver.

How Robert Redford’s Other Westerns Compare To Jeremiah Johnson & Butch Cᴀssidy

Those Two Films Stand Head & Shoulders Above The Rest

Robert Redford’s career seems to be defined by his western roles, but he actually hasn’t appeared in too many. Butch Cᴀssidy and the Sundance Kid was his first real foray into the genre, and, along with Jeremiah Johnson, would help to solidify his name among the other western greats. Redford co-starred in 1969’s Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, but the movie mostly uses the western genre as a backdrop to tell a character-driven story. It’s not a bad film, but lacks the grandeur that the genre typically features.

Later in the 1970s, Redford appeared in a neo-western called The Electric Horseman which reunited him with former co-star Jane Fonda. The dramedy was a big hit at the time, and is notable for being the first acting performance of country music superstar Willie Nelson, but it hasn’t necessarily stood the test of time. Its connection to the western genre is tenuous at best, and even stretches the definition of a new-western as well. 1998’s The Horse Whisperer is Redford’s final western film (thus far), but is yet another neo-western that is mostly focused on character drama and nothing else.

Robert Redford’s westerns include:

It’s difficult to top Butch Cᴀssidy or Jeremiah Johnson, and they were made at a time when Hollywood was particularly keen to dissect the genre that had become stagnant by the 1970s. The former made waves by blending modern humor with classic western appeal, while the latter showed just how bland westerns had become by doing everything better than its predecessors. It’s not surprising that none of Robert Redford’s other westerns could hold a candle to those two greats, and few westerns from any actor’s filmography have withstood the test of time as strongly.