Multiple Western movies in American history have long deserved a place alongside the classics. Over the years, the Western genre has contributed significantly to cinematic history, as many of the films considered to be among the greatest movies of all time belong to that medium.
From the likes of Red River and High Noon to The Magnificent Seven and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, the genre boasts a long list of films with household name or cult classic status. But perhaps due in part to the number of greats the genre has produced, quite a few haven’t gotten the level of recognition they were worthy of, both now and when they were released.
That includes works from genre legends such as Gary Cooper and Glenn Ford, who, despite their excellent resumes of Westerns, have had their fair share of under-the-radar gems. There’s also movies from actors like Audie Murphy, who made lesser-known but still high-quality Westerns.
No Name On The Bullet
Throughout the 1950s, Audie Murphy developed a track record of playing straight-laced, heroic characters in B-movie Westerns, but broke away from that when he starred in No Name on the Bullet, which saw him portray one of the most unique antagonists in the genre.
Serving as the foundation of the story was the modus operandi of Audie Murphy’s character, a gun-for-hire who never outright murders his targets, but finds way to instigate conflicts with them.
In other words, he manipulates them into making the first move, allowing him to stay on the right side of the law. It’s an excellent premise for a Western, where everyone is driven to their wit’s end by his tactics, not knowing who he’s after or what he’ll do to get what he wants.
The Westerner
Although it stars one of the icons of the genre in Gary Cooper, The Westerner is carried on the shoulders of its villain; in the highly underrated Western, Walter Brennan delivers a great performance as real-life figure Roy Bean, a corrupt judge obsessed with a British stage actress.
Directed by William Wyler, one of the greatest directors in Hollywood’s Golden Age, The Westerner succeeded in infusing a great deal of life into the 1940 film, complete with a mᴀssive amount of depth in its villain and a compelling character arc for Gary Cooper’s hero.
The Far Country
Although Walter Brennan wasn’t averse to playing villains, he was more commonly utilized as a character actor, ala his role in The Far Country, where he’s used as a sidekick to James Stewart.
One of multiple collaborations between Stewart and the director, Anthony Mann, The Far Country is a classic battle between good and evil, with Stewart’s hero being one town’s best hope of defeating the wicked Judge Gannon. Although not regarded as James Stewart’s best Western, it currently holds an impressive rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Violent Men
Featuring beautiful cinematography on par with that of Red River, The Big Country and The Searchers, The Violent Men pits Glenn Ford against Edward G. Robinson in a Western epic focused on one man’s efforts to hold on to his ranch, despite significant pressure from those who desire it.
With Ford, Robinson, and Stanwyck all in the cast and putting in remarkable performances, not to mention some standout action, The Violent Men feels like a movie that could have been more than a little-known Western in Glenn Ford’s filmography.
The Gunfighter
The Gunfighter stars Gregory Peck as real-life outlaw Jimmy Ringo, with his version shown to be a legendary outlaw trying – and failing – to outrun his reputation, before getting sH๏τ in the back. It’s a shockingly bleak ending, but one that leaves a lasting impression.
Despite sharing a story very similar to The Shootist and coming first, The Gunfighter doesn’t come anywhere near the fame of John Wayne’s final Western, but that could be due partially to the fact that it doesn’t share The Shootist’s symbolic significance.
Tall In The Saddle
Stagecoach gets the lion’s share of the credit when it comes to John Wayne’s rise to stardom, but Tall in the Saddle was an important step in that direction as well. Released after Stagecoach but before Red River, Tall in the Saddle built onto the foundation laid by Stagecoach in terms of the actor’s onscreen image.
Tall in the Saddle is an extremely entertaining Western where John Wayne’s character plays a mysterious cowboy who comes into town and begins to quietly investigate the death of his new boss.
Blood On The Moon
A remarkable, genre-bending Western, Blood on the Moon brings some of the best facets of film noir into the American Wild West, with one of its greatest stars, Robert Mitchum, leading the way.
Sitting at 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, the psychological Western explores the moral dilemma of a poor cowboy who is forced to choose between loyalty and his moral code. As an actor known both for his Western and film noir roles, there was no better choice to headline Blood on the Moon than Mitchum.
The Man From The Alamo
The Man From the Alamo tackles one of the best-known historical events ᴀssociated with the Western genre, but with a fascinating (albeit fictional) take on it. Rather than focus on the tragedy that took place at the Alamo, Glenn Ford’s 1953 Western looks at the aftermath of it by following a survivor of the Alamo.
In the movie, Glenn Ford demonstrates why he’s one of the genre’s best actors, giving a convincing performance as a man haunted by the fact that he lived when hundreds died, and finds himself reminded of that by the people who now see him as a coward.
Warlock
Four prominent names ᴀssociated with the Western genre (Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn and Dorothy Malone) came together for Warlock. Fonda and Quinn play hired “town-tamers” who team up with an outlaw (Richard Widmark) in their efforts to eliminate the crime that infests the town of Warlock.
Warlock isn’t the standard tale of a heroic gunslinger drifting into town and cleaning it up, however. Instead, it crafts a much more compelling story for its three main characters, whose evolving relationships and other personal issues set up some unexpected twists.
Ride Lonesome
With Randolph Scott in the lead role, Ride Lonesome starred a Western icon, while also previewing two future legends of the genre. Lee Van Cleef (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) and James Coburn (The Magnificent Seven) joined Scott in 1959’s Ride Lonesome, a Western about a bounty hunter who uses his prisoner to lure out the target he’s really after.
Revenge, one of the best narrative themes in Western movies, is utilized brilliantly in Ride Lonesome, as evidenced by its 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
