When I have the time I enjoy watching the occasional film – not usually live on TV, as the films that are shown on TV these days very rarely get my “Seal of Approval.” Films today seem to be produced with the aim of getting as many people into the cinema as quickly as possible, and producing as high a return as possible for the cost of the film. Many seem to be aimed at the teenage market the kind of Hannah Montana/High School Musical type of offering, whilst others fall into the “spectacle” genre. Maybe I am getting old, but they just don’t seem to be producing the kind of films that were around twenty or more years ago - films which had some quality about them, starring actors and actresses who had some ability to entertain. I think one of the reasons that modern films are lacking entertainment value is the rise in CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). It is now just about possible to make anything happen before your very eyes thanks to CGI. Whilst the achievements may be technically brilliant they are not necessarily entertaining.
I enjoy a fairly wide range of films. Looking down the catalogue of films I have on Video and DVD you will find
Westerns
War Films
Drama
Action
Thriller
Comedy
Musicals
Horror
Crime
So lets just skim through a few Western Titles, which to my way of thinking contain far more in the way of entertainment than many of the recently produced films.
Stagecoach was made in 1939 in glorious black and white, and starred John Wayne. A simple stagecoach trip is complicated by the fact that Geronimo is on the warpath in the area. The passengers on the coach include a a drunken doctor, two women, a bank manager who has taken off with his client's money, and the famous Ringo Kid, among others. Filmed in Monument Valley, and directed by John Ford.
Do you remember the John Ford Western Trilogy - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache & Rio Grande?
In She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, made in Black & White in 1949, John Wayne, starring as Capt Nathan Brittles on the eve of retirement, takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperilled.
Forth Apache stars John Wayne and Henry Honda. Directed by John Ford, it tells of Owen Thursday, who sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, Thursday attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.
Rio Grande (Filmed in 1950) stars John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. Rio Grande takes place after the Civil War when the Union turned their attention towards the Apaches. Union officer Kirby Yorke (John Wayne) is in charge of an outpost on the Rio Grande in which he is in charge of training of new recruits one of which is his son whom he hasn't seen in 15 years. He whips him into shape to take on the Apaches but not before his mother (Maureen O’Hara) shows up to take him out of there. The decision to leave is left up to Trooper Yorke who decides to stay and fight. Through it all Kirby and Kathleen though separated for years fall back into love and decide that it's time to give it another try. But Yorke faces his toughest battle when his unorthodox plan to outwit the elusive Apaches leads to possible court- martial. Locked in a bloody Indian war, he must fight to redeem his honour and save the love and lives of his broken family.
In case you think I only enjoy John Wayne Westerns, what aboutThe Big Country (Gregory Peck, Burl Ives, Jean Simmons)
Gregory Peck
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katherine Ross)
Gunfight at the OK Corral (Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas)
High Noon (Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly)
Shane (Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur)
Shenandoah (James Stewart, Rosemary Forsyth)
I also enjoy the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western Trilogy:- A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More & The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.
The Alamo and Dances with Wolves are two other westerns I enjoy.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance is an entertaining piece which tells the story of a western lawyer who refuses to carry a gun until he has to face the vile rogue Liberty Vallance, played brilliantly by Lee Marvin. The lawyer's wife throws him a gun in the hopes that he will use it to protect himself and kill Vallance. (I won't spoil it by telling you the end result! - but if you haven't seen it do make a point of watching it the next time it is on TV)
Tomorrow I'll take a look at a different genre of film.
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