Directed by Henry Hathaway John Wayne more or less plays John Wayne in True Grit. As Rooster Cogburn he is an old Marshall, drunk and lazy but quick with a gun and honorable to boot when the moment calls. Cogburn is the man young Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) turns to for help tracking down Tom Chaney, … Continue reading True Grit (1969)
stagecoach
The Hangman (1959)
Directed by Michael Curtiz There aren't any shootouts in The Hangman, and save for a couple of errant gunshots near the end, there might as well be no firearms in the film at all. The film isn't exactly contemplative either, as it concerns the practical aims of an out of town bounty hunter of sorts, but … Continue reading The Hangman (1959)
Stagecoach (1939)
Directed by John Ford While it wasn't the first western, nor was it close, Stagecoach was the first modern western. Along with the introduction of what would become repeated tropes in the genre, the film was Ford's first foray into Monument Valley, the landscape he would eventually make famous, and it is what made a star … Continue reading Stagecoach (1939)
