James Stewart Westerns

What did you think of the thin man as a gunman? Miscast or great?
He's my favorite of the old time western actors. John Wayne did lots of great ones but Jimmy was the better guy.

I haven't seen all but these are the ones I remember liking a lot. Great scenery in most of them. I prefer the big sky country to the the Arizona/Texas dusty saloon westerns.

The man from Laramie
Naked spur
Winchester '73
Bend of the river
The far country
The man who shot Liberty Valance
Broken Arrow

 

He was exactly a traditional "gunman" in Liberty Valence, but Stewart, Wayne, and Marvin combine to make the greatest drama set in a western setting ever. I can't really bring myself to call it a western.

 

Bandolero.

Also, not exactly a western, but Shenandoah.

 

Firecreek and Cheyenne Social Club
How the West Was Won

 

Great list of films. Liberty Valance and Naked Spur are among my favourite films, never mind favourite Westerns. Maybe Man from Laramie too. Shenandoah, the one really good film by Andrew V. McLaglen, is another good one, somewhat Fordian in tone. There are also Destry Rides Again, Night Passage (which, I believe was scheduled to be directed by Mann), Two Rode Together (he's good, but the theme aside, it's minor Ford), How the West was Won (particularly the Civil War section) and The Shootist.

 

I have Shenandoah but haven't seen it yet, might pick that one for tonight.
I saw How the west was won as a kid and I remember great scenery and big stars, but it was to long and uneven

 

Winchester '73 gets a lot of play at my house.
From that golden era when you could name
a film after a firearm with total impunity.

 

I haven't seen many of them, but really enjoy Winchester '73

 

The Mann-Stewart westerns are all excellent -- the series deserves a thread of its own.

'Night Passage' was indeed to have been directed by Mann, but he found the script weak. After Mann bowed out Stewart would never work with him again (some sources claim he never SPOKE to Mann again).

Shenandoah has an interesting script (intended for Spencer Tracy) but flat direction. Still some good moments,

Firecreek plays like a padded Gunsmoke episode (several of its makers worked on that series). Highlights are the "wake" and the shootout climax,

Bandolero, for all its silliness, is actually quite entertaining. The scene where Stewart and Martin discuss moving to Montana (with all its resident Indians) is an unrecognized classic.

The Cheyenne Social Club is even sillier, but is pleasant enough. Those familiar with the real-life Stewart-Fonda friendship will be amused by Fonda's working-man Democrat, and Stewart's considering himself a Republican businessman.

Stewart fantatics should check out his early 1950s radio series The Six-Shooter (it would morph into the TV series Restless Gun, with John Payne). The Christmas episode, where Stewart meets a runaway boy and narrates a westernized Christmas Carol to him, is a classic that deserves to be better known.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

My faves are Winchester '73 and The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance.

 

Destry Rides Again.
Winchester '73.

jerol

 

My dad had copies of these he used to play for me when I was a kid. I should see if he still has them.

I was surprised it took until Jerol posted about Destry Rides Again. That's a great one.

I have fond memories of Two Rode Together, but I can't remember a damn thing about it.

I tried re-watching Liberty Valence again recently and found it to be clumsily made and flatly photographed. Really shocking considering the talent involved. It is indeed a good story, but it's presented with very little subtlety. I know I'm in the minority here, so...

 

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is my favorite of the bunch. It elicits different feelings in me each time I see it.

I'm also a big fan of "Broken Arrow". I first saw it around the release of "Dances With Wolves" and I thought the earlier film did a lot to pave the way for the existence of the later one.

Both films raise questions about the inevitably (or lack thereof) of violent resolution, which is what draws me to them.

I'd give the "thumbs up" to most every film discussed here except "How the West Was Won" and "Cheyenne Social Club".

 

I have a soft spot for Bandolero too; in fact, it and McLintock are the only other McLaglen films I have any time for, but neither are as emotionally involving as Shenandoah. I think Two Rode Together suffers from too much studio footage and a dumb bad Indian/good Indian plot but the scenes when the captives are returned to the whites lift it considerably. Another strange move is to call the Comanche chief Quanah, yet make no explicit reference to the fact that the actual Quanah was the son of a captive. I like Stewart in Cheyenne Autumn too - if you can find the complete version

 

The Naked Spur is a great film, beautifully filmed in Southwestern Colorado ("America's Switzerland"), and ably acted by Stewart, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Janet Leigh and Millard Mitchell. That's the entire cast, except for an Indian war party that's just there briefly to get shot up.

I'm still waiting for a Blu-ray if this, but I'm not getting any younger.

 

Can't even get a proper DVD of it in the UK. For me, it's the best of the Mann films with a great performance by Stewart.

 

Isn't Night Passage shot in Colorado as well? Featuring that old Durango mountain train? I'm sure I read about it somewhere. Maybe when I was there a few years ago. So very beautiful and majestic!

 

Love Jimmy Stewart!!! There will never be another like him. Liberty Valence is one of my favorite movies and he was outstanding in it!

 

Naked Spur and Liberty Valence are both top notch.

 

there isn't a JS movie that i do not like, but Winchester '73 is my fav Western.

 

I enjoy the commentary track on Wnchester '73 with Stewart chatting for the length of the film about the film and his career at length.

 

He has such a pleasant voice...

 

It is funny though when the interviewer tries to get some anecdotes about other actors in the film and Jimmy describes ever one as a great actor and kind person without any real anacdotes about any of them.