Jim Trask, former sheriff of Abilene, returns to the town after fighting for the Confederacy to find everyone thought he was dead. His old friend Dave Mosely is now engaged to Trask’s former sweetheart and is one of the cattlemen increasingly feuding with the original farmers. Trask is persuaded to take up as sheriff again but there is something about the death of Mosely’s brother in the Civil War that is haunting him.
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Western
The Rawhide Years (1955) Rudolph Maté, Tony Curtis, Colleen Miller, Arthur Kennedy, Western
Ben Matthews gives up the flashy life of a riverboat gambler, hoping to settle down in Galena with his girlfriend, luscious entertainer Zoe. But Galena’s leading citizen is murdered on the boat; Ben, on arrival, finds a lynch mob after his neck, and flees. Three years of wandering later, Zoe’s letters stop coming and Ben returns to find her and attempt the hopeless task of clearing himself.
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The Outrage (1964) Martin Ritt, Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Drama, Western, Crime
Three disparate travelers, a disillusioned preacher, an unsuccessful prospector, and a larcenous, cynical con man, meet at a decrepit railroad station in the 1870s Southwest. The prospector and the preacher were witnesses at the singularly memorable rape and murder trial of the notorious Mexican outlaw Carasco. The bandit duped an aristocratic Southerner into believing he knew the location of a lost Aztec treasure. The greedy “gentleman” allows himself to be tied up while Carasco deflowers his wife. These events lead to the stabbing of the husband and are related by the three eyewitnesses to the atrocity: the infamous bandit, the newlywed wife, and the dead man through an Indian shaman. Whose version of the events is true? Possibly there was a fourth witness, but can his version be trusted?
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The Wonderful Country (1959) Robert Parrish, Robert Mitchum, Julie London, Gary Merrill, Romance, Western
Having fled to Mexico from the U.S. many years ago for killing his father’s murderer, Martin Brady travels to Texas to broker an arms deal for his Mexican boss, strongman Governor Cipriano Castro. Brady breaks a leg and while recuperating in Texas the gun shipment is stolen. Complicating matters further the wife of local army major Colton has designs on him, and the local Texas Ranger captain makes him a generous offer to come back to the states and join his outfit. After killing a man in self defense, Brady slips back over the border and confronts Castro who is not only unhappy that Brady has lost his gun shipment but is about to join forces with Colton to battle the local raiding Apache Indians.
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The Man from Tumbleweeds (1940) Joseph H. Lewis, Bill Elliott, Iris Meredith, Dub Taylor, Western
In the third of his four Wild Bill Saunders Westerns, Bill Elliott, “the Peaceable Man,” is assigned by Governor Dawson (Don Beddoe) to put a stop to the reign of terror, including cold-blooded murder, perpetrated by Powder Kilgore (Raphael Bennett). When the state legislature refuses to fund a legitimate rangers organization, Wild Bill instead enlists a group of tough convicts, whom he promises freedom if they help capture Kilgore and his chief lieutenant, Lightning Barlow (Francis Walker). Unfortunately, one of the convicts, Shifty (Ernie Adams), lives up to his name by betraying his comrades in arms to Kilgore but after a furious gun battle at the gang’s shootout, Wild Bill manages to bring peace to the area. Nevertheless, when asked to captain the newly founded rangers organization, the hero instead promotes his new friend, former convict Honest John (Al Hill), and heads off to new adventures.
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The Stand at Apache River (1953) Lee Sholem, Stephen McNally, Julie Adams, Hugh Marlowe, Western
Sheriff Lane Dakota captures robbery-murder suspect Greiner just as the latter is wounded in an Apache ambush. At remote outpost Apache River, Lane and his prisoner spend the night with other travelers, including 2 women with a surprising number of fancy dresses. In the morning, who should appear but a band of ostensibly peaceful Apaches strayed from the reservation. And bigoted Colonel Morsby is strongly inclined to shoot first and ask questions afterward…
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Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964) Richard Wilson, Yul Brynner, Janice Rule, George Segal, Western
When Confederate soldier Matt Weaver returns to town after the Civil War, he finds that his home has been sold by town boss Sam Brewster. Brewster hires gunfighter Jules Gaspard d’Estaing to deal with Weaver, but d’Estaing’s independent approach settles the town’s problems in a very unorthodox manner.
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The Halliday Brand (1957) Joseph H. Lewis, Joseph Cotten, Viveca Lindfors, Betsy Blair, Drama, Western
As a man returns home to see his dying father, the story of the alienation between father and son is told in flashback. Purposely letting his daughter’s lover get lynched, shooting the lynched man’s father when he threatens him with a gun, and the bullying tactics used by him as a Sheriff causes the son to leave. The son now plans to ruin his father and get his Sheriff’s badge removed.
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Little Big Man (1970) Arthur Penn, Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Comedy, Western
Jack Crabb is 121 years old as the film begins. A collector of oral histories asks him about his past. He recounts being captured and raised by indians, becoming a gunslinger, marrying an indian, watching her killed by General George Armstrong Custer, and becoming a scout for him at Little Big Horn.
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Dollar for the Dead (1998) Gene Quintano, Emilio Estevez, William Forsythe, Jordi Mollà, Western
In this tribute to the old time spaghetti westerns with a liberal dose of modern Hong Kong film-making thrown in, Emilio Estevez assumes Clint Eastwood’s “man with no name” role. Estevez plays a super-quick gunman on the run from a rancher (Long) and his men out to kill him for killing his son. The gunman gets mixed up with a former Confederate soldier (William Forsythe) who has knowledge of hidden gold. The only trouble is he is also pursued by Union soldiers. When they free a man (Ed Lauter) with part of the map to the gold, they then are also pursued by Spanish soldiers. It all leads to a small Mexican town terrorized by soldiers and led a by a good priest (Joaquim De Almeida) who also has knowledge of the gold.
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The Horse Soldiers (1959) John Ford, John Wayne, William Holden, Constance Towers, Adventure, War, Western
A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength to destroy a rail/supply center. Along with them is sent a doctor who causes instant antipathy between him and the commander. The secret plan for the mission is overheard by a southern belle who must be taken along to assure her silence. The Union officers each have different reasons for wanting to be on the mission.
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Relentless (1948) George Sherman, Robert Young, Marguerite Chapman, Willard Parker, Western
At the local saloon, prospectors Len Briggs and Bob Pliny brag about finding gold at their mine. Bad guys Tex Brandaw and Jim Rupple decide to follow the two prospectors and steal their mine. Drifter Nick Buckley who’s passing through town seeking shelter for his pregnant mare is offered a drink by the two old prospectors, on the account of their recent good fortune. They also offer him the use of their shack for the night. However, bad guy Tex Brandaw suggests to Nick the use of an empty stall in the town stable instead. The two old prospectors return to their cabin where bad guys Tex and Jim await in ambush and kill the prospectors and steal the map revealing the gold mine’s location. They divide the map in two sections, to prevent cheating, and split up agreeing to meet later. Tex has no intention of sharing the gold with Jim and bushwhacks him on the trail taking Jim’s other half of the map. Jim pursues Tex on foot and runs into drifter Nick Buckley who left town after spending …
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Il grande silenzio / The Great Silence (1968) Sergio Corbucci, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Frank Wolff, Western
Bounty killers led by Loco prey on outlaws hiding out in the snowbound Utahn mountains. After Pauline’s husband becomes Loco’s latest victim, she hires a gunman for revenge; Silence, mute since his throat was cut when he was a boy.
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The Lawless Breed (1953) Raoul Walsh, Rock Hudson, Julie Adams, Mary Castle, Action, Biography, Western
Released from jail, John Wesley Hardin leaves an account of his life with the local newspaper. It tells of his overly religious father, his resulting life of cards and guns, and his love for his step-sister replaced on her death during a gun fight with that for dance-hall girl Rosie.
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The Bounty Hunter (1954) André De Toth, Randolph Scott, Dolores Dorn, Marie Windsor, Western
A year after a violent train robbery the Pinkerton detective agency hires a bounty hunter to find the three remaining killers. He tracks them to Twin Forks but has no clue to their identity. Tensions surface as just his presence in town acts as a catalyst.
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