How the West Was Won (1962)

I'd seen this title many times over the years, thanks primarily to its all-star cast. For a profitable epic, it's had a pretty middling reception on rating sites, but it did net some Academy Awards. I chose to watch it not long after my last John Wayne western because I knew no better way to kill 164 minutes last night.

No other western I know takes place over such a long period. It's divided into five chapters, spanning from 1839 to 1889. The focus is on the westward-moving Prescott family, including but not limited to patriarch Zebulon (Karl Malden), matriarch Rebecca (Agnes Moorehead), and daughters Eve (Carroll Baker) and Lilith (Debbie Reynolds). Eve takes a shine to wandering fur trader Linus Rawlings (James Stewart), while Lilith falls for gambler Cleve van Valen (Gregory Peck). Their lives are partly affected by the California Gold Rush, the War Between the States, and other armed conflicts.

Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)

Gee, I saw my previous western comedy only about six months ago. But this was made 30 years later, near the time of more offbeat westerns, so I expected it to feel pretty different.

Jason McCullough (James Garner), a drifter with plans to move to Australia, stops at the fictitious young town of Calendar, Colorado. As a gold rush town, it's very expensive for the time, so he opts for a temp job -- as sheriff. Why, especially in a brawl-happy town where sheriffs have never stuck around long enough to collect pay, thanks to the Danby clan? Well, for all his casual air, he'd hate for Joe Danby (Bruce Dern, the only surviving actor today) to get away with the murder McCullough witnessed. Besides, he has a quick and accurate draw, which he's kept under wraps to avoid the wrong kind of attention until now.

My Darling Clementine (1946)

Has it really been nearly eight months since my last western? (I'm talking full-fledged westerns, so The Force Awakens doesn't count.) And just like in that one, Walter Brennan gets cast as the main villain. I ought to get used to that.

I've seen two other films about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, but they didn't include a Clementine. No, she doesn't follow the story told in the song. Her function here is as a love interest whom Doc keeps at bay, apparently due to his tuberculosis -- not for fear of her catching it, but for shame at appearing so weak. He still carries on with another woman, nicknamed Chihuahua, who actually gets more screen time. Clementine appeals to Wyatt to talk sense into Doc. Of course, this isn't really the main conflict....

The Westerner (1940)

Bland title, ain't it? It came out the year after Stagecoach, so it's not like there hadn't been many westerns yet. Nevertheless, with William Wyler at the helm, I got curious. Thankfully, it's not what I'd call a generic western. The dynamic is too unusual for that.

From what I'd vaguely heard before about "Judge" Roy Bean, he was about as controversial as Wyatt Earp. This highly fictional telling casts him pretty clearly as a villain, however well-intentioned with regard to cattlemen. One man, Cole (Gary Cooper), gets mistakenly accused of running afoul of his "law" but curries favor by pretending to know personally Bean's celebrity crush, actress Lillie Langtry, the only other historically real character. In the grand western cinematic tradition of figuring out the morally right thing to do, Cole may jeopardize his fair-weather friendship by pressing for the rights of Texan homesteaders.