The Silver Screen Oasis

This sounds like a good collection Anne! I wish our Walmart had your selection. I can never find anything in their bins. I always get the feeling that some classic film buff has gotten there right before me and grabbed all the good stuff.

"Bandolero" (1969?) is an enjoyable western with Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch, and George Kennedy. I saw it at a drive-in with "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" and really enjoyed it when I was a kid. Andrew V. McLaughlin directed it. It isn't profound, but it is enjoyable.

"Bend of The River" would be in full frame but the other three should have been widescreen. I like "Night Passage" because of the casting of Stewart and Audie Murphy as brothers. Contrast in styles as well as in height.

movieman1957 wrote:"Bend of The River" would be in full frame but the other three should have been widescreen. I like "Night Passage" because of the casting of Stewart and Audie Murphy as brothers. Contrast in styles as well as in height.

I agree with you Chris ... regarding Bend of The River ...

I've yet to branch into James Stewart's westerns apart from Liberty Valance and Destry, I like the Jimmy Stewart of Philadelphia Story, I'm prepared to take the Vertigo character, I'll have to steal myself for the Mann movies.

I think Bend Of The River and The Far Country are Jimmy's 2 best westerns, but would also like to mention The Man From Laramie, Shenandoah and The Shootist.

I get annoyed when some comentators say Stewart last great film was in the late 50s, because Shenandoah is IMO a great western. Though in The Shootist it's just a small role, it was the last classic film IMO he was involved in

As an after thought, there's his pre war westerns Rose Marie and Destrey Rides Again

I like both of those Stuart. I think his scenes in The Shootist are fantastic. Though he doesn't have a huge role, he inhabits it fully. one sees a background for his character that shows he's seen a lot and doesn't waste time mincing words.

Wendy

At the end when Stewart's doctor is looking down on Duke Wayne's body, I almost get the impression, he's thinking he's dead, but I'm still here.

I know, I got the same impression, Stuart.

Stewart is good in just about everything. He's my favorite actor. He fits the western format well. Determined and flinty, respectful of the environment. He's a civilized man in an unsettled country. I like "Laramie" and THE NAKED SPUR. He's by far the most interesting character in HOW THE WEST WAS WON. I was quite young when I saw FIRECREEK, but I liked it. I think the actor's comfort in this genre did more to solidify his legend than some people realize.

My favorite Stewart western is "Destry." Not typical of the genre, it's light, screwy, and empowers the female in ways few outdoor stories of its time did. But a western it is, and it's one of the great ones. "Wull, I had a friend..."

I am coming back around to Stewart, after a year or so of backing off. I think I had seen too many of his movies over and over. Sometimes you need a break to appreciate even the greatest of our actors.

Destry is probably my favorite role too, Red. There's underlying steel in Tom Destry, despite his laid back, comical appearance. Stewart has an ability to give a line a deeper spin - something like Charles Boyer does - he can drop his voice and you get an altogether different impression of the person speaking than you might have had at first. Destry is certainly a deeper character than is first apparent. He has depth, I guess I'm trying to say.

I get annoyed when some comentators say Stewart last great film was in the late 50s, because Shenandoah is IMO a great western.

As is Liberty Valance (1962), but those same critics have never pulled the layers back on that particular film or looked beyond the surface so they tend to disregard the film and Stewart's performance.