The Silver Screen Oasis

Anyone who is a frequent visitor to this and/or the TCM Boards knows who by favorite is, be it for a Western or most anything else, but other directors will be considered, also your pick #2 or # 3 choice.

1-John Ford
2-Anthony Mann
3-Robert Aldrich



vallo

John Ford and Anthony Mann. No one else really comes close tho I recognize and love what Sergio Leone did with his "spaghetti westerns".

I have three favorite western directors, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford.

John Ford
Sergio Leone
Anthony Mann

MissGoddess wrote:I have three favorite western directors, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford.

Miss Goddess - So I guess that you feel that this there Ford fellow is pretty good.

Top of the pyramid (at least for me): John Ford

Then:

Howard Hawks

Anthony Mann

Honorary Mention:
Sergio Leone
Budd Boeticher
William "Wild Bill" Wellman

Hey Lzcutter,
It's good to see hanging around the ol' corral, girl!

I noticed that your Western pyramid with--*big shock!*--John Ford at the tippy top included Anthony Mann as well. I was wondering if you know if Jeanine Basinger's recently reissued book, Anthony Mann might be worth reading?

While I think his Westerns with James Stewart are fascinating, I'm also interested in his Noir films and in El Cid (1961), an undeservedly forgotten film from the pile of early sixties epics.

It appears to be available on vhs/dvd, but I haven't seen this broadcast in years. An imperfect yet poetic historical cinematic epic rather than a historical one, this Charlton Heston-Sophia Loren film boasts some beautiful cinematography, film score, and, of course, Loren. Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I'm curious about the book and the flick. Thanks & please take care, Lynn.

Yes, Pappy wasn't too shabby, Ken.

I do want to mention three others that are not western directors, but who did make an occasional western that I really liked:

Delmer Daves (The Hanging Tree, Broken Arrow, Jubal and two more with Glenn Ford that I'm not crazy about: 3:10 to Yuma and Cowboy)

Raoul Walsh (San Antonio, Pursued, Colorado Territory and The Tall Men)

Michael Curtiz (The Proud Rebel, The Commancheros)

William Wyler (The Westerner, The Big Country)

And Henry Hathaway, who directed many westerns (The Garden of Evil, True Grit, The Sons of Katie Elder, North to Alaska, segments of How the West Was Won, and Rawhide)

Moira,

I like Jeannie Basinger but don't know much about the Anthony Mann book.

Would love to see El Cid again. Especially on the big screen.

I think it is one of the most overlooked films of the 1960s. Everyone always talks about Spartacus but this film deserves a spotlight shone on it.

BTW, shouldn't classes be starting soon at the Classic Cinema College?

Naturally I have to say 'Pappy' Ford, and because of my adoration of Randy Scott - Budd Betticher, so finally because of his one or two almost perfect Westerns, I have to end with Sam Peckinpah. But that leaves so many fine guys unaccounted for, like all of the others who have been named so far.

As long as they give me a white hatted hero, a black hatted bad guy, a lot of shooting and fisticuffs, and a few chases through the beautiful surrounding scenery, and a happy ending with the hero gettin the gal, I'm happy.

Anne

I was a little surprised it took so long for people to mention Sam Peckinpah.

I suppose Peckinpah, Mann and Hawks would be my three favorites after John Ford. (Which I realize is cheating a bit on the original question.)