WESTERN NIGHT AT THE MOVIES: WINCHESTER ‘73
Noir Westerns, dark, brooding stories featuring deeply flawed characters with something gnawing at their souls and set in the wide expanses and big skies of the Old West, began showing up in the late ‘40s and into the ‘50s. Films like THE OX-BOW...
WESTERN NIGHT AT THE MOVIES: BLINDMAN
For this Western Night, Kirk Ellis chose BLINDMAN (1971), a spaghetti Western featuring a blind anti-hero. Sergio Leone introduced probably the most well-known Western anti-hero to American audiences with his Man with No Name movies in the...
WESTERN NIGHT AT THE MOVIES: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
A contemporary noir Western, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) was my choice for this Western Night. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, it won four Academy Awards including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay for Joel and Ethan...
WESTERN NIGHT AT THE MOVIES: 3 BAD MEN
John Ford famously said, “I make Westerns.” He began his long career in the silent era. We’ve brought a few of his Westerns to our Movie Nights, mostly his talkies. But for this session, Johnny Boggs screened Ford’s last silent Western, 3 BAD MEN,...
WESTERN NIGHT AT THE MOVIES: A BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY
For this Western Night viewing, Sheila Ellis chose A BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY (1966), a delightful and comedic look at avarice. Five wealthy, ardent gamblers gather in the back room of a saloon in Laredo, Texas, for their yearly high-stakes...
WESTERN NIGHT AT THE MOVIES: THE LONELY MAN
For this Western Night session, David Morrell brought a film none of us had seen and that we all agreed was not good. THE LONELY MAN (1957), perhaps inspired by THE GUNFIGHTER a few years earlier, tells the story of Jacob Wade (Jack Palance), a...
