In my family, John Wayne is the go-to guy for westerns. My dad loved John Wayne movies; so naturally, my sisters and I grew up loving him. By far, my favorite western starring John Wayne is McLintock! The dialogue between Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne is highly entertaining, and the scenes about the town’s picnic day are the best!It wasn’t until college that I saw El Dorado with John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, but I grew to like this movie almost as much as McLintock! And in a close 3rd spot, I thoroughly enjoy the movie North to Alaska – it has a lot of the same elements that make McLintock! awesome. North to Alaska might be about loggers and panning for gold instead of ranchers, but the fight scenes from the two movies have the same feeling of chaotic fun. If you are interested in any more of John Wayne’s movies, here is a list of available titles in EasiCat.
Adult Movies:
The Alamo
Angel and the Badman
El Dorado
Hondo
How the West Was Won
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
McLintock!
North to Alaska
Red River
Rio Bravo
Rio Grande
Rodeo Racketeers
The Searchers
The Sons of Katie Elder
Stagecoach
True Grit
There are a couple of children’s movies that deal with the West as well, and while they do not number as many as the adult movies, they are all good stories. I grew up loving the stories about Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, so when Tall Tale came out, it was an instant hit in our family. It talks about the legends of John Henry, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and Calamity Jane. It also deals with the expansion out West through the railroad and how it affected families and towns.
Children’s Movies:
American Legends
An American Tale: Fievel Goes West
Home on the Range
Rango
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Tall Tale
Beside John Wayne movies, my sisters and I could not get enough of musicals - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was one of our favorites and would get watched over and over again. Howard Keel played the eldest of seven brothers, Adam, who was pretty clueless about women, but still managed to find a woman who agreed to marry him. His bride’s interactions with her new brothers-in-laws provide plenty of entertainment for the first part of the movie. The second part of the movie is about each of Adam’s brothers trying their hands at courting and the various mistakes they make. Howard Keel also stars alongside Doris Day in another western musical, Calamity Jane. And here are a few more musicals about the wild frontier!
Musicals:
Annie Get Your Gun
Calamity Jane
Oklahoma!
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Last but not least, there are a couple of TV series about the Wild West available as well in EasiCat. A favorite of my father’s was Bonanza, but I grew up watching Jane Seymour in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
TV Series:
Annie Oakley
Big Valley
Bonanza
Deadwood
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Lone Ranger
Lonesome Dove
Roy Rogers
Wanted: Dead or Alive
If you are interested in seeing a more complete EasiCat listing of the entire western DVD collection, follow this link or go to the EasiCat “Advanced Search” page and type in Western films. If you want to find out more about westerns, Most Wanted Western Movies is a good website to look at. If you are interested in looking into other classic movies, the National Film Registry’s website is also a good resource.
*Image pulled from Google images.
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