Wattup western-fans,
You’re reading the 3rd entry in Project: 100 Westerns. I’m angling to watch 100 Westerns in 2025.
As a reminder, I’m picking these movies with no criteria in mind. Just whatever seems Western enough. I’m always up for suggestions, especially if they’re unheralded or plain weird!
#8. God Forgives…I Don’t! (1969)
People mill about on a sunny train platform, speaking in excited voices and offering friendly gestures. A train pulls to the busy station. Onboard are corpses, a bloody heap of dead passengers. One man jostles himself back to consciousness and skitters off into the hills over a cacophony of screams.
That’s how God Forgives…I Don’t! opens. A surreal and ugly scene setting the foundation for a series of plot mysteries and subsequent violence. Don’t think too hard on if or how the conductor is still alive (as the train did stop at a station, I’ll assume that was not automated back in the 1800s), just immerse yourself in the Spaghetti Western goodness.
The first of eighteen films co-starring Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer, this tale of debauchery and crime won’t blow your hair back, but does just enough to keep you engaged throughout. It’s the typical Italian Western, the good guys are cool and gaudy, the villains gross and unpredictable. While the picture quality is a little bit rough, the competent direction by Giuseppe Colizzi gives the endeavor enough spine to hold it upright.
The story has some intrigue. It starts with a slow-boiling poker game that bubbles over into a peculiar gun duel between Hill’s lead character, Cat Stevens (oh baby, it’s a wild world!), and prime antagonist Bill San Antonio (Frank Wolff). The two men are acquainted and even supposedly a touch friendly, but Bill is adamant they should duel in a burning building and instructs his men to let Cat, also referred to as “Pretty Face”, go without harm if he wins. After some hijinks regarding stolen treasure, Cat is told by another former gang partner, “Jackass” (Spencer), that Bill is likely alive and the mastermind behind the train massacre/robbery from the opening scene.
No one particularly likable possesses much screen time in this film. It’s bandit-on-bandit violence, and we sort of root for the intense-eyed Pretty Face through obligation. He’s a smug guy, played with a little too much bravado by Hill (who won the role the day before filming), but tonally the movie makes that work. I think this was supposed to be a little bit of a comedy, too.
The movie is just good enough that I’m actually interested in its follow-ups: Ace High and Boot Hill, which conveniently aren’t available on the streaming platform I used to watch God Forgives…I Don’t! You gotta love our new media landscape.
#9. The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson (2021)
I needed a small break from the Westerns of yore and sought something a little more contemporary. After some perusing, I landed on this Australian Western released in 2021.
(A short aside but has anyone noticed how many low budget Westerns have been made in the last few years? They’re all over the streaming apps. Someone’s chasing that Yellowstone money!)
I came away deeply impressed by this cleanly shot movie adapted from a 130 year old short story by Harry Lawson. It follows Molly Johnson (Leah Purcell), a woman living in the Snowy Mountains with her children, as she deals with new visitors and the threat they bring to her family. She’s a hard woman made by hard times, and through her actions the plot unfolds in intriguing ways.
I totally get it if you don’t consider Australian-set movies to be a traditional Western. I recently wrote about what I consider to be firmly inside the genre and what sits on its outer edge, and I can appreciate placing this type of story outside the “actual Western” category, but man, this has all the trappings of a standard Old West tale. Rugged landscapes, nascent civilization, earnest lawmen, widespread savagery, native struggles; you could easily swap out American people, places and lingo and it would feel right at home in settings like Texas, Montana or Oregon.
The film mostly concerns itself with the hardships of women in the 19th century and their continuous fight for justice in a time when justice is only starting to be a concept evenly applied. It’s not a happy story, by any means, but certainly an undertold one. The family history of Molly and her relationship with the land and its people is poignant. The themes and messages embedded in the plot don’t hit you over the head too hard, but definitely make sure you know what’s what by the end.
Leah Purcell, also the writer and director, is very good in The Drover’s Wife, demonstrating steely resolve as Molly. She rarely opens up or even emotes, but her determination to protect her pack is apparent in every stern line and gun blast. Aborigine outlaw Yadaka (Rob Collins), provides an incredible counterbalance to her, offering bits of reflective positivity and crucial context to her tale, and the local sergeant (Sam Reid) and his wife (Jessica Elise De Gouw) round out the cast nicely.
Mostly though, I have to give kudos to Purcell for shooting a really pretty flick, particularly the slow exposure shots of the sky and celestial bodies. It really is a complete product, and I think it is worth a watch if you’re like me and enjoy a modern look at the olden days.
I also got to learn the term “sparrow’s fart”, which is neat!
#10. Hidalgo (2004)
“Underrated” is a tough word to apply.
“Underrated to whom?” is the follow-up question. With the modern media landscape, it’s uncommon for a piece of recent art to go underseen or undervalued. There’s a fan group for just about anything, and most artistic efforts are met with at least a little fanfare. “Underrated” is subjective, for the most part.
So I ask, how the hell does Hidalgo only have a 46% rating on Rotten Tomatoes??
I first saw this movie about 15-20 years ago when I was just getting into the Western genre. Viggo Mortensen as a cowboy in an exotic locale? Sign me up. I remember thinking then it was a fabulous film – high adventure, interesting characters, gorgeous settings and a plot with enough turns to keep you on your toes throughout. In so many ways, it seemed to be a complete work.
Since then, I’ve rarely, if ever, seen this movie suggested, heralded or even mentioned. When I fired it up last week, I was halfway expecting it to not hold up to the modern eye. Its ambition in regards to story and subject matter, a tale of culture shock and identity, seemed ready to step in quicksand. I thought it likely that this movie aged like camel’s milk. From attitudes to tech, a lot has changed in twenty years.
Let me say then: Hidalgo fucking slaps.
The story follows Frank Hopkins (Mortensen), a Wild West show performer and accomplished longrider, as he and his horse Hidalgo are whisked across the world to compete in a race across Saudi Arabia’s “Ocean of Fire”. Frank is reluctant to participate, but the promise of a huge payday compels the generally listless and dejected man to give it a shot, despite Hidalgo’s age and decline as a racer.
Director Joe Johnston has an impressive track record of helming films with spectacle and action. I would hold up the quality of Hidalgo to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer or the first (MCU) Captain America movie. The tonal pitch of these all hit the sweet spot of danger, humor and poignancy in a way that appeals to wide audiences, and Hidalgo might have the most to say. Frank Hopkins is a talented man, and his skills put him in peril and helps him escape as well. His rustic sensibilities clash with the haughty hierarchy of the Arab world, but the humanity we all share is demonstrated, too. This movie does an amazing job of keeping the antagonism hidden and shifting, many elements seem pitted against Frank, and it takes several story beats to discern where his allies lie, and what they offer.
It’s curious that this movie is not more popular or known. Some of that I think is from the atmosphere around its debut. In the opening we’re told: “Based on the life of Frank T. Hopkins” and Disney marketed this as a true story. Upon scrutiny, it is likely that much of the story is exaggerated, and many claims the real life Hopkins made about his exploits seem dubious. Additionally, consider the year this debuted. There was a clear shift in attitude toward the Arab world during this time, and that likely had a chilling effect when it comes to Western (both the Old West and Western society) moviegoers. I think these two factors hurt the perception of this movie, even now.
I was half-expecting a clunky story full of dated stereotypes and techniques, rather I found a thoughtful, inspired script executed by a seasoned filmmaker and stocked with a talented cast, all the way down to the beast that plays the titular horse. I love the pink/orange wide shots of the desert, the hostile environment and creeping savagery of the setting. One of my fave Westerns of the modern age, and maybe one of the best horse-centric films ever made. Truly underrated.
#11. Robbers’ Roost (1955)
First off, don’t read the description of this movie, it gives away part of the end!
Robbers’ Roost, starring George Montgomery and Richard Boone, is the second attempt at adapting a Zane Grey novel of the same name. It’s decidedly Good, but the opening and closing are both clunky/choppy in a way that bars it from regions of Great.
Our hero is an apparent wanderer named “Tex” (Montgomery) who is offered a job by Hays (Boone), a local rustler, to join his gang and work as ranch hands for “Bull” Herrick (Bruce Bennett), a disabled man with about 6000 head of cattle. When Tex, Hays and the rest show up to the ranch, they discover their rival gang, led by Heesman (Peter Graves), is there too, employed by Herrick to do the same job of projecting the herd. Apparently, Herrick believes the two groups will watch each other and cancel out the tomfoolery.
Now, this doesn’t seem too intelligent to me, but hey, that’s the plot opener. Herrick does seem like a desperate man, so his attempt at employing criminals may make sense in that context.
Things complicate when his sister Helen (Sylvia Findley) comes to town to convince him to sell the property and get medical treatment for his spinal injury. Her presence stirs drama at the ranch, several men lust for her and others leap to protect her honor. Tex, a self-described “woman-hater”, is assigned to chaperone Helen, and they form a bond that borders on romantic. Naturally, Hays and Heesman plot to betray Herrick and steal the cattle and in the fray, Helen is also abducted, which pushes Tex into reluctant hero mode.
If you can get past the disjointed choreography of the final showdown, Robbers’ Roost is an astute and flavorful Western. The performances carry it most of the way. Montgomery is a convincing justice-seeker type, and Boone is masterful as the smiley rogue.
Part Three of Project: One Hundred Westerns is complete, it’s sorta a struggle to actually fire these movies up (there is so much to watch these days!) but it’s almost always an enlightening experience when I do.
Be sure to check in March 3rd, 2025 for our newest short comic.
Westward!
~Jamil