"Consider: Victorian England: 1837-1901 American Old West: 1803-1912 Meiji Restoration: 1868-1912 French privateering in the Gulf of Mexico: ended circa 1830
Conclusion: an adventuring party consisting of a Victorian gentleman thief, an Old West gunslinger, a disgraced former samurai, and an elderly French pirate is actually 100% historically plausible."
This was very surprising after having seen a few Western movies from the 1940s. They were already making movies about the period which was in living memory for a lot of people.
If you want to see a great (if also absurdly violent and bloody) Western about the dying days of the wild west, check out Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969). Excellent movie, set in 1913.
Another really great, and highly underrated film about the end of the Old West, is The Shootist.
It’s John Wayne’s last movie, and it serves as a metaphor for his acting career. He plays a legendary, but aging, dying gunfighter who is determined to go down shooting, and other gunfighters come to town to test him. It also features late performances by Lauren Bacall and Jimmy Stewart, and an early film performance by Ron Howard.
A truly great, quiet film, that most people have never heard of.
I’m not a big fan either (a few exceptions), but this is definitely his best performance. He’s The Duke all the way, but it is a character that he nearly invented, so he’s perfect in it.
"Consider: Victorian England: 1837-1901 American Old West: 1803-1912 Meiji Restoration: 1868-1912 French privateering in the Gulf of Mexico: ended circa 1830
Conclusion: an adventuring party consisting of a Victorian gentleman thief, an Old West gunslinger, a disgraced former samurai, and an elderly French pirate is actually 100% historically plausible."
I had no idea it was that young.
This lead me to this fun fact: The last stage coach robbery was 2 years after WWI began.
WWI began 1914
Last stage coach robbery was 1916
Also, Titanic had already been sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic for 4 years (1912) when that stage coach was robbed.
This was very surprising after having seen a few Western movies from the 1940s. They were already making movies about the period which was in living memory for a lot of people.
Wyatt Earp was an adviser on early silent westerns
Oh yeah it involved trains and was interrupted by the civil war
If you want to see a great (if also absurdly violent and bloody) Western about the dying days of the wild west, check out Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969). Excellent movie, set in 1913.
Another really great, and highly underrated film about the end of the Old West, is The Shootist.
It’s John Wayne’s last movie, and it serves as a metaphor for his acting career. He plays a legendary, but aging, dying gunfighter who is determined to go down shooting, and other gunfighters come to town to test him. It also features late performances by Lauren Bacall and Jimmy Stewart, and an early film performance by Ron Howard.
A truly great, quiet film, that most people have never heard of.
I’ll need to check that out - have heard of it, but never seen it. Not usually a fan of John Wayne, but it sounds a good premise. Thanks! 👍
I’m not a big fan either (a few exceptions), but this is definitely his best performance. He’s The Duke all the way, but it is a character that he nearly invented, so he’s perfect in it.
Fffffff, that’s like a movie set in 1974 released today.