My top 10 list would be pretty familiar, so I am working on my top 20. These 5 would be in there for sure. Plus a bonus for you wonderful people.
THE TIN STAR, 1957
Anthony Perkins & Henry Fonda and one of the BEST bad guys ever (you want to just slap him) Neville Brand! Directed by the Anthony Mann — you are going to see more of him on this list.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051087/
THE TALL T, 1957
As a young man, Randolph Scott personified the classic cowboy hero — handsome, good, uncomplicated — but in his later years he made a bunch of great films with Budd Boetticher that took the Western hero to another level. Two great villains here — Richard Boone in a nuanced role, and Henry Silva as a satisfying psycho. Story by Elmore Leonard!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051047/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
THE DAY OF THE OUTLAW, 1959.
The snow-bound setting is just one of the reversals of the genre in this film. Robert Ryan as the hero and Burl Ives as the villain is another. Anton De Toth is the director! And Philip Yordan wrote this (plus Johnny Guitar!) and another film on this list.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052724/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
THE GUNFIGHTER, 1950.
There’s a well known character in many Westerns — the tired gunfighter who wants to hang up his guns but finds himself trapped by his reputation. This is one of the best!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042531/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, 1955
Anthony Mann directs again. Philip Yordan is again the writer. Like Randolph Scott did with Budd Boetticher in recasting himself as a different kind of Western hero, so did James Stewart in several great films with Anthony Mann. Winchester ’73, Naked Spur, The Far Country (and Man of the West with Gary Cooper) are all awesome, but this is my favorite. Probably because of the bad guys. And how mean Stewart gets when he is angry.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048342/?ref_=nv_sr_1
BONUS
The episode “Time to Kill” of TV series THE TALL MAN, 1960
Clu Gulager!! You can read what I wrote about the series and this brilliant episode here. (FYI, written before I worked with the man. I have even more respect for him now.)
https://stevesomething.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/other-cowboy-stars-clu-gulager-in-the-tall-man/
Thanks for indulging me with this list, Dear Reader.
----------Tim Kirk---------- 