"The single GREATEST Western movie of all time"

It's only a little over a week away from the Iowa caucuses yet I still can't get into doing a DUFU about politics just yet. Perhaps its because there are a plethora of DUmmieland threads microanalyzing the latest meaningless polls. Don't worry, there will SOON be lots of juicy political threads to choose from but for today we shall DUFU this entirely non-political THREAD titled, "The single GREATEST Western movie of all time." These DUmmie Lounge threads can be very useful when trying to build up your count number as a LOUSY FREEPER TROLL! You can pretty safely post your comments without giving yourself away as you might be tempted to do on the political threads. So let us now watch the DUmmies cast their votes for the GREATEST Western movie of all time in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, planning on voting for "The Searchers" but is open to other suggestions, is in the [brackets]:

Poll question: The single GREATEST Western movie of all time

[Can I vote for "The Searchers" at my caucus meeting next week?]

I own 35 classic Westerns on DVD, and this poll allows me to post 9 plus "other." So these are the nine personal favorites from my collection...the "repeaters," the ones I will NEVER get sick of watching.

If I missed yours, that's why there's an "Other" category.

My personal favorite out of that nine? "Tombstone," because I feel that there are more than a few life lessons in that movie (not to mention career-best performances from Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer).

["Tombstone" was so good that it pretty much killed "Wyatt Earp" starring Kevin Costner which came out about the same time.]

My dad would argue for Shane. I like that one, personally.

[Great book too. However, they should have had Ben Johnson, who played the part of Chris in the movie, in the lead role as Shane. And what was with that sissy Palomino that Shane was riding?]

Tombstone was great but... I'll vote fore any Western movies done by Sergio Leone.

[Stylistic Spaghetti Westerns with overlong dueling showdown sequences accompanied by operatic type music are entertaining but how realistic are they? In fact dueling showdowns as portrayed in the movies were quite rare in the Old West. Wild Bill Hickock was involved in such a showdown in Missouri where he shot an opponent at a great distance but I don't think there were any or many others.]

Hoppy Takes a Holiday or any Hopalong Cassidy movie.

[Too intellectual for my taste.]

I'd say the "greatest" is a three-way tie between "High Noon," The Searchers" and "Good, Bad & Ugly." I would choose "The Searchers" based on the cinematography - that one shot of the two parallel lines, one cowboys and one Indians, pretty much seals the deal.

[My fave scene was the closup of the Duke's horrified face when he sees the two crazed female captives of the Indians. You just knew he had to kill Natalie Wood after that.]

Rio Bravo. Nothing says, "Western," like Dean Martin AND Ricky Nelson.

[Authentic urban cowboys. BTW, Frankie Avalon ruined "The Alamo" for me. He portrayed Tennessee frontiersman Smitty but all I saw was Frankie Avalon of South Philly.]

I also voted for "High Noon." Those emotions that cross like ghosts on Gary Cooper's face as he is walking down the street to confront evil - alone. That is one of the most remarkable film moments I've ever seen.

[All I could think about in that movie was that Grace Kelly was just a few years away from marrying the short chubby Prince of Monaco.]

No love for Kevin Costner in Open Range?

[Nope! I didn't like that flick.]

Red River.

[I liked the scene at the opening of the cattle drive when everybody was yelling, "YEEHAW!" However, I found it disturbing when John Ireland and Montgomery Clift compared and handled each others guns. Way too gay for me.]

It's no joke, Tuco, it's a rope. Now I want you to put your head in that noose.

[Hey, Blondie......you know what you are? Just a dirty son of a...!]

Tombstone is not just my favorite Western; it is one of my favorite movies, period. Great, great film.

[Also the most authentic looking Western costumes I've ever seen in a movie. If you look at photos of the Old West they closely match what was seen in "Tombstone." My biggest beef about these flicks is when they have some chick dressed in jeans. That NEVER happened in the Old West.]

Stagecoach

[The great thing about that flick is you can watch it from the perspective of the different characters and you will see a different movie. I have watched it from the POV of Doc, the prostitute, and, of course, the Ringo Kid and each time I saw a different movie.]

Liberty Valance is my favorite too. It always makes me hungry for steak

[Tell me about it! Those HUGE slabs of steak served up on the plates always gets me hungry for a nice sizzling T-bone or sirloin.]

DEADWOOD! Nothing beats Deadwood!

[I hated Deadwood. I found it depressing plus it was almost impossible to follow the dialogue.]

"Clementine" has it all a chick named Chihuahua, Walter Brennan playing a villain, Henry Fonda dancing, and a totally random Shakespeare recital.

[The John Ford touch.]

"Red River," With "The Wild Bunch" A Close Runner-up......

["The Wild Bunch" got a lot of bad press when it first came out. Critics focused on the violence but missed the fact that this movie was a classic. BTW, the Old West sort of extended past its time in America to Mexico. The Old West in the USA ended about 1890 but lasted in Mexico until about 1920 due to the fact they were technologically behind down there and also because of all the chaos caused by Pancho Villa and the other revolutionaries. The last U.S. Army cavalry charge took place in Mexico in 1916 when General Black Jack Pershing led an expedition down there to find Pancho Villa after his raid on Columbus, NM.]

Paint Your Wagon

[I'm a big Clint Eastwood fan but I don't buy him as a singer.]

"Four for Texas" by a landslide.

[Too bad the real Old West prostitutes didn't look a fraction as good as Ursula Andress or Anita Ekberg but the Three Stooges sequence was fun.]