Posted on 01/10/2010 11:19:14 AM PST by JoeProBono
1 The Searchers
This John Ford Western chronicles the efforts of a Confederate veteran (Wayne) to track down the daughter of his murdered brother.
2 Rio Bravo
The Duke and Dean Martin are the pair of old friends at the heart of this Howard Hawks hit, in which the pair tussles with a local lawbreaker.
3 The Quiet Man
Wayne shows his softer side with this drama about the tempestuous affair between an Irish-American expat and an Irish woman.
4 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
In this John Ford Western, Wayne stars as a rancher who pairs up with a law school grad (James Stewart) to take down the bad guy.
5 The Shootist
The actor's last movie ever finds Wayne starring opposite Lauren Bacall and James Stewart as a gunslinger dying of cancer.
6 True Grit
Wayne's Oscar-winning turn as aging sheriff Rooster Cogburn finds him trekking into Indian territory to avenge a man's death.
7 Stagecoach
For Wayne's breakout performance, he plays good-at-heart outlaw Ringo, who wins over a group of lawmen defending an east-bound train.
8 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
This vivid, meditative Western finds Wayne portraying an aging war hero struggling with his impending retirement.
9 Red River
This early Howard Hawks Western stars Wayne as a rancher who battles mutiny among his men as he drives his cattle up the Chisholm Trail.
10 Sands of Iwo Jima
This 1949 war flick finds Wayne starring as John Stryker, a marine sergeant charged with leading his men to war.
Not to the fact that JW starred in some great movies, but that the list be limited to only 10.
Notable omissions: In Harm's Way, The Longest Day, Hellfighters
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How could you leave out “Donovan’s Reef” and “ The Fighting Seebees”
Do you ask for it to be dropped on the floor?
Two of the very best westerns ever made; Red River and The Searchers.
It’s a top ten list - which other ones would you drop for those?
I caught the 3 godfathers on youtube a few months ago. I had not seen that for ages. A really good movie.
LOL...
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List should be a top 50 at least. With that in mind I would include:
Big Jake
Hondo
Chisum
The Undefeated
In Harm's Way
McLintock
Donovan's Reef
The Horse Soldiers
The Alamo
Rio Bravo
The Wings of Eagles
The High and the Mighty
The Flying Leathernecks
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Wake of the Red Witch
Three Godfathers
Fort Apache
Angel and the Badman
They Were Expendable
The Fighting Seabees
Flying Tigers
Stagecoach
It would be impossible to say what is my personal favorite. I just watch them all, every time one is on. The man made a couple of real losers, but his body of work will never be bested. There will never be another like him.
It was made in 1953 and isn’t seen on TV very often, but Hondo deserves some mention in his top 10 IMHO.
Wayne plays Hondo Lane, an Army dispatch rider, who takes a woman (Geraldin Page) and child he finds living alone in the midst of an Apache uprising under his protection. Ultimaely he finds out that her absent husband is a drunken bully that he has killed in self-defense. Apache chief Cochise takes a likeing to the boy an requires him to stay with the woman to take care of the child.
Pretty good acting from all and a differernt plot line story from Louis Lamour.
I don’t know if this is just turned into legend, but it is said that Douglas McArthur upon seeing Yellow Ribbon, claimed if it was not the way it was, it ought to have been.
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