John Ford's Most Spellbinding Westerns
Oscar winning director, writer and producer, John Ford, might be best known for his prestige westerns.
Which one of his westerns would you consider to be your favorite?
After voting, you may discuss the list here.
Which one of his westerns would you consider to be your favorite?
After voting, you may discuss the list here.
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26 titles
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJames StewartJohn WayneVera MilesA senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaLinda DarnellVictor MatureAfter their cattle are stolen and their brother murdered, the Earp brothers have a score to settle with the Clanton family.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneHenry FondaShirley TempleAt Fort Apache, an honorable and veteran war captain finds conflict when his regime is placed under the command of a young, glory hungry lieutenant colonel with no respect for the local Indian tribe.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsGeorge O'BrienOlive BordenLou TellegenThree outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJeffrey HunterWoody StrodeConstance TowersRespected Black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing a white woman and murdering her father, his superior officer.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJoanne DruJohn AgarCaptain Nathan Brittles, on the eve of retirement, takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsGeorge O'BrienMadge BellamyCharles Edward BullAfter witnessing the murder of his father by a renegade as a boy, the grown-up Brandon helps to realize his father's dream of a transcontinental railway.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneMaureen O'HaraBen JohnsonA cavalry officer posted on the Rio Grande is confronted with murderous raiding Apaches, a son who's a risk-taking recruit and his wife from whom he has been separated for many years.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsBen JohnsonJoanne DruHarry Carey Jr.Two young drifters guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter cutthroats, Indians, geography, and moral challenges on the journey.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneWilliam HoldenConstance TowersIn 1863, a Union outfit is sent behind Confederate lines in Mississippi to destroy enemy railroads but a captive southern belle and the unit's doctor cause frictions within ranks.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WaynePedro ArmendárizHarry Carey Jr.Three outlaws on the run risk their freedom and their lives to return a newborn to civilization.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsClaudette ColbertHenry FondaEdna May OliverNewlyweds Gil and Lana Martin try to establish a farm in the Mohawk Valley but are menaced by Indians and Tories as the Revolutionary War begins.
- DirectorJohn FordHenry HathawayGeorge MarshallStarsJames StewartJohn WayneGregory PeckA family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the 19th century, including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJames StewartRichard WidmarkShirley JonesA corrupt marshal is pressured by his army friend into negotiating the release of white captives of the Comanches, but finds that their reintegration into society has its consequences.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsRichard WidmarkCarroll BakerKarl MaldenThe Cheyenne, tired of broken U.S. government promises, head for their ancestral lands but a sympathetic cavalry officer is tasked to bring them back to their reservation.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsBuck JonesHelen FergusonGeorgie StoneSmall-town tramp befriends runaway boy.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHarry CareyDuke R. LeeGeorge BerrellCattleman Flint cuts off farmer Sims' water supply. When Sims' son Ted goes for water, one of Flint's men kills him. Cheyenne is sent to finish off Sims, but finding the family at the newly dug grave, he changes sides.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHarry CareyDuke R. LeeNeva GerberA cowboy must save his girlfriend from captivity and then cross the desert on foot with a single waterhole on the way.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHarry CareyMolly MaloneHarry L. RattenberryA mother is convinced her son is a ranch owner when in fact he is an outlaw, and she just saves him from hanging.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHarry CareyMolly MaloneL.M. WellsA ranch foreman battles a rich stockbroker for the affections of a beautiful young woman.
- DirectorFred KelseyStarsHarry CareyClaire Du BreyGeorge WebbOn their way to Panama "Red" Saunders, a youth, meets Mary Smith and Arthur Saxon They become friends and he learns Mary is on her way to do missionary work with a Mr. Belknap. Arthur and Mary quarrel frequently and Mary tells him though she loves him, he must prove himself to be a man. Arthur loathes Belknap and denounces him, but Mary is loyal At the dock Jim, a rancher, asks the captain for a husky white man who can be trusted. The captain recommends Red. Through his grit Red wins out. Thrown from his horse, he is hurled into the lap of Orinez, a little fat Spaniard, head of the Government party and the ablest man in Panama. Red saves him from three bandits one night and the two men become good friends. Red goes to see Mary, who demands that he never speak to Arthur. Red goes to the store of Perez where Arthur is working, and finds him in a deplorable condition. Arthur tells him why he has been drinking hard. From the time they were children he and Mary had been sweethearts. They met Belknap, and Mary became interested in missionary work. One night he had been accosted by a woman who fainted in his arms. He carried her to the store, fed her and then takes her to his room to rest, after which he left. Belknap hastened to tell Mary. When Arthur next saw her she told him that his presence was an insult. Red goes with Perez to his home. Orinez rushes into the room and tells them he had seen Belknap meet Zampeto, the leader of the revolution, and heard him promise to make the converts join the revolution, if Zampeto would endow his mission. Red hears the revolutionists on their way to the ranch, so with the help of three men he barricades the store and hurls cans of tomatoes at the crowd, but is wounded severely by the time a troop of soldiers come to their rescue. Orinez, Perez and Jim arrange to trap the revolutionists that night. When Red finds out about their plans, in spite of his helpless arm, he joins Arthur and the other men, fires at Arthur, wounds him in the arm, and states he wants to tell Mary he is wounded and he couldn't tell a lie to her. The revolutionists are caught and Red with Orinez and Perez goes to the mission. Belknap enters and lunges at Red with a knife, but Red thrusts his revolver in his face and gives Belknap an hour to make his escape. Mary rushes into the room. He tells her Arthur is wounded. She demands to be taken to him. When Belknap tries to follow them, Perez and Orinez remind him he has only an hour. Though Mary refuses to listen Red insists upon telling her the whole story. They hurry to the hut. Arthur puts his good arm about her as she throws her arms about his neck. Red turns away and goes alone toward the town.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHarry CareyJ. Barney SherryKathleen O'Connor"Cheyenne Harry", owner of the biggest cattle ranch in his corner of the West, is having trouble with John Merritt, a land-grabbing Chicago meat-packer. By some artifice of shrewd legal aid, Merritt manages to seize Harry's ranch under a bogus writ of foreclosure. Failing to get justice by his many letters to Merritt, "Cheyenne Harry" goes East and calls at the millionaire's mansion. At first, Merritt refuses to see him. Then, to cause amusement for his daughter Helen and her guests, he invites the "uncouth" Westerner into his dining hall. He is sure that he will make some grave error in table deportment and afford them all a laugh. To the amazement of Merrit and the guests Harry's table manners are faultless. Then, to trick him into an embarrassing position, Merritt eats with his knife. Harry, realizing that it is proper for the guest to follow the example of the host, does likewise. He leaves the house chagrined but more determined than ever to get justice from Merritt.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsBuck JonesBarbara BedfordJack CurtisWhile preparing to enter a theological seminary, Buck aids his brother and some friends who are fleeing from justice, and thus implicated he is sent to prison for two years, where he meets again Hope Standish, a Salvation Army girl who had interested him. Returning home, he meets the old district circuit rider and promises to continue the circuit rider's work when he dies. The brother escapes from prison and is converted by Buck, who falls in love with Hope.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHarry CareyMolly MaloneVester PeggA man declined admission to fight in the American Civil War joins a gang of marauders and winds up as a fugitive.