A Journey Through the Golden Age of Westerns on Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video offers a rich collection of Western films from the genre’s golden age. The streaming service has an extensive lineup of Westerns across all eras, with the majority coming from the period that produced some of the most iconic Western films ever made.
Prime Video hosts samples from the filmographies of the Western movie genre’s top stars and filmmakers, including John Ford, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck, Ben Johnson, and more. While John Wayne and John Ford may need no introductions, the others were once household names who, over the course of several noteworthy performances, had cemented their statuses as Western legends. Fortunately, some of their most enjoyable contributions to the medium aren’t too hard to find online.
Stagecoach
Stagecoach was far from John Wayne’s first foray into Westerns, but it was the one that paved the way for the actor to essentially become the face of the genre. As the Ringo Kid, “The Duke” made an unforgettable entrance into a story about a small group of people traveling aboard a stagecoach on the long journey from the Arizona Territory to New Mexico.
From the moment the Ringo Kid stops the stagecoach in its path in the early part of the film, John Wayne steals the show and never cedes the spotlight. Despite getting second billing behind Marlene Dietrich, Wayne dominates this early John Ford Western with his commanding screen presence and a handful of great one-liners.
Other than John Wayne’s performance, Stagecoach features one of the best action sequences in the Western genre’s history, which comes toward the end in the form of a stagecoach chase. With Apache warriors falling off their horses and the Ringo Kid leaping from mount to mount while they’re all in motion, Stagecoach’s stunt-work is way ahead of its time.
Red River
A strong candidate for the best John Wayne Western ever made, Red River casts the star opposite Montgomery Clift in a dramatic tale of a man and his adopted son’s struggles with running a cattle ranch during the time of the Civil War.
Red River is a less conventional Western for the actor, who gets a turn at portraying a deeply flawed – yet somehow still likable – individual. Directed by Howard Hawks, the 1948 Western masterpiece brilliantly uses the Civil War backdrop to deliver all sorts of intriguing drama as the two main characters bond, quarrel, and ultimately fight, with Clift actually managing the difficult task of outshining Wayne as an actor here.
That’s not to say that Wayne disappoints in Red River. Rather, Wayne’s nuanced performance as Thomas Dunson was so compelling that it famously inspired his long-time collaborator, John Ford, to re-team with the actor for She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.
One-Eyed Jacks
Hollywood star Marlon Brando only directed one film in his entire career, and that was One-Eyed Jacks, a 1961 Western that paired the actor with Karl Malden. Featuring a memorable supporting role from Western stalwart Ben Johnson, One-Eyed Jacks sees Brando and Malden play a pair of bank robbers who reunite years after a heist-gone-wrong and naturally begin plotting against each other.
Before Marlon Brando became the director, Stanley Kubrick was attached to helm One-Eyed Jacks. As one may expect from a Marlon Brando movie, One-Eyed Jacks’ central protagonist is hardly a traditional Western hero; in fact, both of the movie’s main characters are hardened criminals with loose morals. And yet, One-Eyed Jacks succeeds in making you care about what happens to them.
The Westerner
Released in 1940 and directed by William Wyler, The Westerner stars Gary Cooper as a gunslinger who finds himself in a town run by an obviously corrupt judge who twists the law to suit his own whims. Cooper’s character initially tries to work with the judge, but multiple injustices ultimately pit them against each other.
Like many great Gary Cooper Westerns, The Westerner effectively utilizes the actor’s talent for playing good-natured cowboys. However, it’s not necessarily Cooper that makes The Westerner such a great Western; the true highlight of the movie is Walter Brennan’s take on Roy Bean, who existed in real life.
Roy Bean is drastically different from the standard Western villain, in that he isn’t a gunslinger or someone who can match up physically with Gary Cooper’s hero. Instead, The Westerner leans heavily on Walter Brennan’s skillset as a character actor to create a fictionalized interpretation of Roy Bean that’s still rooted in what’s known about the actual judge.
Roy Bean’s alleged infatuation with English stage actress Lily Langtry is made a key facet of Walter Brennan’s character – and arguably, his biggest weakness. The movie has fun with this, in, and in turn, sets up an unusual battle between good and evil that plays out over the course of The Westerner’s story.
The Big Country
Another William Wyler-directed Western that can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video is The Big Country, which comprises an all-star cast that includes major names like Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Jean Simmons, Burl Ives and Chuck Connors of Rifleman fame.
The 1959 Western is a fish-out-of-water story about a city man who undergoes a bit of culture shock when he moves West, winds up in a love triangle, and becomes embroiled in a feud between rival ranchers.
William Wyler built a reputation on sweeping epics and grand dramas, and that talent is on full display in The Big Country, a film that spans nearly three hours and is appropriately titled, given how its style of cinematography beautifully showcases the landscapes of the West.
Beyond its breathtaking scenery and amazing cast, there’s a lot to appreciate about The Big Country, from the intense fist fight between Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck’s characters to the old-fashioned duel at the end.
All these things make The Big Country an entertaining Western, but its greatest strength – from start to finish – is its lead character. Unlike many of the legendary Westerns, The Big Country didn’t need to layer Jim McKay with flaws or turn him into an anti-hero to make him interesting, as it’s his good qualities and moral code that made him such an excellent character.
The Big Country demonstrates the contrast between McKay and most Western heroes by having him turn down a challenge to a fight, which leads to accusations of cowardice, a storyline not often seen in Westerns. But it works to the film’s benefit, with The Big Country using it to flesh out his character and offer the viewer a deeper understanding of how he thinks.
