The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Open Range (2003), The Westerner (1940), Bend of the River (1952), Boom Town (1940), Firecreek (1968), Frontier Marshal (1939), Tension at Table Rock (1956) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Small Western Town movies.
Storyline: When Senator Ransom Stoddard returns home to Shinbone for the funeral of Tom Doniphon, he recounts to a local newspaper editor the story behind it all. He had come to town many years before, a lawyer by profession. The stage was robbed on its way in by the local ruffian, Liberty Valance, and Stoddard has nothing to his name left save a few law books. He gets a job in the kitchen at the Ericson's restaurant and there meets his future wife, Hallie. The territory is vying for Statehood and Stoddard is selected as a representative over Valance, who continues terrorizing the town. When he destroys the local newspaper office and attacks the editor, Stoddard calls him out, though the conclusion is not quite as straightforward as legend would have it.
Plot Keywords: friend, showdown, pistol, stagecoach, outlaw, funeral, lantern ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Boss Spearman, Charley Waite, Mose Harrison and Button freegraze their cattle across the vast prairies of the West, sharing a friendship forged by a steadfast code of honor and living a life unencumbered by civilization. When their wayward herd forces them near the small town of Harmonville, the cowboys encounter a corrupt sheriff and kingpin rancher who govern the territory through fear, tyranny and violence. Boss and Charley find themselves inextricably drawn towards an inevitable showdown, as they are forced to defend the freedom and values of a lifestyle that is all too quickly vanishing. Amidst the turmoil, life suddenly takes an unexpected turn for the loner Charley when he meets the beautiful and warm spirited Sue Barlow, a woman who embraces both his heart and his soul.
Plot Keywords: rifle, directed by star, prayer, coward, frontier town, cigar smoking, hired gun ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Cole Harden just doesn't look like a horse thief, Jane-Ellen Matthews tells Judge Roy Bean as she steps up to the bar. Cole says he can't take it with him as he empties all of his coins on the bar to buy drinks for the jury. He notices two big pictures of Lily Langtry behind the bar. Sure, Cole has met the Jersey Lily, whom the hanging judge adores, even has a lock of her hair. Hanging is delayed for two weeks, giving Cole time to get in the middle of a range war between cattlemen and homesteaders and to still be around when Lily Langtry, former mistress of Edward VII who became an international actress, arrives in Texas.—Dale O'Connor <daleoc@interaccess.com>
Plot Keywords: opening action scene, fast draw, gunshot wound, fistfight, brawl, saved from hanging, colt 45 ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Two men with questionable pasts, Glyn McLyntock and his friend Cole, lead a wagon-train load of homesteaders from Missouri to the Oregon territory. They establish a settlement outside of Portland and as winter nears, it is necessary for McLyntock and Cole to rescue and deliver food and supplies being held in Portland by corrupt officials. On the trip back to the settlement, up river and over a mountain, Cole engineers a mutiny to divert the supplies to a gold mining camp for a handsome profit.—Herman Seifer <alagain@aol.com>
Plot Keywords: gunfight, western hero, hero, saved from hanging, love triangle, knife, male female relationship ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Buddies Big John McMasters and Square John Sand are fast-talking, wisecracking wildcatters who manage to con enough equipment and capital to develop their own oil fields, but their friendship is put to the test when Big John inadvertently falls in love with Elizabeth, Square John's longtime girlfriend. Eventually their friendship and partnership comes to an end on the flip of a coin. Years later, when Big John's interest in the beautiful Karen Vanmeer threatens his marriage too, Square John intervenes in an effort to save the marriage of his former friend - even if it means ruining him financially.—G. Taverney (duke1029@aol.com)
Plot Keywords: oil, kiss, toy gun, double barreled shotgun, fistfight, six shooter, revolver ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Farmer and family man Johnny Cobb moonlights as a two dollar a month Sheriff with a homemade badge in the quiet little town of Firecreek. When a gang of freebooters passes through, their leader Larkin, who is suffering from a minor wound, agrees to spend the night. The gang members prove to be vicious, sadistic sociopaths who take advantage of the frightened townspeople, humiliating them for their own perverse amusement. Although Larkin disapproves of their behavior, his leadership role is tenuous, and he is reluctant to test it by exercising control over his men. The mild-mannered Cobb faces a series of challenges from the gang's antisocial behavior. Things come to a head when Meli, an Indian woman with a mixed race child, incurs an attempted sexual attack by one of gang. Arthur, a simpleton stable boy, comes to her aid and accidentally kills the attacker. Cobb locks up Arthur to keep him safe, but when the Sheriff leaves town to visit his wife, who is struggling in labor, there is no one to control the gang. Cobb decides the time has come to act.—duke1029
Plot Keywords: prison, preacher, pitchfork, native american, midwife, mental retardation, lynching ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Early low budget version of the famous Gunfight at OK Corral with Scott as Wyatt Earp and Romero as Doc Holiday. Remade by John Ford as "My Darling Clementine" in 1946 and by John Sturges as "Gunfight at OK Corral" in 1957—<jbsports@li.net>
Plot Keywords: revolver, western town, historic figure, surgery, stagecoach, sheriff, saloon ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A reluctant gunslinger tires of having to defend himself at every cow town he visits, so he adopts an alias and continues his wandering. At an outpost run by a father and young son, he gets involved with a robbery in progress, and agrees to take the son to the boy's uncle, a sheriff in Table Rock, for his safety. Once there he finds the town gearing up for the arrival of a cattle drive and the unruly cowboys. He strives to remain uninvolved as the sheriff tries to get his help with the cowboys, but the sheriff nurses bad memories from an earlier incident that may threaten his effectiveness.—Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>
Plot Keywords: shot in the back, small western town, murder of father, six gun, quick draw, wild west, small town ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: The vicious Hayes clan amble into town on the day Judge Jim Scott is expected to sentence murderer Rudy Hayes to hang. Scott, who doesn't wear a gun, seems unconcerned and businesslike, even when Charlie Hayes makes an explicit death threat against him. But the townsfolk start wondering how much bloodshed one hanging is worth. Complicating factor: the sheriff, Scott's chief ally, is also the secret lover of Scott's fiancee Myra...—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: death threat, romantic triangle, unfaithful girlfriend, cousin cousin relationship, small town sheriff, small western town, fiance fiancee relationship ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Playing against type, Dean Martin is an ex-lawman who has decided to illegally profit from his abilities. He now owns most of the town of Jericho, and has hired a band of gunmen to enforce his edicts. Outside of town, Martin ambushes a stagecoach that is carrying a passenger, ex-deputy George Peppard. From a hidden spot in the brush, Martin shoots up the coach and rides away. Arriving in town, Peppard meets Jean Simmons who has refused Martin's attempts to take over operation of her stage line. After a few days, Peppard becomes attracted to Simmons, but he sees that the odds against them are too great, and is on the verge of leaving town. But, after Martin sends his men to intimidate Simmons and one and physically roughs up Simmons, Peppard steps in. Peppers organizes the few men in town who are willing to put up a fight, and attacks enterprises that are owned by Martin. Finally, in a showdown, Martin and Peppard battle it out, ironically in the same spot that Martin originally ambushed the stagecoach.—WILLIAM L TRAVIS
Plot Keywords: bomb, gambler, knife, violence, male female relationship, brunette, long brown hair ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Jake Remy leads a gang of outlaw cutthroats making their escape toward Mexico from a successful robbery. Barring their way is a river--crossable only by means of a ferry barge. The barge operator, Travis, refuses to be bullied into providing transport for the gang and escapes across river with most of the local populace--leaving Remy and his gang behind, desperately seeking a way across. A river-wide stand-off begins between the gang and the townspeople, both groups of which have left people on the wrong side of the river.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
Plot Keywords: sonora mexico, pistol, winchester rifle, flintlock rifle, carbine, musket, boat ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: The Liberal Kansas area is in trouble. The town is without a Marshal and the nearby farmers are unable to grow crops due to the summer drought and trail riders that run cattle over their land. Bat Masterson arrives to bring law and order and his Deputy accidently finds a variety of wheat that will withstand the drought. But the farmers are giving up and leaving and Bat must convince tham to stay. He wants them to continue farming and also help round up the local gang of outlaws.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: based on book, dancehall girl, mayor, jail, saloon, cattleman, jealousy ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: When a Midwest town learns that a corrupt railroad baron has captured the deeds to their homesteads without their knowledge, a group of young ranchers join forces to take back what is rightfully theirs. In the course of their vendetta, they will become the object of the biggest manhunt in the history of the Old West and, as their fame grows, so will the legend of their leader, a young outlaw by the name of Jesse James.
Plot Keywords: rifle, rain, prostitute, prologue, prison, native american, riverboat ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: After his father is killed, John Mason is willing to turn the world inside out to find the man responsible. What he doesn't know is the killer might be in his own house.
Plot Keywords: theft, slow motion scene, jealousy, apology, cigar smoking, dynamite, explosion ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: After Roy King's gang robs a train, the men split the loot and part ways. Unfortunately for Roy, he meets and falls in-love with beautiful temptress Alicia who agrees to marry him. However, she manages to double-cross Roy and run away with his loot. Roy escapes from his predicament and re-unites with his gang. At the Mexican border, Roy catches-up with Alicia who married yet another man, river-boat casino owner Francisco Montero. Roy is hungry for Alicia, for money and for revenge. Alicia convinces Roy and Montero to join forces and follow her into Mexico where a Revolutionary leader is offering one million dollars to any mercenary who can destroy a federal Mexican Army arsenal. Of course, Roy and Montero agree with Alicia's plan. They all head to Mexico, willing to risk their lives for one million dollars. Once arrived at their destination, the unlikely partners find that the Revolutionary leader is a bit loco and the task more difficult than imagined. The million dollar reward is real alright but crosses and double-crosses ensue.—nufs68
Plot Keywords: wild west, mexican revolution, bank robbery, black comedy, spaghetti western, river battle, cowboys and outlaws ...
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