My Favorite Westerns

Tag: James Coburn

  • Sir Sean Connery … Cowboy / Part 2

    “The West was a place where the improbable happened every day.”
    – Louis L’Amour

    I’ve always contended that most Movie Stars want to be in a Western at some point in their career.
    But for many – especially European Actors – such a dream seemed far fetched. Impossible.
    THEN… in the mid 60’s an incredible and unforeseen thing happened:
    The Spaghetti Western.
    Started by Sergio Leone – and spearheaded by Clint Eastwood‘s Star Power.
    the door was flung wide open.    And the rage was on. 
    Wikipedia: “Over six hundred European Westerns were made between 1960 and 1978.”

    Shalako was shot in Almería, Spain.
    This explains a lot about the it’s spectacular Cast.

    Sean Connery (Scottish) as Moses Zebulon ‘Shalako’ Carlin
    Brigitte Bardot (French) as Countess Irina Lazaar
    Jack Hawkins (English) as Sir Charles Daggett
    Stephen Boyd (Irish) as Bosky Fulton
    Peter van Eyck (German) as Baron Frederick von Hallstadt
    Honor Blackman (English) as Lady Julia Daggett
    Woody Strode (American) as Chato
    Eric Sykes (English) as Mako
    Alexander Knox (Canadian) as Sen. Henry Clarke
    Valerie French (English) as Elena Clarke
    Julián Mateos (Spanish) as Rojas
    Don “Red” Barry (American)as Buffalo
    Rodd Redwing (American) as Chato’s Father

    An amazing cross section of Cultural Thespian wannabe Cowboys!

    Dig this:
    Leone wanted to cast James Coburn for A Fistful of Dollars.
    But Coburn was asking $25,000.
    Leone couldn’t afford him!!
    Clint only wanted $15,000.

    The West is history.

    Coburn did later Star in a couple of Spaghetti Westerns:
    – Duck you sucker/Fistfull of Dynamite – (1971)
    and – A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die – (1972)
    Not to mention that he Starred in 2 of the greatest Westerns ever made:
    – The Magnificent Seven (1960)
    and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)

    Not bad at all.

    Coming up … more on this remarkable Cast.

  • The Magnificent 7 Update 2 … project revived ??

    Britt (Coburn): “Nobody throws me my own guns and says run. Nobody.”

    From:

    The Playlist

    ‘Magnificent Seven’ Remake Continues With New Writer, But Loses Tom Cruise

    http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/magnificent-seven-remake-continues-with-new-writer-but-loses-tom-cruise-20131226?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

    BY KEVIN JAGERNAUTH
    DECEMBER 26, 2013 10:00 AM

    MGM are leaving no stone unturned in their catalogue when it comes to remakes. With “Robocop” and “Poltergeist” on the way for 2014, and “Road House,” “Death Wish,” “WarGames,” “The Idolmaker,” “Ben-Hur” and more all in development, the name of game seems to reboots over original material. And that brings us to the classic western “The Magnificent Seven.” In the works for a couple years now, the project gained some serious steam when Tom Cruise put his name to it in 2012, with a writer added over this past summer. But heading into 2014, the redo will need to find another star as a screenplay gets more work.

    The Wrap reports that John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side,” “Saving Mr. Banks”) has been brought in to re-write the first draft of the script by Nic Pizzolatto (“True Detective”). For now, it’s just a writing gig for Hancock who has no plans to direct, but with credits to his name including “The Alamo,” “Snow White & The Huntsman” and next year’s “Maleficent,” he knows his way around spectacle. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise has exited the project mostly because his plate is currently full with about five zillion other movies on the go, so he could probably do with one less.

    So the remake machine continues on this project, and we’ll ask you this: who do you think can direct or star in this movie and at least attempt to do justice to the original?

    __________________________________________________

    My Favorite Westerns: 

    I’ve already posted my own fantasy cast which I will boldly match up against anybody else’s projections.
    Except for Tom Cruise, of course, who has now bailed out. This leaves a VERY large hole – as casting Yul Brynner’s former role was the biggest challenge of them all.

    My Favorite Westerns casting for The Magnificent Seven / Remake:

    Yul Brynner … TOM CRUISE

    Brynner - Cruise

    Steve McQueen … VIGGO MORTENSEN

    Steve McQueen - Viggo Mortenson

    James Coburn … GUY PEARCE

    James Coburn - Guy Pearce

    Charles Bronson … WILLEN DAFOE

    Charles Bronson - Willem Dafoe

    Robert Vaughn … BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH

    Vaughn - Cumberbach

     Brad Dexter … BRENDAN FRASER

    Brad Dexter - Brendan Fraser

    Horst Buchholz … AARON PAUL

    Horst Buchholz - Aaron Paul

    Eli Wallach … ANTONIO BANDERAS

    Eli Wallach - Antonio Banderas

    O’Reilly (Bronson): “I admire your notion of fair odds, mister.”

     

2 responses to “Sir Sean Connery … Cowboy / Part 2”

  1. jcalberta Avatar
    jcalberta

    Woody Strode was popular around here because he played for the Calgary Stampeders football club and was part of the Grey Cup squad in 1948.
    He acted in several Western Classics: Sergeant Rutledge, The Professionals, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Two Rode Together and others. Received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960.
    “600” Westerns? Yeah. It would take quite a while to watch all those. Many were pretty awful though. Truly B quality stuff. Yet … some were so bizarre they were still fun to watch. LoL!

  2. Don Ostertag Avatar
    Don Ostertag

    What a cast in Shalako! All those fine UK actors and one of my American favorites, Woody Strode.
    It is certainly mind boggling to think there was over 600 European movies made in that period.

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