Ten Favorite Westerns Stars: Burt Lancaster continued …

Big Iron / 2020
Colter Wall
written by Marty Robbins

“You sit in your tepee and dream and then you go to wherever the dream may take you. It might come true. You wait for real life to catch up.”
Burt Lancaster

IMDB (Internet Movie Database) says that
Burt Lancaster made 16 Westerns.
That’s wrong.
Desert Fury (1947) ain’t no Western.
Just because a movie is made in Sedona AZ
or somebody is wearing a Cowboy hat
doesn’t make it a Western.

So … let’s say about 15
Burt Lancaster Westerns.

Did you know that?!
(I didn’t.)
But I regard 5 of them to be 
Western Classics.

Here’s my list:

The Gunfight at the OK Corral / 1957
Definitely one of the most
influential Westerns of all time

Vera Cruz / 1954
Lancaster and Cooper
Wa do ya want?

The Professionals / 1966
One of the Top Ten Westerns every made.

The Unforgiven / 1960
One of the most controversial Westerns ever made.
And some said that Hepburn doesn’t look very native.
But it’s Hepburn – so all is Forgiven.

The Rainmaker / 1956
Some say this isn’t a Western.
But it’s got Hepburn. 
So let it rain.

Honorable Mention:

The Kentuckian / 1955

Moving along …

Robert Ryan … Cowboy Noir

     Robert Ryan

Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan

Robert Ryan was already a grizzled veteran of the screen when I was a kid – and I missed most of his earlier work of the 40’s and 50’s. And to me he always seemed to be one of those actors that somehow were never young – even in his early movies – with a presence, stature and persona that moved past his years and youth.

Rugged and somewhat gruff in his portrayals – even his smile was often more like a sardonic smirk – he often played the heavy – a villain. Yet he surely played strong and well along side the likes of:

Gary Cooper (North West Mounted Police / 1940
Rock Hudson (Horizons West / 1952
James Stewart and Janet Leigh (The Naked Spur / 1953
Clark Gable and Jane Russell (The Tall Men / 1955
Burl Ives and Tina Louise (Day of the Outlaw /1959
John Dehner and Torin Thatcher (The Canadians / 1961,
Lancaster, Marvin, Palance
StrodeBellamy and Cardinale (The Professionals / 1966
James Garner and Jason Robards (Hour of the Gun / 1967
Robert Shaw (Custer of the West /1968
Arthur Kennedy (
A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die / 1968
William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson … (The Wild Bunch / 1969
Burt Lancaster, Lee J. Cobb (Lawman / 1971 …
and more …

A heck of an actor. And these are just his Westerns !

But what Westerns they were ! At least 3 easily rising  into the heights of Western Classics: The Wild Bunch, The Professionals, Naked Spur, Hour of the Gun … plus others of worthy note.

A true Western Star.

Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
the professionals ryan
Robert Ryan / The Wild Bunch
Robert Ryan / The Professionals
Robert Ryan / The Professionals
Ryan 'slappin leather' in The Hour of the Gun
Ryan slappin’ leather in The Hour of the Gun
Robert Ryan / The Wild Bunch
Ryan (Center Back) with mostly unidentified cast cohorts of The Wild Bunch 
– except Strother Martin (Back left)
Ryan - The Naked
Ryan – The Naked Gun

Ride on Robert …

The Professionals cast … Woody Strode Westerns Poster Filmography

Celebrating Woody Strode Westerns

Woody Strode Posters
Woody Strode Posters

A Western Film career spanning 35 years.

The Professionals / Claudia …

The Professionals claudia 2

Claudia Cardinale Westerns

Claudia Cardinale only made about 3 Westerns – which is rather startling since she is an Italian actress and was a major Star in Europe during the height of Spaghetti Westerns.

However, when she did her aim was extremely good – starring in 2 of the greatest Westerns ever made: The Professionals and Sergio Leone‘s Once Upon a Time in the West – which many rank as the Top Western of all time.
Not bad at all.

The Professionals claudia 5