Best Underrated Western Actor

[Dustin Doss]

Hi Friends,

 

I am curious to find out some opinions on the best underrated western actors. Personally, I am an Audie Murphy fan and would've liked to have seen him in some better quality westerns. 

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

Last Man Standing was actually a remake of Bad Day At Black Rock, a Spencer Tracy movie from the '50s.

[Buck Grizzly]

Actually Charlie Last Man Standing, like “Per un pugno di dollari” (Fistful of Dollars), is a retelling of the story in Yojingo, which is itself based on Dashiell Hammett's 1927 novel "Red Harvest".

　

　

Bad Day was an original screen play more than one director lobbied to make. The Spencer Tracy character was not originally written with one arm but the producers thought that no good actor would turn down the part to have a disability, and Tracy bought the bait.

[Buck Grizzly]

Sunset was one of those movies that was what we used to call a made for TV movie. Should have never been a big screen release and I believe the ticket sales proved my point. It was a bit too cheezzzzy.

 

Last Man Standing was a good gangster movie an it was a rewrite of Fistful of Dollars, but it wasn't any more a western than Star Wars, even though they both had the good guy/bad guy western premise, whatever that means.

 

 

There just isn't that many rough and ready types cast in movies these days. No Lee Marvin's, no Kirk Douglas's, no Robert Mitchum's, just underwear models and pretty boys for the most part who look like they have never been in a real fight in their entire life. JMHO, but Willis was the last average Joe who could be believable getting his butt kicked and coming back to kick arse and take names. Most of the others from today just don't fit the bill.

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot still qualify.  Unfortunately, Ben Johnson died a while back.  Ken Curtis is underused, too, though he's getting sort of old these days.

[Unkle Sherman]

Ken Curtis stepped on a rainbow April 28, 1991 !

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

Didn't know that.  Sorry to hear about it.  I didn't get to talk to him long when I got to talk to Glen Strange, but he seemed like a right guy.  You know he was a big-band singer before getting in the movies?  I used to have a 78 of him singing a couple of pop songs out of the '40s, but it got destroyed in a fire.  The first movie I ever saw him in--though, of course, the name Ken Curtis meant nothing to me at the time--was The Searchers.

[Bat]

Vigo Mortensen, & Ed Harris their roles in Appaloosa requires a sequels as in Resolution & Brimstone the follow up books by Robert Parker.

[anthony martin]

  Bat,

    Yes,the sequels should be addressed.As much as I enjoy Renee Zellweger(super in Cold Mountain) I didn't come away quite convinced by her casting as she seemed a little too "soft " for the character's level of emotional perversity.It's a minor quibble in what was an otherwise fine film.

  Perhaps if they address the other films she'll fit into the part a bit better.

[anthony martin]

I was just thinking about the great character actor John Dehner--Good looking,real stage presence and a fine deep voice.He was in a heck of a lot of t.v. westerns and was the original Paladin in the radio version of Have Gun Will Travel.His acting never disappoints.

[Randall Meade]

He was in a lot of great Rifleman episodes.

[Bat]

Hi Anthony, yes although Renee is a great actress her role in Appolossa it was not her finest! In Cold Mountain you could see another talented side of her craft shine through.

[Dustin Doss]

Hi Anthony,

I definitely agree! John Dehner has always been one of my favorite character actors. I was actually able to come across a package deal of old western radio programs when I was younger, which included Mr. Dehner's performance as Paladin.