WHAT IS THE 'CITIZEN KANE' OF WESTERNS?

[Henry C. Parke]

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for the attached short for Turner Classics, TCM FANATICS - THE WESTERN.  In it I describe STAGECOACH as the CITIZEN KANE of westerns.  I've heard positive comments from some friends, but was surprised to find that others think STAGECOACH is overrated.  Is it?  If so, what is the CITIZEN KANE of westerns?

[Ian Jordan]

"The Searchers" would have to come close, I reckon.

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

The original STAGECOACH has to be the single most often re-made Western there is.  Mostly, however, it's "Stagecoach without the stagecoach," & the best of those was GARDEN OF EVIL, starring Gary Cooper & Richard Widmark.  THE SEARCHERS is certainly in the running, but I'd like to propose 2 more, both of which are somewhat obscure.  THE GUNFIGHTER, starring Gregory Peck--it was the first time Peck wore a moustache in a movie--& NO NAME ON THE BULLET.  It starred Audie Murphy & marks the only time Murphy ever played a bad guy.  In many ways, his portrayal of the villain in that movie was even more chilling than Jack Palance's villain in SHANE.  You knew Palance was the bad guy from the get-go.  Murphy's character was handsome, charming, polite, well-spoken--and an utterly ruthless, remorseless killer-for-hire.

[Sue Cauhape]

That's an excellent film clip and I hope it gets a lot of play on TCM, one of my favorite channels. You hit the nail when you said that the classic western is about heroes, about ordinary people caught up in something extraordinary and they've got to stand up and do what's right. Where did that ethic go? It's been a long time since I've seen a modern movie so simply and honestly follow that plot formula. 

As for Stagecoach being the Citizen Kane of Westerns, that's a toughie. You'll get more lists based on individual tastes. I tend to agreed with you, though, when I think about the cinematography, the use of shadows and light, as Orson Wells did in his masterpiece. The landscape, the variety of characters, the strength of the acting. The modern version is a sad adaptation of it, truly anemic for all its technicolor. And of course, John Wayne grabbed your attention from that very first scene and never let go. What a powerful reintroduction of this wonderful actor. (Remember The Great Wagon Trail of a decade earlier?)