Betty Hutton (as Annie Oakley) and Howard Keel (as Frank Butler) star in this sharpshootin' funfest based on the Broadway smash boasting Irving Berlin's beloved score, including Doin' What Comes Natur'lly, I Got the Sun in the Morning and the anthemic There's No Business like Show Business. Directed by George Sidney this lavish, spirited production showcases songs and performances with bull's-eye precision, earning an Oscar for adaptation scoring. The story is brawling boy-meets-girl-meets-bucks
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BEND OF THE RIVER (1952)
CertificationPG Our Rating
The second of the terrific Stewart/Mann Westerns is characteristic of their pairings: adult themes played out against prairie vistas in which betrayal and violence can erupt at any time. Formerly a vicious Missouri raider, Stewart now leads an Oregon bound wagon train that, having brushed aside ineffective Native American resistance to the invasion, becomes embroiled in a conflict over resources between farmers (decent folk) and miners (womanising, drinking, thieving, scumbags). Welcome to Middl
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CALAMITY JANE (1953)
CertificationU Our Rating
OhtheDeadwoodStageiscomin'upoverthehill (fortissimo). Doris, bless her, belts her heart out as the pistol-packin' tomboy who has to clean up her act when she falls for Wild Bill Hickock. Much spunkier than 'Annie Get Your Gun' and with better tunes, most notably 'Secret Love'. A fine musical comedy.
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DODGE CITY (1939)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Michael Curtiz's epic Western 'Dodge City' stars Errol Flynn as Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff who tames the cow town at the end of the railroad. Flynn brings his trademark swash buckling charisma to the role of the justice-seeking sheriff, and Olivia de Havilland is both tough and lovely as Hatton's ally and inevitable love interest. The film also features one of the liveliest bar room brawls in cinematic history.
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HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Shot in five sections "How The West Was Won" is a sprawling multi-star epic following the fortunes of one family from 1839 and New York to 1889 and Arizona. 'The Rivers' (dir Henry Hathaway); the Prescotts head west down the Ohio river. 'The Plains' (dir Henry Hathaway); Lily moves to St Louis and on to Caifornia. 'The Civil War' (dir John Ford); Linus and Zeb enlist on the Union side. 'The Railroad' (dir George Marshall); the settlers multiply and cavalry officer Zeb finds himself in a war with
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JOHNNY GUITAR (1954)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Way ahead of its time, this is a Western with a difference! There's gun-totting women (including the brilliant Joan Crawford) fighting over the men that they love and leading the men into action. Then there's the anaemic looking Sterling Hayden as the male lead in this classic that tramples stereotypes with a memorable result! The 'Lie to me...' speech is guaranteed to give you chills.
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MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (1940)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Rightly suspected of illicit relations with the Masked Bandit, Flower Belle Lee is run out of Little Bend. On the train she meets con man Cuthbert J. Twillie and pretends to marry him for respectability. Arriving in Greasewood City with his unkissed bride, Twillie is named sheriff by town boss Jeff Badger, whose motives have little to do with the protection of the town's people. A classic slice of bawdy W.C Fields comedy co-starring the fabulous Mae West.
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ONE-EYED JACKS (1960)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Running from the law after a bank heist in Mexico, Dad Longworth finds an opportunity to nick the stolen gold and leave his partner Rio to be caught. Years later, Rio escapes from prison and hunts down Dad, now a respectable sheriff in California and living in fear of Rio's return.
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RIVER OF NO RETURN (1954)
CertificationU Our Rating
Saloon singer Monroe, violence prone farmer Mitchum and the young son he hardly knows, drift down-river by raft from both immediate dangers and their immediate pasts. They must try the impossible, to restart their broken lives and return to being an ideal family. Mitchum's performance is excellent, but the film holds most interest as an early Monroe performance. There really is no return. A tale of betrayal, revenge and love in the wild Wild West.
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THE BIG COUNTRY (1958)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Long, long Western with all the necessary ingredients - feuding farming clans, stubborn old grandpas chewing matches on the verandah and lots of tinder-dry open space - plus a stellar cast. Tautly-directed and particularly memorable for the marathon fist fight between Heston and Peck.
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