Classic Western Movies

The western movie genre conjures up cowboy and Indians in most people's minds. However, the classic western movies are quite simply put, much more than that and there are many actors as well as actresses that have taken part in this wonderful and sometimes historic representation of the American west life and times.

Normally, these types of movies would depict dusty towns that would be inhabited by townsfolk who are scared of the gunfighters that would install fear in them.

There would almost always be a scene that would be shot in the town's saloon and there was always at least one gunfight and usually more than that. It is a time of cattle and horseback riding and mountains and sagebrush.

Many of these movies were filmed at actual locations or at least the actual areas that would enable the ability to have the western cliché background. Places like Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Colorado were especially used for their western atmosphere, and Eastern California was popular for the desert types of filming was needed. Entire face board, buildings which would just depict the facade, towns would be built out in the middle of nowhere for many of these movies and then be torn down when finished. And, this was the standard norm.

And, it was not simply movies that were filmed in these locations. For example, F-Troop was filmed entirely in New Mexico.

One location was the primary backdrop for the movie "Stagecoach" and this was at the four corners region that included Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico and is called Monument Valley. Coincidently, "Cheyenne Autumn" was also filmed there.

The very first western movie that was filmed is called "The Great Train Robbery" and was a silent film but is still considered to be a classic considering that it put the word western in the Hollywood vocabulary.

Then there are those western movies that were directed by Sergio Leone and would feature relatively newcomer Clint Eastwood. These were films such as "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Outlaw Josie Wales, and A Fist Few of Dollars." These are now considered to be the new classics.

John Wayne was considered to be one of the most prolific western actors. "Rooster Cogburn" and "The Alamo" are simply a couple of the many westerns he had made in his lifetime and he did win a Best Actor Oscar for "True Grit."

These are but a couple of the actors that have starred or took part in the western movie genre. There are many more that have had their start in these wonderful types of films too.

And, in more recent days, the western movie genre has enjoyed a somewhat of a resurgence with great success. And, it is these that are sure to become added to the very large list of classic western movies.

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