Tag: Western

Episode 121 – Blazing Saddles

, with special guest:

Blazing SaddlesOur Mel Brooks series continues with his parody of the Western Genre – Blazing Saddles! Alison Anderson joins us for her first viewing of a film that took on racism head on in the 1970’s. When it comes to addressing racism, the film still really does a good job. When it comes to…other things, it might not have fared so well. Still, for the most part it holds up fabulously and is still wickedly funny.

From here, we are going to watch one more Mel Brooks film – Young Frankenstein.

Blazing Saddles (1974)
Blazing Saddles poster Rating: 7.7/10 (155,676 votes)
Director: Mel Brooks
Writer: Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman
Stars: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens
Runtime: 93 min
Rated: R
Genre: Comedy, Western
Released: 07 Feb 1974
Plot: In order to ruin a western town and steal their land, a corrupt politician appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.

Episode 109 – High Noon

, with special guest:

High NoonKyle Dekker joins us to watch a Western that is a not even a little bit subtle allegory for the behavior of Hollywood during the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings – High Noon! Gary Cooper won an Oscar for his powerful portrayal of a man who slowly comes to realize that nobody will stand up for him in his time of greatest need. We talk a lot about how much John Wayne hated this film because John Wayne really hated this film. Screenwriter Carl Foreman had to leave the country for England while this movie was filming so he had some knowledge of the damage the HUAC could do. We had a ball watching the movie and we hope you enjoy it as well!

Coming up next: Goonies! This time for sure!

High Noon (1952)
High Noon poster Rating: 7.9/10 (111,712 votes)
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Writer: Carl Foreman, John W. Cunningham
Stars: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell
Runtime: 85 min
Rated: PG
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Western
Released: 30 Jul 1952
Plot: A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon tr...

Episode 66 – Stagecoach

, with special guest:

StagecoachWe take a trip down Western lane with the John Wayne/John Ford classic, Stagecoach!  This film basically made a superstar out of Wayne and defined the western genre for the next several decades.  It features Ford’s favorite location – monument valley – as well as his favorite actor.  In addition to Wayne, the movie also stars a lot of very well known character actors including Andy Devine and John Carradine.  Interesting trivia: Wayne was not the first billed actor in this film.  That was Claire Trevor!

Our next movie will be the 2016 Best Picture winner, Spotlight!

Stagecoach (1939)
Stagecoach poster Rating: 7.8/10 (55,043 votes)
Director: John Ford
Writer: Ernest Haycox, Dudley Nichols, Ben Hecht
Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine
Runtime: 96 min
Rated: Approved
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Western
Released: 03 Mar 1939
Plot: A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.