Log In
Members
Home
Add Reply
Add Topic
We all grew up on Classic Western Films.
In many of them the Winchester Rifles and Carbines employed were actually better actors than the actors themselves.
Of course, “Winchester 73” (1950) starring James Stewart and directed by Anthony Mann is a top pick for obvious reasons, but I think it would have been better if filmed in color.
Another Stewart/Mann collaboration was “The Far Country” (1955) filmed in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta Canada, in Jasper National Park and at the foot of the Athabasca Glacier.
My favorite scene is when James Stewart turns back a crooked posse with his 1892 Rifle in a mountain-side shootout in the twilight.
A great film, simple yet fun enough to be entertaining.
So, what are your favorite Western Movies where the Winchesters save the day ?
D.
David McNab said
Of course, “Winchester 73” (1950) starring James Stewart and directed by Anthony Mann is a top pick for obvious reasons, but I think it would have been better if filmed in color.
“Stagecoach” (which featured, I think, the first “large loop” ’92) might have been better in color, because of the Monument Valley background, but I don’t think color would have made “73” better or worse; using a ’73 that didn’t look like the “engraving” was painted on would have been a GREAT improvement, however. (Once had an original movie poster for this film.) But I think many B&W films–“High Noon” comes to mind–would definitely not have been as great in color.
Of course, seeing a ’73 used in any film made before directors & prop men started paying attention to the historical accuracy of their firearms (beginning maybe in the ’80s?) is highly unusual. Every movie prop dept before then seemed to be filled with ’92s & little else.
My brothers and I grew up watching all the Western shows. The ones that were on tv on Saturday. Also watched Ponderosa, Big Valley, Paladin, and many others in the evenings. “Have Gun, Will Travel” read the card of a man…….
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
clarence said
David McNab said
Of course, “Winchester 73” (1950) starring James Stewart and directed by Anthony Mann is a top pick for obvious reasons, but I think it would have been better if filmed in color.
“Stagecoach” (which featured, I think, the first “large loop” ’92) might have been better in color, because of the Monument Valley background, but I don’t think color would have made “73” better or worse; using a ’73 that didn’t look like the “engraving” was painted on would have been a GREAT improvement, however. (Once had an original movie poster for this film.) But I think many B&W films–“High Noon” comes to mind–would definitely not have been as great in color.
Of course, seeing a ’73 used in any film made before directors & prop men started paying attention to the historical accuracy of their firearms (beginning maybe in the ’80s?) is highly unusual. Every movie prop dept before then seemed to be filled with ’92s & little else.
I agree that High Noon had a certain intensity that was best presented in B&W.
Also that “Stagecoach” would have benefitted from color – especially whenever there’s great scenery or Big Sky Country involved. ( The Searchers )
The color quality of the late 40’s and 1950’s had a particular depth that made them nostalgic and enjoyable.
What I don’t like are the modern films with the over-use of special effect splatter.
David McNab said
What I don’t like are the modern films with the over-use of special effect splatter.
Most of it is so absurd, so fantastically overdone, it’s laughable. But think of the idiot millenials who grow up thinking that’s what “reality” actually looks like.
David McNab said
The color quality of the late 40’s and 1950’s had a particular depth that made them nostalgic and enjoyable.
That’s 3-strip Technicolor–most expensive kind of color filming ever used! Which is why, even for a major production like “Stagecoach,” studios often chose to cut production costs by using B&W.
clarence said
Most of it is so absurd, so fantastically overdone, it’s laughable. But think of the idiot millenials who grow up thinking that’s what “reality” actually looks like.
Yes you’re right !
And without going totally off topic this is what Left-Wing Hollywood is now using as a tool against us in their never ending “Anti-Gun Campaign”.
Even the recent film “Winchester” about the life of Sarah Winchester – was an “Anti-Gun Propaganda” period piece and not a very good one.
The depicted “mass shooting” at the Winchester factory never happened to my knowledge. ( Video Garbage )
But that’s what you get from a British Actress and an Australian Director – check the Gun Regulations in those two countries for an eye opener.
AND up here in Canada we’ve got dark days ahead too.
Anyway, back to movies, all you need is a good story, historically correct guns, good horses, 1 or 2 pretty girls, a few twist and turns and as long as good triumphs over evil everything will be just fine.
Gunsmoke. Rawhide. Wagon Train. And of course all the Clint Eastwood stuff.
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
November 7, 2015
Offline
clarence said
Most of it is so absurd, so fantastically overdone, it’s laughable. But think of the idiot millenials who grow up thinking that’s what “reality” actually looks like.
I like it in the “Expendables” series of movies. A dozen or so cameos of action stars with lots of stuff blowing up and and people getting shot with huge splatters. Good entertainment but lacking in Winchesters.
John Wayne loved his 92’s, funny thing is that most folks (including me!) had no idea it was a 92 or even what a 92 was. He liked the gun so much that apparently his character had a very early prototype because some movies where he used one were set in a time before it was introduced. 
Mike
TXGunNut said
He liked the gun so much that apparently his character had a very early prototype because some movies where he used one were set in a time before it was introduced.
I love the way Trap-Door Springfields masqueraded as flintlocks & caplocks in hundreds of movies! The studios had bought hundreds of them for nothing from dealers like Bannerman’s, & they could of course be fired with blanks; imagine trying to train extras to fire a real flintlock!
clarence said
I love the way Trap-Door Springfields masqueraded as flintlocks & caplocks in hundreds of movies! The studios had bought hundreds of them for nothing from dealers like Bannerman’s, & they could of course be fired with blanks; imagine trying to train extras to fire a real flintlock!
I have an 86 used in one of the Indiana Jones movies. It’s been modified to look like an 86 musket with a barrel and forarm from a doner gun on it. Got documentation with it.
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
Woody Strode, in the opening scenes of Once Upon a Time in the West has a close up of his mares leg 92 with the large loop lever. He was dead soon there after, thanks to Chuck Bronson, aka Harmonica.
I like most all Westerns, but especially Spaghetti Westerns with an Ennio Morricone sound track. I have them all on my iTunes.
I also grew up on High Chaparral, The Rifleman, Branded, The Guns of Will Sonnet, and anything else I could watch. I was never a big fan of anything with singing cowboys, though.
And I never liked when Winchester levers were racked for effect; especially more than once when a shot had not been fired. 
Tom Horn’s 76 was nice.
Huck Riley said
I was never a big fan of anything with singing cowboys, though.
Wait. What? No Roy Rogers? I remember taking a date to see ‘Paint Your Wagon’ and was so surprised when the singing started. I just re-watched “Cat Balou” a few night ago. (disliked that Hanoi Jane was in it, but it was before her traitorous days) And if you think you might enjoy a spoof on those old westerns, have a look at “Rustlers Rhapsody” with Tom Berringer. “I’m going to shoot you all in the hand.” Bad guys, “In the hand?” Berringer, “That’s right. In the hand.”
Has anyone else seen “A Million Ways To Die in the West”
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
Old Logger said
Huck Riley said
I was never a big fan of anything with singing cowboys, though.Wait. What? No Roy Rogers? I remember taking a date to see ‘Paint Your Wagon’ and was so surprised when the singing started. I just re-watched “Cat Balou” a few night ago. (disliked that Hanoi Jane was in it, but it was before her traitorous days) And if you think you might enjoy a spoof on those old westerns, have a look at “Rustlers Rhapsody” with Tom Berringer. “I’m going to shoot you all in the hand.” Bad guys, “In the hand?” Berringer, “That’s right. In the hand.”
Has anyone else seen “A Million Ways To Die in the West”
No Roy or Gene for me. 
I did like Million Ways. I really like Charlize Theron. I also liked The Quick and the Dead, and Blazing Saddles. But the dark anti-hero movies are the best. Unforgiven had the best character development of any movie I’ve ever seen. For visuals and set, I liked The Hateful Eight.
Huck Riley said
I was never a big fan of anything with singing cowboys, though.And I never liked when Winchester levers were racked for effect; especially more than once when a shot had not been fired.
No love for Gene Autry? Never saw him as a kid in theaters, but much later on TV. Most interesting (& bizarre) thing about his movies were that they took place “right now” in the ’30s, with fast cars, pretty girls in modern clothes, AND cowboys on horseback wearing six-shooters! Just don’t confuse them with traditional Westerns–they were Gene’s own invention, copied by Roy all the others. Gene was a fine singer, who had a major recording career before going into movies, & a great man & gun collector on top of all that.
Needlessly racking a lever-action is slightly less idiotic than all the scenes of flipping open the cylinders of revolvers in crime movies–you can tell at a glance if a revolver is loaded by looking at the case heads!
Huck Riley said
And I never liked when Winchester levers were racked for effect;
Friend of mine had a very late 94 carbine for sale in excellent condition. I told him I would buy it and pick it up in a few days. Well he calls me up late at night and starts jacking the action over the phone asking if I recognized that sound. I told him if he didn’t stop immediately and put that Winchester down, I wouldn’t be paying him for it. I still have that 94.
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
I seem to remember that in some of the older (late ’50s or very early ’60s) Bonanza episodes, Henry rifles, or more probably clones thereof, were used. But my 65 year old memory………….
OK, not a Winchester but as a teenager I was fascinated by the Colt revolving rifle carried by Arthur Hunnicutt’s character in El Dorado.
Old Logger said
Huck Riley said
And I never liked when Winchester levers were racked for effect;
Friend of mine had a very late 94 carbine for sale in excellent condition. I told him I would buy it and pick it up in a few days. Well he calls me up late at night and starts jacking the action over the phone asking if I recognized that sound. I told him if he didn’t stop immediately and put that Winchester down, I wouldn’t be paying him for it. I still have that 94.
Abusing any guns action is pure insanity. Why do this ?
Clarence mentions flipping revolvers open and shut – I hate that.
I carried a S&W Model 10 for many years on patrol – It was a tool that was there to save my life or the life of someone else – I wanted it to function perfectly if required.
AND the other thing that makes me cringe are the idiots who try to see how fast they can spin a Single Action Cylinder – we’ve all seen the damage.
Huck mentions the Spaghetti Westerns, I was a kid when they came out – saw them all at the theatre. They’re still great films to this day.
Especially Lee Van Cleef – great actor.
Spinning the cylinder on any of my revolvers will result in a jaw jacking.
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
When I bought my first Colt SSA I did a lot of research before hand. It was then that I learned from interwebs/forums that the cylinder only gets scored by bringing the gun to half cock and then dropping the hammer back to rest from half cock. One must finish by going to full cock from half cock before dropping to rest. Otherwise, the bolt stays up and drags on the high points next time it cycles. I had Hawes Western Marshals and Ubertis before learning this and I scored the cylinders with that mistake. Now I make sure to tell any friend who finger f’s my Colt to not do that.
I have spun my Colt (properly) and it spins like a top compared to my clones. The action is smooth but, I had some other serious issues with Colt during the whole process and ended up unsatisfied with them in the end.
When I rode for a local PD after the Corps, they gave me a Ruger Security Six (?) and I used to flop that open and closed like an idiot. True to form, a lot of military types think they know a lot about guns but that’s often limited to those they were trained with. Uncle Sam hasn’t issued the DAs or SAAs for a spell.
Anyway, when Hollywood is your father, that’s what you learn, until learned otherwise.
One guy told me he thought the sound of a lever cocking would strike fear into the heart of a robber. I said it’s more likely to give away your pos. I’d rather give away my pos with a muzzle flash than a sound.
I’d love to see the old spaghetti westerns remastered with new technology, especially the musical sound track; but also the screen. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the sound of the guns and all the illogical ricochets. I thought Saving Private Ryan did a good job with the sound of weapons.
1 Guest(s)
