It has taken me days to fill this out. So many good moments to choose from! I'm so glad we decided to say "a favorite" for these so I didn't have to feel pressure to figure out my one absolute top favorite for any of these, as I would probably never have finished it otherwise.
In other words, get yourself a fresh cup of coffee and a biscuit from the chuckwagon and settle back for a series of pretty thorough answers to these tag questions.
The LOWCW 2023 Tag
Stetson -- a favorite hero moment (i.e. highlighting their character and/or making a pivotal decision, etc)
There's a moment in
The Lone Ranger (2013) at the beginning of the finale when John Reid (Armie Hammer) appears above the crowd on his white horse, which rears up, and the first time I saw that, it was like he slotted into this silhouette in my head that's the shape of A Heroic Man. It's really hard to describe, but it was like this moment of recognition for me and victory for him, and... I love that moment, because it's when John Reid finally OWNS being The Lone Ranger, and he never looks back from then on.
Petticoat -- a favorite heroine moment (ditto)
There's a tiny moment in
The Rare Breed (1966) where Hilary Price (Juliet Mills), her mother Martha (Maureen O'Hara), and cowpuncher Sam Burnett (James Stewart) are transporting the prize Hereford bull Vindicator to Texas. Vindicator is tied behind the wagon that Martha and Hilary usually ride in on the trip, but on this sunny afternoon, Hilary isn't in the wagon, she is riding on Vindicator's back. She raised him from a calf and loves him dearly, and she's really struggling to accept that he's been sold and is on his way to his new home, where she will have to leave him. Most of that struggle is not conveyed to us in words, but in how Hilary behaves toward him, and that's most poignant in the moment when she's riding on his back and lies down on his back and closes her eyes. The love and trust conveyed in that simple moment get to me every time I watch the movie.
Canteen -- a favorite scene with a leader/mentor
In my favorite movie,
The Man from Snowy River (1982), young Jim Craig (Tom Burlinson) has been accused of stealing a valuable horse from his employer, Mr. Harrison (Kirk Douglas). Jim loses his job and heads home to the mountains. There, he encounters a friend of his dad's, the crack rider Clancy (Jack Thompson). Clancy tells Jim that Mr. Harrison is getting together a lot of riders to recover that valuable horse from the herd of wild horses it has joined. Jim wants nothing to do with it because he's angry over being falsely accused of theft and fired, but Clancy tells him he should join the search because he's a grown man now, not a sulky kid, basically. Jim is unconvinced. Finally, Clancy asks him, "What's the first thing you do when a horse bucks you off?" Jim says, "You don't let him beat you, you get straight back on." Clancy nods and says, "Well?" Jim might not like it, but he knows what he has to do.
That bit of advice, to stand up and try again and not let one fall defeat you is something that has been a real help to me all my life. My own dad has actually quoted it to me, most memorably the first time I put on a pair of roller skates after breaking my arm while roller skating when I was 12.
Gloves -- a favorite sidekick/friend scene
This is a scene that hurts and hurts, but it's so agonizingly good that I love it anyway. In
Hour of the Gun (1967), Wyatt Earp (James Garner) has just gunned down a man involved in the murder of Wyatt's brother. Doc Holliday (Jason Robards) has been sitting silently on his horse watching things go down, but once Wyatt's business is finished, Doc can't be quiet anymore. He tells Wyatt he's not carrying warrants for arrest, he's carrying hunting licenses. Doc says Wyatt has no intention of bringing any of these people in alive, he's not working for the law anymore, he's turned vigilante and is carrying out his own little vengeful killing spree.
Wyatt is enraged. It's the truth, but he can't bear to admit it to himself. He absolutely refuses to admit anything that Doc is saying is true, and ends up belting his friend across the face.
Doc drops to his knees, the blow having started a horrible coughing fit, as he's slowly dying of tuberculosis. He coughs and coughs and coughs, and Wyatt instantly switches from rage to compassion and remorse. It's a gorgeous scene where Doc has the guts to tell his friend the truth, and Wyatt refuses to listen, but then his friendship for Doc overrules his anger.
Canyon -- a favorite western landscape
I can't decide between Monument Valley and the Grand Tetons. They both pop up in plenty of westerns, and they are both always completely, achingly gorgeous.
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| Monument Canyon in The Lone Ranger (2013) |
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| The Tetons in Shane (1953) |
Pistol -- a favorite fight scene
The showdown at the end of A Fistful of Dollars (1964) is everything I want a gunfight to be. The stakes are as high as possible, with the freedom and peace of a whole town riding on the outcome. The bad guys are evil, and multitudinous, stacked against one lone hero who won't stay knocked down. Add in a glorious trumpet theme by Ennio Morricone and you can't lose!
Saddle -- a favorite horse / animal in a western
He may not be my absolute favorite, but Denny, the horse that Jim Craig rides to glory in The Man from Snowy River, is amazing. I definitely owe my love of buckskin horses to Denny, and I owe my love of all horses to that film.
Sky -- a favorite ambitious / crazy plan in a western
The War Wagon (1967) is all about a plan to rob an un-rob-able armored stagecoach filled with gold. It's a heist film disguised as a western, and it might be part of why I love heist films, now that I think about it. Taw Jackson (John Wayne) was wrongly convicted of a crime and just got out of prison after serving time for it (oh, and that is another favorite trope of mine!). He decides to get his revenge on the man who framed him (Bruce Cabot) by gathering a group of oddly talented ne'er-do-wells (Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Keenan Wynn, and Robert Walker Jr. -- and no, I am not making that cast up) to help him carry out a very elaborate and detailed plan to rob his nemesis's armored gold-shipment coach. That's the whole plot of the movie. And it's a fun, fun ride.
Rifle -- a favorite scene with an antagonist
Basically any scene from The Magnificent Seven (1960) with the bandit leader Calvera (Eli Wallach) in it, to be honest. He steals every scene, even out from under the likes of Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner. If I had to pick one favorite, it would be one from close to the beginning where he is justifying his thieving to some townsfolk, because he is totally convinced he makes absolute sense. He's not stealing from these villagers because he hates them or he's filled with malice or he wants to take over the world, he's stealing from them to feed the men who follow him, and he's not mean and nasty about it, and that makes him one of the few villains I actually like a little bit.
Chuckwagon -- a favorite meal scene
In Shane (1953), after Shane (Alan Ladd) uses nothing but his quietly menacing presence to scare their enemies away from their homestead, Joe (Van Heflin) and Marian (Jean Arthur) invite him to eat a meal with them. While they eat, you get the sense that it has been a long time since Shane shared a meal with a family instead of eating at a boarding house or in some beanery. He thanks Marian and tells her that this was "an elegant meal, ma'am." His soft and graceful chivalry in that one line communicates to the audience -- and to Joe and Marian -- that there is a lot of depth to this gunfighter. That he is more than just another tough guy.
Badge -- a favorite scene with peace officers / sheriff
There's a moment in
Rio Bravo (1959) that has nothing to do, exactly, with keeping the peace or upholding the law, but it's such a sweet and lovely scene that I have to share it here. The sheriff (John Wayne), his deputy (Dean Martin), the man who sweeps out the jail (Walter Brennan), and a young gunman (Ricky Nelson) are all holed up in the town jail, guarding one prisoner until the judge can come and try his case. That prisoner's rich and powerful brother is doing everything he can to get the lawmen to release him, but they are standing firm and refusing. In the middle of a very tense movie that is going to ratchet up the tension even more before it's through, we get a soft and quiet interlude where Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson sing a couple of songs one evening because you cannot have Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson in a movie together without getting them to sing something. And because the audience needs a little breather between tense and exciting plot points just as much as the characters do.
Lariat -- a favorite cattle drive /roundup
The climax of Chisum (1970) involves a herd of cattle being driven straight through the main street of a town, with cattle going inside the buildings and smashing stuff up and altogether causing a great deal of mayhem. It's chaotically glorious in a strange way, and I look forward to it every time I watch the movie. Not quite a cattle drive or roundup in the usual sense, but very memorable! I may have drawn inspiration from it for the ending of The Man on the Buckskin Horse, actually.
Hey, look at that! You made it to the end of this very long post! Hope your coffee held out.
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