I LOVE WESTERNS

HI YO SILVER

The movies have introduced thousands of cowboys from straight-shooting sheriffs and bloodthirsty bandits to humble family men and brave pioneers. Some depict genuine Old West legends and fictional characters that seem as real as the friends we had lunch with yesterday. So how could I possibly choose the greatest? I couldn't. But I imagined someone who knew nothing about cowboys. What characters and movies would tell the story of the American West the way only Hollywood can? Here are some screen cowboys who I think would fit the bill.

One of my heroes growing up was Marion Robert Morrison, professionally known as John Wayne and nicknamed "the Duke". He became a popular icon through his starring roles in films produced during Hollywood's Golden Age, especially in Western and war movies. In 1939 he played The Ringo Kid in Stagecoach.

Ringo set the template for every John Wayne performance in a western. Handy with a shotgun, polite with the ladies, and more at ease on the frontier than in civilized society. The character was a game changer for the actor, Stagecoach director John Ford, and the western genre. To this day, anywhere in the world, John Wayne remains the idealized personification of the American cowboy of the Old West. And if nothing that has happened since (from the darker Sergio Leone westerns to the potty-mouthed Deadwood) has been able to shake that perception, odds are The Duke will still be topping lists like this in a hundred years. Lorne Green recorded this decades after the movie.

Another guy I just couldn't get enough of was James Garner. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen. He also starred in several television series including the popular role of Bret Maverick in the ABC 1950s Western series Maverick. He played Jason McCullough in Support Your Local Sheriff in 1969.

Jason McCullough just wanted to go to Australia but he wound up sheriff in a town where the jail doesn’t have any bars. This film celebrates the lighter side of the West. There’s was no better ringmaster for this type of adventure than James Garner, already a veteran at the wiseass cowboy routine from his years playing Bret Maverick. Self-assured even when improvising his way out of an ambush, McCullough is a reminder that a quick wit will get you out of more trouble than a fast draw.

Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were two of my early childhood idols. Why choose between them? And why select just one of the 200 or so movies in which Roy and Gene were the screen’s preeminent singing cowboys. They played idealized versions of themselves more than fictional creations. Their innate goodness emanated more from their own strength of character than the interchangeable scripts they spun into B-movie cowboy poetry. But it made them heroes to more than one generation of little buckaroos.

Gary Cooper was known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had three more nominations. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1961 for his career achievements. He stared in High Noon in 1952. 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". That’s when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.

It's this theme song that I remember most about the movie. This is the original performed by Tex Ritter another singing cowboy.

Terrence Stephen McQueen was another actor that I really liked. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the 1960s and 1970s. He was nicknamed the "King of Cool". He played Tom Horn in 1980.

Tom Horn was a real cowboy who, at different times in his life, was a Pinkerton detective and an outlaw, a frontier scout and a horseman with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. To do Horn justice, McQueen was granted access to the western library at writer Louis L’Amour’s home. There he researched the man and the period in which he lived. The result was an authentic and atmospheric portrayal of what can happen to a cowboy when the rules of the Old West no longer apply. This is Bing’s version of “Don’t Fence Me In”. Many ,many singers covered this one.

Clayton Moore was best known for playing the fictional Western character the Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1952 and 1953 to 1957 on the television series of the same name and two related films from the same producers. He stared in The Lone Ranger movie in 1956. I watched the TV series religiously.

As ludicrous as a bright blue jumpsuit looks on a cowboy hero, The Lone Ranger remains as iconic as Superman, a credit to the sincerity and kid-friendly appeal of Clayton Moore. Through adventures on radio and television and in movies and comic books, the masked rider of the plains was the vigilante you could bring home to mother. And through his partnership with Tonto, he created a new Old West dynamic: the cowboy and the Indian, faithful companion and Kemosabe. Roy Rogers actually recorded Hi Yo Silver in 1939.

Gus McCrae (Robert Duvall) and Woodrow Call (Tommy Lee Jones) starred in Lonesome Dove in 1989. A great series. I loved it!

It’s a cliché of every genre. Polar opposites working together. In Lonesome Dove, there’s a freshness to the bickering and comradeship of former Texas Rangers Woodrow and Gus, as they drive cattle from Texas to Montana. Their screen friendship made the six hours slip away so quickly I longed for more time in their company. Yes, this is a television miniseries. But the quality of the story, the depth of the characters, the wonders of the cinematography, and their performances, make Lonesome Dove as cinematic a western as has ever been made. Robert Duvall (who has claimed Gus as the favorite role of his storied career) and Tommy Lee Jones play their parts as if they had already lived within them for years.

I have many stories about my experiences in Vietnam, the military and my time at West Point. Plus lots of life stories, stories about adaptive sports, my adventures, my travels and great music too. When you click Subscribe you will be presented with options. One is to remain or become a free member. The next level up is $5 monthly and you can unsubscribe anytime. Check it out.