The best Henry Fonda’s western movies
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor who had a career that spanned five decades in Hollywood. Fonda cultivated a strong, appealing screen image in several films now considered to be classics, earning one Academy Award for Best Actor on two nominations.
Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor and made his Hollywood film debut in 1935. His film career began to gain momentum with roles such as Bette Davis's fiancee in her Academy Award-winning performance in Jezebel (1938), brother Frank in Jesse James (1939), and the future President in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), directed by John Ford. His early career peaked with his Academy Award-nominated performance as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, about an Oklahoma family who moved to California during the Dust Bowl 1930s. This film is widely considered to be among the greatest American films.
In 1941 he starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the screwball comedy classic The Lady Eve. Book-ending his service in WWII were his starring roles in two highly regarded westerns: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and My Darling Clementine (1946), the latter directed by John Ford, and he also starred in Ford's western Fort Apache (1948). After a seven-year break from films, during which Fonda focused on stage productions, he returned with the WWII war-boat ensemble Mister Roberts (1955). In 1957 he starred as Juror No.8, the hold-out juror, in 12 Angry Men. Fonda, who was also co-producer, won the BAFTA for Best Foreign Actor.
Later in his career, Fonda moved into darker roles, such as the villain in the epic Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), underrated and a box office disappointment at its time of release, but now regarded as one of the best westerns of all time. He also played in lighter-hearted fare such as Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball, but also often played important military figures, such as a Colonel in Battle of the Bulge (1965), and Admiral Nimitz in Midway (1976). He finally won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 54th Academy Awards for his final film role in On Golden Pond (1981), which also starred Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane Fonda, but was too ill to attend the ceremony. He died from heart disease a few months later.
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Once Upon a Time in the West
8.5/10
As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.
Warlock
7.1/10
A band of murderous cowboys have imposed a reign of terror on the town of Warlock. When the sheriff humiliatingly run out of town the residents hire the services of Clay Blaisedell as facto town marshal. He arrives along with his friend Tom Morgan and sets about restoring law and order on his own terms whilst also overseeing the establishment of a gambling house and saloon.
How the West Was Won
7.1/10
The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.
Fort Apache
7.4/10
In John Ford's sombre exploration of the mythology of American heroes, he slowly reveals the character of Owen Thursday, who sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, Thursday attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.
My Name Is Nobody
7.3/10
Jack Beauregard, one of the greatest gunman of the Old West, only wants to retire in peace and move to Europe. But a young gunfighter, known as "Nobody", who idolizes Beauregard, wants him to go out in glory. So he arranges for Jack to face the 150-man gang known as The Wild Bunch and earn his place in history.
Jesse James
7/10
After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.
The Ox-Bow Incident
8/10
Gil Carter and Art Croft ride into a small Nevada town plagued by cattle thieves. Initially suspected of being the rustlers themselves, Carter and Croft eventually join a posse out to get the criminals, who also may be involved in a recent shooting. When the posse closes in on a group that could be the fugitives, they must decide on a course of action, with numerous lives hanging in the balance.
The Tin Star
7.3/10
An experienced bounty hunter helps a young sheriff learn the meaning of his badge.
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
7.3/10
A naive traveler in Laredo gets involved in a poker game between the richest men in the area, jeopardizing all the money he has saved for the purpose of settling with his wife and child in San Antonio.
My Darling Clementine
7.7/10
Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil ride into Tombstone and leave brother James in charge of their cattle herd. On their return they find their cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal, making his brothers deputies, and vows to stay in Tombstone until James' killers are found. He soon runs into the brooding, coughing, hard-drinking Doc Holliday as well as the sullen and vicious Clanton clan. Wyatt discovers the owner of a trinket stolen from James' dead body and the stage is set for the Earps' long-awaited revenge.
Firecreek
6.8/10
A peace-loving, part-time sheriff in the small town of Firecreek must take a stand when a gang of vicious outlaws takes over his town.
The Return of Frank James
6.6/10
Farmer Frank and his ward hunt brother Jesse's killers, the back-shooting Fords.
The Rounders
6.1/10
Ben (Glenn Ford) and Marion (Henry Fonda) are two cowboys who make a meager living breaking wild horses. Their frequent employer Jim (Chill Wills), who always gets the better of them, talks them into taking a nondescript horse in lieu of some of their wages. Ben finds that the horse is un-rideable, he comes up with the idea of taking it to a rodeo and betting other cowhands they cannot ride it.
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
6.8/10
A well-established tale of a long-running feud between two mountain clans.
There Was a Crooked Man...
6.9/10
Arizona Territorial Prison inmate Paris Pitman, Jr. is a schemer, a charmer, and quite popular among his fellow convicts — especially with $500,000 in stolen loot hidden away and a plan to escape and recover it. New warden Woodward Lopeman has other ideas about Pitman. Each man will have the tables turned on him.
The Fugitive
6.3/10
Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining priest.
Welcome to Hard Times
5.8/10
A sociopathic stranger all but destroys a small hardscrabble town but the 'mayor' convinces its survivors to stay and rebuild.
The Cheyenne Social Club
6.8/10
Two cowboys inherit a "social club" specializing in satisfying men.
Stranger on the Run
6.2/10
A drifter finds himself wrongly accused of murder by a power-crazed sheriff. The sheriff gives him a horse, some supplies, and a one-hour head start into the desert before sending his murderous posse after him.
The American West of John Ford
7.2/10
A documentary encapsulating the career and Western films of director 'John Ford' , including clips from his work and interviews with his colleagues.
