The best J. Farrell MacDonald’s western movies

J. Farrell MacDonald

J. Farrell MacDonald

06/06/1875- 02/08/1952
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best J. Farrell MacDonald’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about J. Farrell MacDonald.
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My Darling Clementine

My Darling Clementine
7.7/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 17/10/1946
  • Character: Mac the barman
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.

Dark Command

Dark Command
6.7/10
When transplanted Texan Bob Seton arrives in Lawrence, Kansas he finds much to like about the place, especially Mary McCloud, daughter of the local banker. Politics is in the air however. It's just prior to the civil war and there is already a sharp division in the Territory as to whether it will remain slave-free. When he gets the opportunity to run for marshal, Seton finds himself running against the respected local schoolteacher, William Cantrell. Not is what it seems however. While acting as the upstanding citizen in public, Cantrell is dangerously ambitious and is prepared to do anything to make his mark, and his fortune, on the Territory. When he loses the race for marshal, he forms a group of raiders who run guns into the territory and rob and terrorize settlers throughout the territory. Eventually donning Confederate uniforms, it is left to Seton and the good citizens of Lawrence to face Cantrell and his raiders in one final clash.

Belle Starr's Daughter

Belle Starr's Daughter
5.8/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 13/11/1948
  • Character: Doc Benson
The daughter of famous outlaw Belle Starr arrives at the town where her mother was murdered to find her killer.

Whispering Smith

Whispering Smith
6.6/10
Smith as an iron-willed railroad detective. When his friend Murray is fired from the railroad and begins helping Rebstock wreck trains, Smith must go after him. He also seems to have an interest in Murray's wife (and vice versa).

The Iron Horse

The Iron Horse
7.2/10
Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the west. He sets off with his son, Davy, to survey a route. They discover a new pass which will shave 200 miles off the expected distance, but they are set upon by a party of Cheyenne. One of them, a white renegade with only two fingers on his right hand, kills Brandon and scalps him. Davy is all alone now.

In Old Arizona

In Old Arizona
5.5/10
  • Genre: ActionWestern
  • Release: 25/12/1928
  • Character: Stage Passenger (uncredited)
Army Sergeant Mickey Dunn sets out in pursuit of the Cisco Kid, a notorious if kind-hearted and charismatic bandit of the Old West. The Kid spends much of his loot on Tonia, the woman he loves, not realizing that she is being unfaithful to him in his absence. Soon, with her oblivious paramour off plying his trade, Tonia falls in with Dunn, drawn by the allure of a substantial reward for the Kid's capture -- dead or alive. Together, they concoct a plan to ambush and do away with the Cisco Kid once and for all.

3 Bad Men

3 Bad Men
7.5/10
Three outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed. A silent film directed by John Ford.

Marked Men

Marked Men
4.7/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 21/12/1919
  • Character: Tom Placer McGraw
Lost film. A remake of 1916's "The Three Godfathers," which also starred Harry Carey. Director John Ford would adapt the Peter B. Kyne story again in 1948's "3 Godfathers."

Susannah of the Mounties

Susannah of the Mounties
6.4/10
  • Genre: FamilyWestern
  • Release: 13/06/1939
  • Character: Pat O'Hannegan
This classic family drama stars Shirley Temple as young orphan Susannah Sheldon, the sole survivor of a brutal Indian attack who's befriended by Canadian Mountie Angus Montague (Randolph Scott) and his girlfriend, Vicky (Margaret Lockwood). The couple takes Susannah under their wing and soon learn that having a precocious child around can come in handy; when the Indians return, the girl uses her charm to broker peace.Shirley is the orphaned survivor of an Indian attack in the Canadian West. A Mountie and his girlfriend take her in...

Come On, Rangers

Come On, Rangers
6/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 21/11/1938
  • Character: Colonel Forbes
A Texas Ranger (Roy Rogers) and his pals come out of forced retirement to do what the cavalry cannot.

In Old Cheyenne

In Old Cheyenne
6.1/10
Roy is a newspaper reporter. He goes to Cheyenne to cover the activities of supposed bad guy Arapahoe Brown. Roy, of course, discovers who the real bad guy is.

Northern Frontier

Northern Frontier
5.9/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 01/02/1935
  • Character: Inspector
A Mountie sets out to infiltrate and break up a gang of counterfeiters.

Wild Bill Hickok Rides

Wild Bill Hickok Rides
6.3/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 31/01/1942
  • Character: Henry Hathaway
The Western hero takes on a ruthless land baron whose henchmen killed his best friend.

Dakota Lil

Dakota Lil
5.8/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 17/02/1950
  • Character: Ellis
Female outlaw helps lawmen trap railroad bandits.

The Painted Desert

The Painted Desert
5.2/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 07/03/1931
  • Character: Jeff Cameron
Western pardners Jeff and Cash find a baby boy in an otherwise deserted emigrants' camp, and clash over which is to be "father." They are still bitterly feuding years later when they own adjacent ranches. Bill, the foundling whom Cash has raised to young manhood, wants to end the feud and extends an olive branch toward Jeff, who now has a lovely daughter. But during a mining venture, the bitterness escalates. Is Bill to be set against his own adoptive father?

The Squaw Man

The Squaw Man
6.3/10
  • Genre: DramaWestern
  • Release: 04/09/1931
  • Character: Big Bill
Jim Wyngate, an English aristocrat, comes to the American West under a cloud of suspicion for embezzlement actually committed by his cousin Lord Henry. In Wyoming, Wyngate runs afoul of cattle rustler Cash Hawkins by rescuing the Indian girl Naturich from Hawkins. Wyngate marries Naturich, but then learns that his cousin Lord Henry has been killed and has cleared his name before dying. As Wyngate has long loved Lady Diana, Lord Henry's wife, he is perplexed at his situation. But fate takes a hand and resolves matters as Wyngate could not have predicted.

The Light of Western Stars

The Light of Western Stars
5.5/10
A prim Eastern woman heads West and ends up in the arms of a vulgar, alcoholic ranch hand.

Sky High

Sky High
6/10
A government agent investigates a ring that is smuggling Chinese aliens across the border from Mexico. His investigation takes him to the Grand Canyon. He finds a dazed girl wandering around who has become separated from her companions and is lost. He and the girl are soon found by her companions - the smuggling ring!

Knights of the Range

Knights of the Range
5.8/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 23/02/1940
  • Character: Cappy
Russell Hayden, taking a break from playing Hopalong Cassidy pictures, stars as Renn Frayne, a college-educated youth heading westward who finds more than he bargained for. Following a terrifying run-in with an outlaw gang, Frayne aligns himself with the heroine Holly Ripple (Jean Parker), whose father's cattle ranch is in danger of falling into the hands of the villains. Victor Jory as Malcolm Lascallie, the wily gambler,

The Arizonian

The Arizonian
6.8/10
Clay Tallant comes to Silver City, Arizona in the 1880s and encounters wide-spread lawlessness and disorder, unscrupulous politicians, outlaws galore and brow-beaten citizens. He accepts the position of town marshal and, with his brother and a reformed outlaw , Tex Randolph, who comes over to his side, sets out to bring law-and-order where none exists. He also wins the hand of the singer appearing at the Opera House.

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