The best Kirk Douglas’s western movies

Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas

09/12/1916- 05/02/2020
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor, producer, director and author. He grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II. During his career, Douglas appeared in more than 90 movies and was known for his explosive acting style. He became an international star for his leading role as an unscrupulous boxing hero in Champion (1949), which brought him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Other early films include Young Man with a Horn (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), and Detective Story (1951), a film for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actor in a Drama. He received a second Oscar nomination for his role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and his third nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), which landed him a second Golden Globe nomination. In 1955, Douglas established Bryna Productions, which produced films as varied as Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). He took the lead roles in both films. Douglas has been praised for helping to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit. In 1963 Douglas starred in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story that he purchased and later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film. As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs. He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema. Kirk Douglas died at age 103.
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Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
7.1/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 30/05/1957
  • Character: Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

The Villain

The Villain
5.3/10
  • Genre: ComedyWestern
  • Release: 26/07/1979
  • Character: Cactus Jack
Handsome Stranger has agreed to escort Charming Jones to collect her inheritance from her father. But Avery Jones wants the money, and hires notorious outlaw Cactus Jack to ambush Charming. However, Cactus Jack is not very good at robbing people.

The Way West

The Way West
6.2/10
In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself as he is on those who have joined his wagon train. He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways. Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.

Posse

Posse
6.5/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 04/06/1975
  • Character: Howard Nightingale
A tough marshal with political ambitions leads an elite posse to capture a notorious train robber and his gang.

The Last Sunset

The Last Sunset
6.7/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 06/06/1961
  • Character: Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley
Brendan O'Malley arrives at the Mexican home of old flame Belle Breckenridge to find her married to a drunkard getting ready for a cattle drive to Texas. Hot on O'Malley's heels is lawman Dana Stribling who has a personal reason for getting him back into his jurisdiction. Both men join Breckenridge and his wife on the drive. As they near Texas tensions mount, not least because Stribling is starting to court Belle, and O'Malley is increasingly drawn by her daughter Missy.

Lonely Are the Brave

Lonely Are the Brave
7.6/10
  • Genre: DramaWestern
  • Release: 24/05/1962
  • Character: John W. "Jack" Burns
A fiercely independent cowboy arranges to have himself locked up in jail in order to then escape with an old friend who has been sentenced to the penitentiary.

Last Train from Gun Hill

Last Train from Gun Hill
7.3/10
  • Genre: ThrillerWestern
  • Release: 29/07/1959
  • Character: Marshal Matt Morgan
A marshal tries to bring the son of an old friend, an autocratic cattle baron, to justice for the rape and murder of his wife.

The War Wagon

The War Wagon
6.8/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 26/05/1967
  • Character: Lomax
An ex-con seeks revenge on the man who put him in prison by planning a robbery of the latter's stagecoach, which is transporting gold. He enlists the help of a partner, who could be working for his nemesis.

The Man from Snowy River

The Man from Snowy River
7.2/10
Jim Craig has lived his first 18 years in the mountains of Australia on his father's farm. The death of his father forces him to go to the low lands to earn enough money to get the farm back on its feet. Kirk Douglas plays two roles as twin brothers who haven't spoken for years, one of whom was Jim's father's best friend and the other of whom is the father of the girl he wants to marry.

Man Without a Star

Man Without a Star
6.8/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 24/03/1955
  • Character: Dempsey Rae
Man Without a Star is a 1955 western film starring Kirk Douglas as a wanderer who gets dragged into a range war. It was based on the novel of the same name by Dee Linford.

The Big Sky

The Big Sky
6.9/10
Kirk Douglas stars as the determined leader of a band of Tennessee fur trappers who set out to explore the uncharted Missouri river in 1830 and find them selves battling American Indians.

There Was a Crooked Man...

There Was a Crooked Man...
6.9/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 18/09/1970
  • Character: Paris Pitman, Jr.
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 Indian Fighter

The Indian Fighter
6.3/10
A scout leading a wagon train through hostile Indian country unwittingly gets involved with a Sioux chief's daughter

The Big Trees

The Big Trees
5.7/10
In 1900, unscrupulous timber baron Jim Fallon plans to take advantage of a new law and make millions off California redwood. Much of the land he hopes to grab has been homesteaded by a Quaker colony, who try to persuade him to spare the giant sequoias...but these are the very trees he wants most. Expert at manipulating others, Fallon finds that other sharks are at his own heels, and forms an unlikely alliance.

Draw!

Draw!
6.2/10
  • Genre: ComedyTV MovieWestern
  • Release: 15/06/1984
  • Character: Harry H. Holland aka Handsome Harry Holland
In the final days of the Old West, a former desperado faces down a now drunken ex-sheriff, who was his long time nemesis.

Two-Fisted Tales

Two-Fisted Tales
5.8/10
The foul-mouthed, wheelchair-bound Mr. Rush introduces three adventure tales inspired by the EC Comics of the 1950s: "Showdown," "King of the Road," and "Yellow." This star-studded telefilm was an attempt to launch a second anthology series in the mold of "Tales from the Crypt." When the film failed to generate sufficient interest, the three tales were re-edited and shown as "Crypt" episodes.

A Gunfight

A Gunfight
6.3/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 25/08/1971
  • Character: Will Tenneray
Will Tenneray and Abe Cross are two aging, famous gunfighters, both in need of money. Tenneray comes up with the idea to stage a duel to the death in a bullfight arena, with the ticket proceeds going to the winner.

Scalawag

Scalawag
5.1/10
A crew of land locked pirates, led by the aptly named Peg, go in search of burried treasure hidden by the treacherous Mudhook and his twin brother. They meet up with good natured landowner, Don Aragon, who goes along for the ride with his sister and a young boy, Jamie. Along the way, Peg and Jamie form a father son relationship that is put to the test due to Peg's naturally dishonest ways.

Along the Great Divide

Along the Great Divide
6.8/10
New Federal marshal Len Merrick saves Tim Keith from lynching at the hands of the Roden clan, and hopes to get him to Santa Loma for trial. Vindictive Ned Roden, whose son Ed was killed, still wants personal revenge, and Tim would like to escape before Ned catches up with him again. Can the marshal make it across the desert with Tim and his daughter? Even if he makes it, will justice be served?

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