The best Will Wright’s western movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Will Wright’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 Will Wright.
River of No Return
6.6/10
An itinerant farmer and his young son help a heart-of-gold saloon singer search for her estranged husband.
Johnny Guitar
7.6/10
On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.
Vengeance Valley
5.9/10
A cattle baron takes in an orphaned boy and raises him, causing his own son to resent the boy. As they get older the resentment festers into hatred, and eventually the real son frames his stepbrother for fathering an illegitimate child that is actually his, seeing it as an opportunity to get his half-brother out of the way so he can have his father's empire all to himself.
Honky Tonk
6.6/10
Fast-talking con-man and grifter Candy Johnson rises to be the corrupt boss of Yellow Creek, but his wife's alcoholic father tries to set things right.
The Kentuckian
6.2/10
A frontiersman and his son fight to build a new home in Texas.
Alias Jesse James
6.4/10
Insurance salesman Milford Farnsworth sells a man a life policy only to discover that the man in question is the outlaw Jesse James. Milford is sent to buy back the policy, but is robbed by Jesse. And when Jesse learns that Milford's boss is on the way out with more cash, he plans to rob him too and have Milford get killed in the robbery while dressed as Jesse, and collect on the policy.
The Tall Men
6.7/10
Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.
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 Raid
6.8/10
A group of confederate prisoners escape to Canada and plan to rob the banks and set fire to the small town of Saint Albans in Vermont. To get the lie of the land, their leader spends a few days in the town and finds he is getting drawn into its life and especially into that of an attractive widow and her son.
A Ticket to Tomahawk
6.1/10
Comedy western about a cowboy who is hired by a stagecoach boss to stop the railroad reaching his territory and putting him out of business. He uses everything from Indians to dance hall girls to try to thwart the plan. But the railroad workers, led by a female sharpshooter and an ambitious salesman, prove tough customers. Featuring a brief early appearance by Marilyn Monroe.
In Old Oklahoma
6.4/10
Cowboy Dan Somers and oilman Jim "Hunk" Gardner compete for oil lease rights on Indian land in Oklahoma, as well as for the favors of schoolteacher Cathy Allen.
The Deadly Companions
6.1/10
Ex-army officer accidentally kills a woman's son, tries to make up for it by escorting the funeral procession through dangerous Indian territory.
Brimstone
6.5/10
A U.S. Marshal goes undercover to stop a cattle smuggling gang, but when his cover is blown, the hunter becomes the hunted.
Lust for Gold
6.8/10
A man determined to track down the fabled Arizona gold mine known as The Lost Dutchman has an affair with a married treasure hunter, whose pursuit of the mine has lead her to double-cross her husband.
Black Eagle
6.6/10
Black Eagle is based on The Passing of Black Eagle, a short story by O. Henry. William Bishop stars as Jason Bond, who stays out of trouble by the simple expedient of avoiding other people. Unfortunately, the plot dictates that Bond must come into contact with several characters, all of whom end up fleecing our hero in one way or another. Even so, Jason manages to enjoy a brief romance with pretty Ginny Long (Virginia Patton) before returning to his life of carefree vagabondage. A very minor film, The Black Eagle makes the most of its excellent supporting cast, including Gordon Jones, Trevor Bardette, Will Wright and stuntman extraordinaire Richard Talmadge.
Big Jack
6.1/10
Wallace Beery, in his final film, plays a bandit in this period drama set in Colonial America.
Gunman's Walk
7/10
A powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.
The Last Posse
6.5/10
A posse's pursuit of bank robbers ends with loot missing and a sheriff (Broderick Crawford) wounded.
Relentless
6.4/10
A man wrongly accused of murder tracks the true culprit across the desert.
The Missouri Traveler
6.3/10
Byron Turner, a 15-year-old runaway from the Eatondale Orphan Asylum, receives a ride into the rural Missouri town of Delphi with rich land-owner Tobias Brown.
