The Best Westerns You Probably Haven’t Seen

In this contemporary Western, a newly divorced woman, Roslyn Tabor (Marilyn Monroe), navigates relationships with a cowboy, his best friend, and a rodeo rider. Despite its initial commercial failure, the film, which was the last completed work for both Gable and Monroe, is now regarded as a 1960s masterpiece.

Set in the closing days of the frontier era, “The Ballad of Cable Hogue” is an unconventional Western comedy characterized by its comedic narrative rather than the violence more typical of Westerns. Cable Hogue in a prospector who survives in the Arizona desert by finding water and starting a business – hardly the usual hero of the genre.

Newman portrays John Russell, an Apache-raised white man confronting prejudice in late 19th-century Arizona. The film explores Russell’s moral struggle as he finds his way through a hostile world, leading to a tragic, yet heroic finale. The film presents a unique perspective on Native American issues.

This family-themed Western centers around a boy named Jodie who adopts a troublesome young deer. The narrative explores Jodie’s relationship with his parents, his struggle to keep the deer, and the hardship that comes when he’s forced to kill his beloved pet.

In “The Far Country” has a unique setting for a Western: Alaska. In a film with a plot rich in gold rush intrigue and cattle drives, a self-minded adventurer, Jeff Webster, confronts a corrupt judge while driving cattle down to Dawson City in the Yukon. This marks the fourth collaboration between director Mann and actor Stewart.