The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

This is as fine of a film as you'd ever want to see. Exceptional performances by Wayne and Stewart, beautiful direction by Ford, and a tight, well written script that keeps the action going. This is my kind of Western - loved it. 5/5

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance on Netflix

High Noon

Honor. Some talk about it, some pretend to have it and some people simply live as if it were in their blood. 5 stars.

Follow-up: Gary Cooper deserves every bit of the praise he gets. So many complex things happen happened on his face without copious amounts of dialogue to spoon feed it to an audience.


DONNA'S TURN:

So Jim walked into the room before I was about to watch another movie, handed this disc to me and said "Watch this... RIGHT NOW." I took his word for it and did.

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!!!! Taut writing, wonderful, understated acting, tight direction - this is exactly what I was expecting from Leone but didn't get. I'm really thinking Jim is right - I like westerns, but not spaghetti westerns. Cooper was magnificent and the real-time direction was just marvelous. More like this, please! 5/5

High Noon at Netflix

For a Few Dollars More

Maybe a better film, albeit less ambitious, than Good/Bad/Ugly. Tense. Wish this one was restored too. 4 stars.

Follow-up - I saw this trilogy in pieces on TV years ago, and  now recently, but out of sequence. In a way I wish I had seen "Few Dollars" before Good/Bad/Ugly. It would have made Angel Eyes even more...sadistic? Bad? More...something. Anyway...Leone had an eye that comes only once in a generation or three, and if you hate his editing and his love of cheesy bit players and his obsession with faces...watch his movies anyway, you won't find a better example of slow, deliberate direction done well. And such majestic scenery, used to frame and in some cases tell the story. Good stuff. Rent 'em all.

For a Few Dollars More at Netflix - All Sergio Leone movies at Netflix