Film Canon | Best Western Films

In Order of Excellence

1. Once upon a Time in the West - Sergio Leone (1968)

Epic story of a mysterious stranger with a harmonica who joins forces with a notorious desperado
to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

2. The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah (1969)

An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.

3. High Noon - Fred Zinnemann (1952)

A marshall, personally compelled to face a returning deadly enemy, finds that his own town refuses to help him.

4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Sergio Leone (1966)

A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.

5. Unforgiven - Clint Eastwood (1992)

Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man.

6. McCabe & Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman (1971)

A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town,
and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.

7. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - John Ford (1962)

A senator, who became famous for killing a notorious outlaw, returns for the funeral of an old friend and tells the truth about his deed.

8. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston (1948)

Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, two Americans searching for work in Mexico,
convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.

9. The Ugly Ones - Eugenio Martin (1966)

Escaped outlaw Jose Gomez returns to his home town pursued by bounty killer Luke Chilson.
The towns people protect Gomez, unaware, at first, that he is now a changed and dangerous man.