Head over to Patreon, because tomorrow (Mon 24th) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) will be available as a Patreon Exclusive! This is a Full Length Reaction available to all tiers! 😄
That is indeed, Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore first. He passed away, so they replaced him with Michael Gambon. He was also Marcus Aurelias in Gladiator. He had a very long, great career.
I always add this point to reviews that mention him: The character English Bob is brilliant. He is basically pretending to be some upper class toff who is riding through the west like some Arthurian knight. Really he is a man of low character, dangerous, but also petty and ruthless (he murders Chinese workers for the railroad? He killed a guy for banging a french girl he liked?). And when Little Bill runs him out of town, you finally see how his accent slips from upper class to cockney - he was probably some east end dockworker or common English sailor or footsoldier, who just moved to America to earn money killing people. He created this false upper class identity, so he can act all superior in a place where nobody really knows him.
Fuck I never noticed that. But then again, it might not be the same horse. He's been retired for at least 10 years so that horse may not have been born yet when he was still rampaging around the Wild West.
@@Theomite To be honest I'm no judge of horse flesh so you could be right but IIRC horses live 25+ years so it could be the same horse. Either way, this horse that he has now does seem to notice the change in William and doesn't fuck around to its master's commands after he starts drinking.
My favorite part about this channel is how Dawn is always giving off stoned funny hot blonde stoner chick vibes while simultaneously being smart and genuine in her reactions which is incredibly rare for most reaction channels especially all together lmao
When Will takes that first drink of whiskey, you know. My favorite line in any movie ever... "He should'a armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend".
1. "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it." 2. We've all got it comin', kid." 3. "It's a helluva thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have." 4. "Well, he should've armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend." 5. "Don't tell nobody, don't tell my kids, none of the things I done, hear me?" 6. "Well, you sure killed the hell outta that fella today." 7. "That's right. I've killed women and children. I've killed just about everything that walks or crawled at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you did to Ned." 8. "And when their lies ain't the same as your lies... Well, I ain't gonna hurt no woman. But I'm gonna hurt you. And not gentle like before... but bad." 8. "Duck, I says." 9. "Hell, I even thought I was dead 'til I found out it was just that I was in Nebraska."
@hemlock399 That last line. "... or I'll come back and kill every one of you sons of bitches." That gravel in his voice. THAT is an command that you do not ever dare to disobey.
@@DawnMarieX Clint did a modern day neo-Western called Cry Macho. I love it, and with the film Juror no. likely being lint's final film that he's doing, which I don't think he's acting in, would most likely make 2021's Cry Macho his last acting roll. It is set in the 19709s and lint is a washed up ex-Rodeo rider who has to rescue his friends son and teach him to be a man. It didn't do well due toi being released in theaters as well as on HBO Max at the same time. but I think you'd like it.
Dawn said she didn't get the happy ending she wanted for the characters, but what this movie was more about was giving us a JUST ending for the characters. At first, Little Bill apparently represents law and order, and peace in the town through civilian disarmament, but he was actually drunk with his power over others, free to be cruel, and to spread injustice. Clint's character has to revert to his old western genre badman / killer to bring it off for us, and that could be seen as his personal sacrifice to be able to bring the necessary justice, all around. In the end he tells the townfolk what is and what isn't just. He reminds us all. And rides off.
I feel like you looked away too much when Clint learned that Ned was dead. He starts drinking right there and everything changes. He becomes his old self. And that means people are going to die. It's a great transformation. A pivotal moment in the film.
Do people not understand the title? Who do they think is “unforgiven”? Do you know what sort of people get it? People who have been sober for a long while and then slipped. They recognize the feeling that comes over William Munny when he takes that first drink, because they’ve felt it themselves. The alcohol starts hitting their system and they are transformed. It’s a hell of a thing to see Clint Eastwood act it out, to see that change come over him. Sober people that relapse loathe themselves, but the loathing is there before they drink. The loathing is there because they never were able to forgive themselves for whatever bad deeds they committed while they were drinking. Bill Munny is Unforgiven by his own self. Munny abstained from alcohol for a long period because of his wife. She forgave him his previous sins and loved him despite of his history. After she died it was her loving memory that sustained him for a while. But he reached his breaking point because he never forgave himself. Make no mistake, true forgiveness of oneself is not an easy thing. It requires action, not just words. This is why people in AA talk about “one day at a time”, because that self-forgiveness must be renewed daily, and amends made for new wrongs.
Yup. Key turning point in the film - he takes the bottle and the demon emerges. Will Munny - when the demon comes out - is more dangerous than any of them.
Clint Eastwood's late masterpiece dismantles all the myths and clichés of the genre. It won two Oscars for Best Picture and Directing. In my opinion, a happy ending would not have worked for this dark and brilliant western. Director Eastwood did everything right.
Agreed. It is very well constructed to counter most western clichés (bringing the retired gunslinger out of retirement notwithstanding), This in contrast to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly which heavily leaned into *every* western trope imaginable, by design, resulting in a classic high-concept parody of the genre.
Let's not go crazy now! I'll go SCORES with you. But I hazard a guess that after 60 or 70 titles, even the tightest John Wayne sycophant will start to look sideways at some choices. 😉 Watchable, yes, definitely. But "great" needs to have some gravitas.
What everyone misses in this film is in the ravine, when Munny hits Davey in the stomach with a bullet. Davey screams that he's so thirsty (you get that when you are shot in the abdomen). Munny shouts down to them to give him water, no one will shoot. Munny doesn't do that out of kindness because he knows that if you give water to a man who's shot in the belly, he will die very quickly. The only one, except Munny who knows that, is Ned. This is the turning point in the movie when Ned realizes that his old friend is back, the monster has returned and now everyone will die.
I love Clint Eastwood movies in general and especially his westerns, and IMO this is his best work. He did an amazing job of playing the old man who was the young fast blazing gunfighter who has grown old. I do not remember which of Clint's westerns you have watched, but a couple of my favorites are the Outlaw Josey Wales, and Pale Rider. Pale Rider came out in the 80s, so kind of a middle ground between his early westerns and unforgiven. I enjoy westerns a lot and have really had a great time watching with you. thank you for diving deep into this genre which is often overlooked.
“The Duck of Death.” “It’s Duke. It’s The Duke of Death.” “Duck I says.” One of my favorite exchanges in the movie, that and, “Well, then he should have armed himself if he was going to decorate his saloon with my friend.”
Clint told a story that when he phoned Richard Harris at his home to ask him if he wanted to play English Bob , Richard was in his den watching High Plains Drifter ! He thought it was a crank call.
I can't decide whether this is his best western, or The Outlaw Josie Wales. One's a modern movie with an anti-hero, the other is an old style western with an anti-hero and a lot of funny parts. Plus Chief Dan George.
JOSIE WALES was a bit of a letdown for me. It didn't go as far as I thought it should and was a bit too forced for narrative. I personally think FISTFUL OF DOLLARS is his best. TGTB&TU is a 3-hander so it's not him carrying the whole thing.
I’ve been a fan of Westerns since 1966. Big fan of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. I agree Dawn Marie, it was difficult to see Clint struggling. This was the first Western that made me face the horrors of killing in Westerns, that I’ve become jaded to. I felt sick afterwards, like being punched in the gut. I love this film for doing that.
Yeah, I reacted to this in the same vein as how I reacted to Goodfellas. At the end it's not "yay, that was heroic", more like "bad guys are just ... bad". The "glamour" of these violent guys is only on the surface; underneath, you get to see just how cruel, petty, greedy, or just murderously hotheaded they are.
The way that Little Bill explains how shoot-outs actually play out, which is then exactly as it transpires in the finale is pure gold and such a good call back.
One of Clint's best westerns. There are so many great westerns it would take an eternity to do them all but I'm here for it. Here's a few I think you'd enjoy: James Stewart: Shenandoah, The Far Country, Man From Laramie. Kirk Douglas and an all star cast in The Way West 1967. Paul Newman in underappreciated Hombre 1967. Thanks for entertaining reactions mixed with laughter and saucy innuendo.❤️😊😁😆
The Sheriff makes an interesting quote about gunfighters when he says, "They got no sand, no character, not even bad character." The Sheriff is excoriating violence again.
A western you'll really like, since you like comedy so much, is *They Call Me Trinity.* It's a spaghetti western and is a parody of Clint's spaghetti westerns. You'll laugh from the very first seconds of the movie.
You really can't feel you've experienced Clint Eastwood until you see Dirty Harry. It's the film that made him a true star. It's a film that made a HUGE impression when it came out. And...it exhibits all the Clint Eastwood characteristics you like, lol. Watch it SOON. Every day that passes where you don't watch it is a day you will wish you had watched it.
Saw this one in the theater when it came out. The audience was pretty stunned at the end. There were no heroes in this film. You're kinda with Will until you're not. The amount of violence packed into just a few minutes was pretty extreme. Even for us hardened Eastwood movie fans. Hackman's line " But I'm gonna hurt you, and not gentle like before, but bad " is one of the most brutal lines in cinema.
"It's a hell of a thing to kill a man. You take away all he's ever had, and all he ever will have". Clint Eastwood makes the BEST Western movies of all time. No doubt about it.
Hi Dawn . Did you know that a young Clint Eastwood ( 30 )use to be in a tv series called Rawhide. It ran from about 1959 till 1965. Clint played a character called Rowdy Yates and he was the assistant of his boss who was called Gil Favor. Gil Favor was a Cattle Drive Boss and they together solved the problems of the people they encountered on their travels. Just thought that I'd mention it . Take care 😊
Great reaction Marie like always. This has been a favorite of mine since childhood. I'll never forget the emotions i felt when the Schofield kid shot a man down. I had seen thousand of movies where people died, hell at that point my favorite film was the hills have eyes. But the way the writing, acting and directing came together for that one scene, it really made me feel the weight of his regret. It made me understand that when someone is gone, thats it. You don't only lose a life, but all the memories that person made, all the relationships they built, the things they've done and all they ever planned to do. Every good idea or creative thought, gone within seconds. And as cool as the kid thought it all was, he learned instantaneously that he was never meant to be that kind of man. Keep up the good work.
Dawn, I work at a pharmacy in Monterey, California, and Clint cones in all the time. He's still such a bad ass lol. I'm still star struck every time I talk to him. I'll make sure to mention you next time I see him 😊 He's so down to Earth and appreciative of his fans. He'll be happy to know that he's making new ones every day.
This movie is an intentional contrast to all the other movies you've watched this week. Most all westerns glamorize cowboy life, and all the killings. The kid was raised hearing all the stories from his uncle, and the writer was there to collect those glamorous stories. When they saw it up close, they found that it is nothing like they thought it would be. You looked away when Ned was being whipped, but if you would have watched it you would have saw that the writer couldn't stomach watching it either. Also, Clint spent the whole movie telling himself that he was a changed man, and that he wasn't like that anymore. It wasn't until he was standing over Little Bill that he realized he was, in fact, unforgiven.
When Clint offered Gene Hackman the part of the Sheriff, Hackman at first turned him down because he felt he'd been in too many violent films at that point in his career. Clint told him that if they made this one right it would be an anti-violence film, and that's what they made - a film that shows how brutal violence really is and how hard it is to actually kill someone.
Dawn, if you ever feel like a Western comedy for a change of pace from all of the serious Westerns that you're watching, I recommend Support Your Local Sheriff!, from 1969. It's not as outrageous as Blazing Saddles, but still quite funny and a fun movie overall.
Death rides A pale horse As long as Eastwood's character denied his true self, the pale horse would not let him mount or ride him easily Once he accepted who he was, the pale horse allowed him to mount and ride easily
That's one interpretation. Another is that animals live by instinctual dominance & hierarchy. Sober guilt-ridden Will Munny is a bit too passive, and they (horses and even pigs) sense it, so they balk at doing what he wants. Drunken Will Munny is more like a dominant animal, almost a predator. The horses can sense the "obey or die" attitude radiating off him, and submit to him when he is like that.
He says at the beginning that the horse hasn't been ridden in years, and doesn't like him because he used to abuse it. Each time he mounts it, it gets a bit easier.
It makes me smile to think Mrs Dawn Marie wears that epic Poncho when she goes on errands in Scotland. Like at her shopping mall or grocery store, to pick up her kids. I have 2 Clint Eastwood cowboy hats that I wear often in the summers, even when im on public transportation. I get epic looks with my swag.
@@DawnMarieXYeah it's sad, once they're gone it'll be the end of an era, not many real men left, most certainly not in Hollywood!!!!!!! Oh Gene writes really good Western novels, you might like those!!!
I REALLY wanted Hackman to ask Bob if he " Ever picked his feet in Santa Fe??.. KICK....You sat at the end of the bed, took your boots off and picked your feet didn't you Bob!! WHAPPP!!! Didn't you!!! CRACK! " It would have been great!!
Thank you for Western Week. Your selections not only showed the evolution of the American Western but also the changing outlook of morals, accountability, and what defines heroism in American culture. You did an outstanding job not only with your wonderful reactions but with a diverse yet purposeful selection of movies. Also… there are just a few Christmas/ Holiday westerns and there is an outstanding one to watch this coming Christmas Season. It stars John Wayne, directed by the legendary John Ford, and one of the first Westerns in color… The 3 Godfathers. It’s a wonderful movie, not typical, but perfect for Christmas time. Thank you for the entertainment this week and know you have brought joy to thousands of people around the world.
Richard Harris plays “English Bob”. I love how his true accent is spoken when he’s run out of town, with his bent gun. He was all posh before that. Subtle but great.
The first scene with Little Bill should have given you a clue how evil Little Bill is. By treating the women like less than human. Great reaction, as always.
Western Week definitely needs to be an annual event - it's just so much fun having a new review daily from Dawn. I've been a fan of Westerns since I was a young 'un watching "Bonanza", "Gunsmoke" and "The Big Valley" on TV. Then I was able to see Westerns on the Big Screen and that just blew my mind (watching "The Outlaw Josey Wells" at the Evansville Drive-In with my Dad was especially memorable - he didn't care much about "all that vile spittin'", especially when Clint did that to the dog). My best friend had a stepfather named Tom who was into 2 things: sports and Westerns. Whenever I'd go back to Indiana, I always visited my 2nd Mom (my friend's mother, Mary) and Tom. We'd invariably talk about our favorite Westerns or watch them together on his gigantic TV. Tom got pulmonary fibrosis and his health declined leaving him pretty much house-bound the last year or 2 of his life. I definitely made it a point to visit him as much as I could outside of familial obligations and we both cheered each other up. He eventually passed on. I miss my compadre, but Western Week sure reminded me of the good times we shared.
By the time this came out, Clint Eastwood's career in westerns had become legendary. He hadn't done westerns in a while and there were barely any coming out at the time. I remember seeing the trailer in the theater before "Lethal Weapon 3" and hearing people gasp and murmur upon the sight of Eastwood's face in the cowboy hat.
Now that you're taking a break from westerns, and if you want to see more Clint Eastwood movies, check out Play Misty for Me. It's a 1970s thriller and one of absolute favorites of his.
Another great thing in the movie is the biographer... he had traveled with English Bob thinking Bob was a big gunman. Then he runs into Little Bill and finds an even harder killer and switches. Then in the bar when he sees Munny come into the bar, even he recognizes and realizes Munny for a true killer, harder than any of the others and death had just walked through the door.
Clint Eastwood is one of the most talented people to have worked in the film industry. I've loved his work since I was a little kid back in the '60s. I'm glad you have experienced this film from Mr. Eastwood, it's one of the finest ever made. My favorite Western, however, was actually a film by Sam Peckinpah called "THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE" (1970), set in the waning era of the Old West (the early years of the 20th Century), much like Peckinpah's "THE WILD BUNCH" (1969). It's unlike any Western you'll ever see, stars Jason Robards and a remarkable supporting cast. There is nothing like it -- be sure to add it to your list, Dawn, you will love it.
Love that someone referenced The Ballad of Cable Hogue! Great film. But unfortunately it would never pass muster with the "Western" movie gatekeepers here. I would love to see how much Dawn identifies with Hildy, Stella Stevens role!
@@ericjorgensen3911 Hi, Eric! Yeah, "THE WILD BUNCH" left a lot of viewers and film critics in a state of shock back when it released. I was still a little kid when I saw it, but I thought it was awesome. I did my master's in Screenwriting and actually did a final project on writing and extended screenplay that picks up at the end of the film. Fun project.
@@Hexon66 Yeah, Dawn will love Stella Stevens' character. I know I do. I was still a little guy when the film released, and I remember the lady sitting behind me in the theater reaching over my seat and trying to cover my eyes in the scene (no spoiler) when the stagecoach showed up early. She failed miserably. I was bobbing and weaving like Muhammad Ali.
Great reaction Dawn. One of the things I love most about this movie is the way Wills character changes once he starts drinking again. The ruthlessness evil that lies within is exposed for all to see and you can see from the reactions of the young kid and the working girls how scared they are of Will and what he has become once more. Thankfully it would seem that the 'stopper' is put back in the bottle at the end and the better part of Will returns. Such a great movie.
@@DawnMarieX You have NEVER reacted to a Western with female leads (1954) movie named "Johnny Guitar" with huge Old Hollywood Actress Joan Crawford is considered a cult classic. 🙃
Really like your reactions. They are so genuine. You really are living these movies, don't you, Dawn? Your laughing during all those Marx Brothers flicks (and, yes, they are hilarious!) always was so infectious that I often found myself rolling on the floor despite living almost 10,000 kilometers away from Scotland. Laughter knows no distance, I guess.
@@DawnMarieX You are absolutely going to love Doc Holliday in Tombstone. Promise. And just to let you know, Tombstone is pretty much based on a true story.
Another western on my favorites list is The Long Riders (1980). It stars four sets of actor brothers as the real-life sets of outlaw brothers. The Keaches: James Keach as Jesse James Stacy Keach as Frank James The Carradines: David Carradine as Cole Younger Keith Carradine as Jim Younger Robert Carradine as Bob Younger The Quaids: Dennis Quaid as Ed Miller Randy Quaid as Clell Miller The Guests: Christopher Guest as Charley Ford Nicholas Guest as Robert Ford
When we turn our eyes toward the door to see who it is, standing tall and with no fear, it sends a chill down your spine. And when he says, "Bury Ned right or I'll come back and kill everyone of you sons of bitches." I would believe him. Actually think i would move out of that town, just in case. William Munny doesn't seem like a man who goes back on his word.
It's kind of humorous when Clint Eastwood's daughter asks, "Did pa used to kill folks?" She's not expressing dismay. She is expressing disbelief. She is saying that she didn't think her father could hurt anyone.
Clint Eastwood was channeling his iconic Man With No Name character with "Unforgiven" in a nod to the three spaghetti westerns that made him famous (and with a dedication to director Sergio Leone). Even the timeline of William Munny coincides with Blondie's adventures after the last of the Dollars Trilogy.
Common misconception. Wayne died 3 years after the premiere of the Shootist. He did not have the stomach cancer at the time that would kill him in June of 1979.
Indeed. That one guy (the undertaker, IIRC) was from the silent movie era and had those exaggerated facial expressions still. Jimmy Stewart, the guy who directed Apollo 13, Richard Lenz as that smarmy newspaper guy (Ma'am, we have a touchy situation here.), Scatman Crothers as the stable keeper. Oh, and the marshal by the guy who played the Colonel in the MASH television show. IMO, that's the only movie that John Wayne did a decent job of acting in. I've just not been a fan. The Longest Day, sheesh, and while I liked Liberty Valance John Wayne wasn't the best even in that.
@@Anon54387 Watch The Searchers. He should have won an Oscar. The actors names are Ron Howard, Harry Morgan, and John Carradine, who was the father of Robert Carradine (Slim).
A professor of mine in college, in a class I took that was specfically about Westerns (which was phenomenal, as we watched some of the toppest tier Westerns that exist), had us watch this as the final final film for the class. He broke down why this movie was certainly excellent, but more importantly how it was the nail in the coffin on the Western genre (not in a bad way, at all). Very much has to do with the fact that American Westerns, by nature, were a product of their time; as time and cinema progressed, same as the old west, just started disappearing.
The Western genre will NEVER die because of its strong history and masculine connotation. It might have evolved just like the Samurai genre with likes of John Wick. But there are hugely popular modern TV shows like Yellowstone, Justified. That still show the cowboy in the modern concrete Jungle. Even in new shows like Fallout based on a video game set in a dystopian future u got a Cowboy.One of the most popular video game series and characters on the Playstation is based on the Western. The Western genre is now edge in human mind as a feeling, not just a time. You had Sci Fi westerns like Serenity tv show and movie were u had Cowboys in Space which was very popular with our generation. Im not a Cowboy, but i got 2 cowboy hats i wear regularly. So even if in a thousand years we are still around on other planets, or on a dystopian earth, you are going to have Cowboys in Cowboy hats, and leather outfits.
@@SalPerez-io3mz - Yes, Westerns will always exist now as the genre expanded. And certainly I'm not saying there haven't been good/great ones since (remember, I'm just explaining one person's opinion). But the American Western film genre was a specific product of its time and development of the country itself, and also almost more importantly the changing industry of film and its capbilities, allowing more people to make a growing number of other types of films. The specific likes of it and the cultural shifting of the landscapes was tied directly to the genre, hence why the majority of American Westerns are period-set way back whenever when. The very first footage of film recorded was of someone riding a horse, and the earliest footage for some time after that (video or photograph) was directly of the old west. Cinema and the Western genre are directly tied hand in hand. Unforgiven very much tackles the theme of the times changing and leaving the wild west behind. Heck, even Red Dead Redemption 2 touches largely on why those times were changing whether people got on board or not.
Europeans in large numbers have always been fascinated by American westerns. Europeans citizens don't have the wide open empty spaces, and they definitely don't have the freedom to just shoot people who are obviously the bad guys. In the westerns good guys hand out justice as a matter of fact 'natural law' sort of thing.
Dawn, in your next western week, please fit in some TV westerns, there are quite a few, but the grandaddy of them all has got to be "Gunsmoke", especially the early episodes from 1955 to about 1965, the early ones were only 1/2 hour long and in black and white, you will absolutely love Matt, Chester, Kitty and Doc, and the rest of the crew, lots of shoot'em ups, bar fights and quick draw show downs, on top of that some really great one-liners sprinkled in, if you watch, I guarantee you'll give it " Best TV Ever"!
Some of the saddest moments involve the subplot with the younger cowboy. He was not involved in cutting up Delilah, he just stood there while the nasty one was calling to him to help him hurt the girl. Then later he - alone - tries to apologize and bring her an extra pony, but the other whores are having non of it and chase him off in anger. Then finally, he is the first to die, and gets gut-shot, dying in great pain. It was all undeserved, he died just for having been around when the bad cowboy , just guilt by association. In a way, he's like the counterpart to Ned, who never actually shot anyone. Ned only the guy's horse, but could not go through with the murder - but Ned also dies basically for being associated with a bad guy, not the bad guy himself.
All fits around the theme in the title: Unforgiven. Who and what are unforgiven? The crime? The people? William Munney? The story is a great one because it's not romantic or cliched but human - flawed, dark and filled with fallen pride.
"It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna get." Beautiful line. "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." Keeping it real.
You could do worse than going down the Gene Hackman rabbit hole, Dawn. Everyone has their favourite Hackman movieSSSS to list off for ya to watch... you already saw his cameo as the blind man in Young Frankenstein ("Wait... I was going to make espresso." 😂). You could do a Gene week, he really has traversed the gamut of movie genres... Superman, The Firm (Tom Cruise), Absolute Power (again, starring and directed by Clint(!)), The Replacements (with Keanu, SO good), The French Connection, No Way Out (Costner)...
Yes!!! This is such a fun comical movie, especially after a heavy film like Unforgiven. It's also good that Ms Dawn Marie has already watched westerns like 3:10 to Yuma, High Noon and Rio Bravo.
That's an excellent movie...but I wouldn't personally consider it a Western. It's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi set in a post-WWIII future ...or something. 🤷♂️
@@timothylockard3846 Shhhhh. But, viewed with the right frame of mind, it's a western. Loner on the range and his animal companion encounters an unusual town.
Richard Harris has had a long and Very distinguished career on film and on the stage. An Irishman, knighted by the Queen of Denmark, in the late sixties he talked/sang a wonderful Jimmy Webb tune called MacArthur Park which rose to the top 10 in the pops charts during the days of (wine and roses??) peace, love, and our beloved Hippies. Along with Hackman, Eastwood, and Freeman, he gave the film additional gravitas with an unusual turn as a Brit in the American West.
On that prison scene: the reason Little Bill would've killed English Bob is because there were only 5 bullets in the 6-shot revolver. The revolver was set up on an empty chamber, which means if English Bob had grabbed it and fired first, it would've been empty. Little Bill would've shot him AND the writer, claiming it was an attempted prison escape (because the writer gave Bob a loaded gun, which is technically true). Little Bill was deliberately baiting English Bob so he could kill him without it being considered murder.
If that was Bill's plan he could have just shot them both and placed a gun in Bob's hand. There were no fingerprint analysis, no gun residue analysis, no way of connecting any bullet to a certain gun (other than the caliber and weapon type). It would make sense, however, if he planned to NOT shoot the writer, then he would be able to witness that Bob tried to fire first, but for whatever reason the gun didn't work, and Bill was justified in shooting back.
@@phj223 Little Bill comes across, at least to me, like a person who considers himself principled (even though he isn't). I think he'd consider that beneath him. What you describe is outright murder, whereas what I described would technically be legal and justified. That may sound like I'm reading too much into it, but I think it fits with the character's behavior throughout the movie. And importantly, if he had no intention of killing the writer, he wouldn't have given the gun to him first. His original intention was to claim the writer grabbed the gun and tried to shoot him so he could free English Bob.
That ain't how revolvers work. They'd put an empty chamber under the hammer so if the hammer was hit, it'd not go off. But the moment the hammer is pulled back (manually or by pulling the trigger if it is a double action) the cylinder rotates to a loaded cylinder.
@@AceMoonshot Did you actually have trouble understanding what I meant, or are you deliberately being pedantic? I meant it was set so that the next cylinder was empty. It shouldn't have been hard to figure out.
@@Hank.. Well, I've always interpreted the scene as Bill giving the loaded gun to the writer, calculating (correctly) that the writer would never shoot him and try to free English Bob. He's just a writer, a civilian making an honest living etc, and Bill knows he's not about to throw that away to free a known gunslinger that he has no loyalty to. But as Bill reaches out to retrieve the gun, the writer pulls it back and proposes that he give the gun to English Bob. Did Bill plan for this? Possibly, but I'm not sure. Either way, if Bill had wanted to kill Bob, he could have done it without the writer being there, and just made up any story. The writer has no business in the jail except for Bill allowing it, so if anything I think Bill wanted the writer as a witness. This also fits in with (as you pointed out) with Bill's sense of principles and honor; a straight up murder won't sit well with him, but if there's at least a semblance of a "duel" he's ok with it. ;)
1) Beguiled with Clint Eastwood 2) The Long Riders with full line of top actors (the tale of the Jessie James gang) 3) Cold Mountain with Nicole Kidman 4) The Claim with Wes Bentley and Mila Jovovich top notch westerns 🤠
If you've never watched LITTLE BIG MAN or the 1962 movie HOW THE WEST WAS WON, you show consider these for your next Western Week. This Western weel has been great. Excellent choices.😊❤️
@@DawnMarieXPlease please please react to Tombstone from 1993, it's roundly considered the best Western ever, with the greatest cast!!! You would go nuts for it!!!!!!! 👍😁🤗
UNFORGIVEN is Clint Eastwood's last western. He sat on the script for a decade, claiming he wasn't old enough for the main part. In reality, he wanted it to become his Western Swansong. UNFORGIVEN is his redemption, his last comment on the genre that made his career. UNFORGIVEN is a story about Western myth-making, the hunt for the juiciest story to tell. Note that all the tales told in this movie are tall ones, except for William Munny, his stories don't give him true credit. For UNFORGIVEN, Eastwood took all the nameless gunmen he ever played and put them together in William Munny, creating a grim reaper coming up from hell, loaded with whisky, "killing women and children, practically everything that walked or crawled from one time to another", and he kills five men, just like that. He leaves the town BIG WHISKY like a dark, evil demon.
During the scene in the jail, when Little Bill has Beauchamp offer the gun to English Bob, the gun is only partly loaded. Once Bill gets the gun back, he unloads it onto the floor - and only 5 cartridges fall, before the sixth chamber clicks on an empty. The gun "would've killed (Bob)" because his first shot wouldn't have done anything, but it would've given Bill a perfect excuse to gun Bob down - at no risk to himself.
I'll have to say that, in my opinion, that's an entirely false premise. Revolvers of that Era were unsafe to carry with a live round under the hammer. Any person who knew *anything* about guns back then would *never* be walking around with 6 rounds loaded in the cylinder. You would load one round, rotate the cylinder past the next chamber, then load the next 4 chambers, then cock the hammer, and lower it onto the unloaded chamber, so the hammer was resting over an empty chamber. As soon as you thumb back the hammer to cock the gun, the cylinder would rotate, bringing a live cartridge in line with the hammer, ready to fire. If you carried the gun in your holster with the hammer over a live round, one sharp blow to the back of the hammer, and there was an excellent chance that the gun would discharge. Sure, if you're definitely expecting trouble, you might choose to load all 6 rounds. But otherwise, having 5 rounds loaded in a revolver at that time was absolutely the norm.
@@timothylockard3846 A young forebear of mine found that out the hard way. German immigrant in his early twenties, a farmer, he joined the Union side in the Civil War. He was on stable duty one night and was running after an escaped horse when he slipped and fell in some mud and his holstered revolver discharged into his side. It took him two weeks to die, so he almost certainly would have survived in an age with antibiotics.
This is a masterpiece that breaks all the western tropes. I love the scene when Will learns that Ned was killed. He starts drinking whiskey and you can see his transformation ... he is reverting back to his old dangerous self. I'm not sure what you noticed, but The 'Schofield Kid' was scared to death of him at that time. You noticed Will answers "I guess so" a lot until the end when Little Bill said something about him going to hell. Will didn't guess at all with that answer. Dawn, you would love "Heartbreak Ridge" - a war drama directed and starring Clint Eastwood with "More Badassery!"
YES! The best modern western ever. Now it's just Once Upon a TIme in the West that's missing (has to be part of the next western week) (And than Tarantino's The Hateful Eight is also an excellent western.)
10:03 the actor playing English Bob is Richard Harris who was the first Professor Dumbledore. Fun fact when he was interviewed about role Harris (who was Irish) said he absolutely hated the character because he reminded him so much of the aristocracy in Britain and their sycophants.
Head over to Patreon, because tomorrow (Mon 24th) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) will be available as a Patreon Exclusive! This is a Full Length Reaction available to all tiers! 😄
We need it
One of my favorites!
Ah, you're kidding me. I tried to patronage once but couldn't get my payment throughl
Charles Bronson is the guy!
Just subscribed to your Patreon!
This isn't "merely" a western. It's a great film, which happens to be a western.
That is indeed, Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore first. He passed away, so they replaced him with Michael Gambon. He was also Marcus Aurelias in Gladiator. He had a very long, great career.
Yes they did.
Dude done gone left the dang cake out in the rain again 😂 I don't think that I could take it.
I always add this point to reviews that mention him:
The character English Bob is brilliant. He is basically pretending to be some upper class toff who is riding through the west like some Arthurian knight.
Really he is a man of low character, dangerous, but also petty and ruthless (he murders Chinese workers for the railroad? He killed a guy for banging a french girl he liked?).
And when Little Bill runs him out of town, you finally see how his accent slips from upper class to cockney - he was probably some east end dockworker or common English sailor or footsoldier, who just moved to America to earn money killing people. He created this false upper class identity, so he can act all superior in a place where nobody really knows him.
A Man Called Horse
Rafer Janders!
The horse only recognized its master when he started to drink again. Great touch.
I never noticed that! Thanks :-)
NEver noticed that even though i watched it 5 times,thanks
Fuck I never noticed that. But then again, it might not be the same horse. He's been retired for at least 10 years so that horse may not have been born yet when he was still rampaging around the Wild West.
@@Theomite To be honest I'm no judge of horse flesh so you could be right but IIRC horses live 25+ years so it could be the same horse. Either way, this horse that he has now does seem to notice the change in William and doesn't fuck around to its master's commands after he starts drinking.
@@letitiabeausoleil4025 Either way, that's a damn good observation.
Eastwood held onto this script until he was old enough for the part. Genius!
Yep, held on to it for LONG time. I agree, it was the right move.
He’s so smart and a actor and a genius 🎉
My favorite part about this channel is how Dawn is always giving off stoned funny hot blonde stoner chick vibes while simultaneously being smart and genuine in her reactions which is incredibly rare for most reaction channels especially all together lmao
She completely missed the point on this one though.
When Will takes that first drink of whiskey, you know. My favorite line in any movie ever... "He should'a armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend".
1. "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."
2. We've all got it comin', kid."
3. "It's a helluva thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have."
4. "Well, he should've armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend."
5. "Don't tell nobody, don't tell my kids, none of the things I done, hear me?"
6. "Well, you sure killed the hell outta that fella today."
7. "That's right. I've killed women and children. I've killed just about everything that walks or crawled at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you did to Ned."
8. "And when their lies ain't the same as your lies... Well, I ain't gonna hurt no woman. But I'm gonna hurt you. And not gentle like before... but bad."
8. "Duck, I says."
9. "Hell, I even thought I was dead 'til I found out it was just that I was in Nebraska."
@@hemlock399#2 for me.
@@hemlock3993 @ 7
@@hemlock399 I like "Who's the fella that owns this shithole?"
@hemlock399 That last line. "... or I'll come back and kill every one of you sons of bitches." That gravel in his voice. THAT is an command that you do not ever dare to disobey.
You ended with a real banger. Eastwood deserved all the praise and awards he got for this.
I know 😏
@@DawnMarieX Clint did a modern day neo-Western called Cry Macho. I love it, and with the film Juror no. likely being lint's final film that he's doing, which I don't think he's acting in, would most likely make 2021's Cry Macho his last acting roll. It is set in the 19709s and lint is a washed up ex-Rodeo rider who has to rescue his friends son and teach him to be a man. It didn't do well due toi being released in theaters as well as on HBO Max at the same time. but I think you'd like it.
@@DawnMarieX
Now watch "3:10 to Yuma" modern version with Russell Crow. React if you want, but it's worth the watch.
Dawn said she didn't get the happy ending she wanted for the characters, but what this movie was more about was giving us a JUST ending for the characters. At first, Little Bill apparently represents law and order, and peace in the town through civilian disarmament, but he was actually drunk with his power over others, free to be cruel, and to spread injustice. Clint's character has to revert to his old western genre badman / killer to bring it off for us, and that could be seen as his personal sacrifice to be able to bring the necessary justice, all around. In the end he tells the townfolk what is and what isn't just. He reminds us all. And rides off.
I've been a Clint fan since my teens (now in my 50s). This is one of my favourite modern westerns
I feel like you looked away too much when Clint learned that Ned was dead. He starts drinking right there and everything changes. He becomes his old self. And that means people are going to die. It's a great transformation. A pivotal moment in the film.
This is probably the 30th reaction of Unforgiven I’ve watched and I’ve only ever seen 1 person notice it.
Do people not understand the title? Who do they think is “unforgiven”?
Do you know what sort of people get it? People who have been sober for a long while and then slipped. They recognize the feeling that comes over William Munny when he takes that first drink, because they’ve felt it themselves. The alcohol starts hitting their system and they are transformed. It’s a hell of a thing to see Clint Eastwood act it out, to see that change come over him.
Sober people that relapse loathe themselves, but the loathing is there before they drink. The loathing is there because they never were able to forgive themselves for whatever bad deeds they committed while they were drinking. Bill Munny is Unforgiven by his own self.
Munny abstained from alcohol for a long period because of his wife. She forgave him his previous sins and loved him despite of his history. After she died it was her loving memory that sustained him for a while. But he reached his breaking point because he never forgave himself.
Make no mistake, true forgiveness of oneself is not an easy thing. It requires action, not just words. This is why people in AA talk about “one day at a time”, because that self-forgiveness must be renewed daily, and amends made for new wrongs.
Yup. Key turning point in the film - he takes the bottle and the demon emerges.
Will Munny - when the demon comes out - is more dangerous than any of them.
And the change was immediate. No trouble taking pulls from that bottle. No trouble mounting his horse. No trouble killing, ruthlessly.
Agreed. I screaming at my screen for Dawn to quit covering her eyes at this major point in the film.
One of the greatest Westerns of all time.
Clint Eastwood's late masterpiece dismantles all the myths and clichés of the genre.
It won two Oscars for Best Picture and Directing.
In my opinion, a happy ending would not have worked for this dark and brilliant western.
Director Eastwood did everything right.
For one thing, they’d have to call it “forgiven”. 😑
Agreed. It is very well constructed to counter most western clichés (bringing the retired gunslinger out of retirement notwithstanding), This in contrast to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly which heavily leaned into *every* western trope imaginable, by design, resulting in a classic high-concept parody of the genre.
Also won Supporting Actor for Hackman. Brilliant performance, there.
No Clint Eastwood western binge is not complete without watching, in my opinion the best he ever made; Outlaw Josie Wales
Agreed
Western week needs to be a regular feature. There are HUNDREDS of great westerns.
Let's not go crazy now! I'll go SCORES with you. But I hazard a guess that after 60 or 70 titles, even the tightest John Wayne sycophant will start to look sideways at some choices. 😉 Watchable, yes, definitely. But "great" needs to have some gravitas.
What everyone misses in this film is in the ravine, when Munny hits Davey in the stomach with a bullet. Davey screams that he's so thirsty (you get that when you are shot in the abdomen). Munny shouts down to them to give him water, no one will shoot. Munny doesn't do that out of kindness because he knows that if you give water to a man who's shot in the belly, he will die very quickly. The only one, except Munny who knows that, is Ned. This is the turning point in the movie when Ned realizes that his old friend is back, the monster has returned and now everyone will die.
I did not know that, but it tracks. Thanks for that.
Yes Dawn, English Bob and Dumbledore were both played by Richard Harris.
He was also Caesar in “Gladiator “. And Oliver Cromwell in “Crowell”
@@johnnyhockRichard Harris had an amazing career before being cast as Dumbledore when an old man.
@@bobsylvester88yes. Including starting a few great Westerns, including A MAN CALLED HORSE.
He also played Oliver Cromwell and a horse
@@bobsylvester88 #METOO
I love Clint Eastwood movies in general and especially his westerns, and IMO this is his best work. He did an amazing job of playing the old man who was the young fast blazing gunfighter who has grown old. I do not remember which of Clint's westerns you have watched, but a couple of my favorites are the Outlaw Josey Wales, and Pale Rider. Pale Rider came out in the 80s, so kind of a middle ground between his early westerns and unforgiven. I enjoy westerns a lot and have really had a great time watching with you. thank you for diving deep into this genre which is often overlooked.
“The Duck of Death.”
“It’s Duke. It’s The Duke of Death.”
“Duck I says.”
One of my favorite exchanges in the movie, that and, “Well, then he should have armed himself if he was going to decorate his saloon with my friend.”
Clint told a story that when he phoned Richard Harris at his home to ask him if he wanted to play English Bob , Richard was in his den watching High Plains Drifter ! He thought it was a crank call.
I can't decide whether this is his best western, or The Outlaw Josie Wales. One's a modern movie with an anti-hero, the other is an old style western with an anti-hero and a lot of funny parts. Plus Chief Dan George.
JOSIE WALES was a bit of a letdown for me. It didn't go as far as I thought it should and was a bit too forced for narrative. I personally think FISTFUL OF DOLLARS is his best. TGTB&TU is a 3-hander so it's not him carrying the whole thing.
I’ve been a fan of Westerns since 1966. Big fan of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. I agree Dawn Marie, it was difficult to see Clint struggling. This was the first Western that made me face the horrors of killing in Westerns, that I’ve become jaded to. I felt sick afterwards, like being punched in the gut. I love this film for doing that.
Yeah, I reacted to this in the same vein as how I reacted to Goodfellas. At the end it's not "yay, that was heroic", more like "bad guys are just ... bad".
The "glamour" of these violent guys is only on the surface; underneath, you get to see just how cruel, petty, greedy, or just murderously hotheaded they are.
The way that Little Bill explains how shoot-outs actually play out, which is then exactly as it transpires in the finale is pure gold and such a good call back.
I thought that was as much for the audience who often have gross misconceptions about what it is to fire a gun, much less fire a gun at a person
When he enters the bar at the end and the thunder claps, that's probably my fav scene in cinema history.
One of Clint's best westerns. There are so many great westerns it would take an eternity to do them all but I'm here for it. Here's a few I think you'd enjoy:
James Stewart: Shenandoah, The Far Country, Man From Laramie.
Kirk Douglas and an all star cast in The Way West 1967.
Paul Newman in underappreciated Hombre 1967.
Thanks for entertaining reactions mixed with laughter and saucy innuendo.❤️😊😁😆
The Sheriff makes an interesting quote about gunfighters when he says, "They got no sand, no character, not even bad character." The Sheriff is excoriating violence again.
A western you'll really like, since you like comedy so much, is *They Call Me Trinity.* It's a spaghetti western and is a parody of Clint's spaghetti westerns. You'll laugh from the very first seconds of the movie.
Filmed outside Calgary Alberta Canada, where I live. A friend of mine was a riding double for the actresses.
You really can't feel you've experienced Clint Eastwood until you see Dirty Harry. It's the film that made him a true star. It's a film that made a HUGE impression when it came out. And...it exhibits all the Clint Eastwood characteristics you like, lol. Watch it SOON. Every day that passes where you don't watch it is a day you will wish you had watched it.
I have the whole Clint Eastwood collection and I watch the Dirty Harry movies more than any others , there’s some epic lines in them too!!
Are you in sales, perchance? Because if you aren't, you missed your calling!
@@leopoldstotch3524 "Well, isn't that stylish." - Sorry, I couldn't resist
Saw this one in the theater when it came out. The audience was pretty stunned at the end. There were no heroes in this film. You're kinda with Will until you're not. The amount of violence packed into just a few minutes was pretty extreme. Even for us hardened Eastwood movie fans. Hackman's line " But I'm gonna hurt you, and not gentle like before, but bad " is one of the most brutal lines in cinema.
Won Best Picture, Best Director (Eastwood) and Best Supporting Actor (Hackman) at the Oscars. Rare for any western to have so many honors.
"It's a hell of a thing to kill a man. You take away all he's ever had, and all he ever will have". Clint Eastwood makes the BEST Western movies of all time. No doubt about it.
That's not the correct line.
"It's a hell of a thing, killin' a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have.
@@USCFlash Nope it's "Hellua" 😛
Close enough for government work. LOL.
@@dallesamllhals9161
actually, "helluva"
@@USCFlash Sry' danish! No spek cool engrish
Edit: is that you, Blitzø? Eller er vi ude I åen?
The next time you're in the mood for another Western, I highly recommend "Tombstone," "Hildago" and "Quigley Down Under."
Quigley is GREAT!
Since she's a Potter fan, she should love Alan Rickman in Quigley.
Two of my favorites, Tombstone and Quigley, excellent films.
Watch paint your wagon, Lee Marvin (the man who shot Liberty Valance), and Clint Eastwood.
YES! 😂
Perhaps the finest western of all time. Great story, acting, actors and directing. Certainly my favorite wester.
Hi Dawn . Did you know that a young Clint Eastwood ( 30 )use to be in a tv series called Rawhide. It ran from about 1959 till 1965.
Clint played a character called Rowdy Yates and he was the assistant of his boss who was called Gil Favor.
Gil Favor was a Cattle Drive Boss and they together solved the problems of the people they encountered on their travels.
Just thought that I'd mention it .
Take care 😊
Great reaction Marie like always. This has been a favorite of mine since childhood. I'll never forget the emotions i felt when the Schofield kid shot a man down. I had seen thousand of movies where people died, hell at that point my favorite film was the hills have eyes. But the way the writing, acting and directing came together for that one scene, it really made me feel the weight of his regret. It made me understand that when someone is gone, thats it. You don't only lose a life, but all the memories that person made, all the relationships they built, the things they've done and all they ever planned to do. Every good idea or creative thought, gone within seconds. And as cool as the kid thought it all was, he learned instantaneously that he was never meant to be that kind of man. Keep up the good work.
Dawn, I work at a pharmacy in Monterey, California, and Clint cones in all the time. He's still such a bad ass lol. I'm still star struck every time I talk to him. I'll make sure to mention you next time I see him 😊 He's so down to Earth and appreciative of his fans. He'll be happy to know that he's making new ones every day.
This movie is an intentional contrast to all the other movies you've watched this week. Most all westerns glamorize cowboy life, and all the killings. The kid was raised hearing all the stories from his uncle, and the writer was there to collect those glamorous stories. When they saw it up close, they found that it is nothing like they thought it would be. You looked away when Ned was being whipped, but if you would have watched it you would have saw that the writer couldn't stomach watching it either.
Also, Clint spent the whole movie telling himself that he was a changed man, and that he wasn't like that anymore. It wasn't until he was standing over Little Bill that he realized he was, in fact, unforgiven.
Oh Dawn, so GORGEOUS and the best “accent ever”! I could listen to you talk about anything!😘👍
When Clint offered Gene Hackman the part of the Sheriff, Hackman at first turned him down because he felt he'd been in too many violent films at that point in his career. Clint told him that if they made this one right it would be an anti-violence film, and that's what they made - a film that shows how brutal violence really is and how hard it is to actually kill someone.
Clint has so many iconic movies, but this is the one that I've rewatched the most and it's a great send off for Clint in the western genre.
Dawn, if you ever feel like a Western comedy for a change of pace from all of the serious Westerns that you're watching, I recommend Support Your Local Sheriff!, from 1969. It's not as outrageous as Blazing Saddles, but still quite funny and a fun movie overall.
The quick and the dead is another gene hackman, leordo DiCaprio, Sharon stone and Russel crowe cowboy movie ...that you will enjoy.
Love it! Doesn't take itself too seriously. Just a lot of fun.
Death rides A pale horse
As long as Eastwood's character denied his true self, the pale horse would not let him mount or ride him easily
Once he accepted who he was, the pale horse allowed him to mount and ride easily
That is a deep interpretation of that facet of the movie. I just thought that he had a half trained horse.
That's one interpretation.
Another is that animals live by instinctual dominance & hierarchy.
Sober guilt-ridden Will Munny is a bit too passive, and they (horses and even pigs) sense it, so they balk at doing what he wants.
Drunken Will Munny is more like a dominant animal, almost a predator. The horses can sense the "obey or die" attitude radiating off him, and submit to him when he is like that.
He says at the beginning that the horse hasn't been ridden in years, and doesn't like him because he used to abuse it. Each time he mounts it, it gets a bit easier.
@@OgreProgrammer I do like the deep meanings, but yours sounds the most feasible
@@OgreProgrammer Yeah the horse probably figure Will Munny with a couple of drinks in him was not to be trifled with
It makes me smile to think Mrs Dawn Marie wears that epic Poncho when she goes on errands in Scotland. Like at her shopping mall or grocery store, to pick up her kids. I have 2 Clint Eastwood cowboy hats that I wear often in the summers, even when im on public transportation. I get epic looks with my swag.
Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor, lol) are both 94 years old now....
Stop 😭😭
@@DawnMarieXYeah it's sad, once they're gone it'll be the end of an era, not many real men left, most certainly not in Hollywood!!!!!!! Oh Gene writes really good Western novels, you might like those!!!
I REALLY wanted Hackman to ask Bob if he " Ever picked his feet in Santa Fe??.. KICK....You sat at the end of the bed, took your boots off and picked your feet didn't you Bob!! WHAPPP!!! Didn't you!!! CRACK! " It would have been great!!
@@kowalski3769 What in the bloody hell is that about!?!?!?
@@HonRevPTB Watch The French Connection
YES!
Great movie, definitely deserving one of your “best movie ever” accolades!
It’s one of mine, for sure
This is my favorite western and maybe movie. A Man Called Horse is another good western with Dumbledore in it.
Thank you for Western Week. Your selections not only showed the evolution of the American Western but also the changing outlook of morals, accountability, and what defines heroism in American culture. You did an outstanding job not only with your wonderful reactions but with a diverse yet purposeful selection of movies.
Also… there are just a few Christmas/ Holiday westerns and there is an outstanding one to watch this coming Christmas Season. It stars John Wayne, directed by the legendary John Ford, and one of the first Westerns in color…
The 3 Godfathers. It’s a wonderful movie, not typical, but perfect for Christmas time.
Thank you for the entertainment this week and know you have brought joy to thousands of people around the world.
Richard Harris plays “English Bob”. I love how his true accent is spoken when he’s run out of town, with his bent gun. He was all posh before that. Subtle but great.
Western suggestions:
(1) "Open Range"
(2) "True Grit" (2010 version)
(3) "Dances with Wolves"
Open Range is my favorite western.
Would you add Little Big Man (starring Dustin Hoffman and Chief Dan George - I think) to your list?
One of my all-time favorite movies ever. All of the acting performances were just fantastic
The first scene with Little Bill should have given you a clue how evil Little Bill is. By treating the women like less than human. Great reaction, as always.
Not women.
@@eXpriest right! In general. No justice.
@@antoniozayas9822 ... He's not treating women like they're less than human, he's treating prostitutes as if they're less than human.
Western Week definitely needs to be an annual event - it's just so much fun having a new review daily from Dawn. I've been a fan of Westerns since I was a young 'un watching "Bonanza", "Gunsmoke" and "The Big Valley" on TV. Then I was able to see Westerns on the Big Screen and that just blew my mind (watching "The Outlaw Josey Wells" at the Evansville Drive-In with my Dad was especially memorable - he didn't care much about "all that vile spittin'", especially when Clint did that to the dog).
My best friend had a stepfather named Tom who was into 2 things: sports and Westerns. Whenever I'd go back to Indiana, I always visited my 2nd Mom (my friend's mother, Mary) and Tom. We'd invariably talk about our favorite Westerns or watch them together on his gigantic TV. Tom got pulmonary fibrosis and his health declined leaving him pretty much house-bound the last year or 2 of his life. I definitely made it a point to visit him as much as I could outside of familial obligations and we both cheered each other up. He eventually passed on. I miss my compadre, but Western Week sure reminded me of the good times we shared.
"The Searchers" is the best Western movie ever made. The second-best is "Once Upon a Time in the West." Another great one is "The Professionals."
Yes 'The Searchers' best Western ever. "That'll be the day"
By the time this came out, Clint Eastwood's career in westerns had become legendary. He hadn't done westerns in a while and there were barely any coming out at the time. I remember seeing the trailer in the theater before "Lethal Weapon 3" and hearing people gasp and murmur upon the sight of Eastwood's face in the cowboy hat.
Now that you're taking a break from westerns, and if you want to see more Clint Eastwood movies, check out Play Misty for Me. It's a 1970s thriller and one of absolute favorites of his.
Another great thing in the movie is the biographer... he had traveled with English Bob thinking Bob was a big gunman. Then he runs into Little Bill and finds an even harder killer and switches. Then in the bar when he sees Munny come into the bar, even he recognizes and realizes Munny for a true killer, harder than any of the others and death had just walked through the door.
Clint Eastwood is one of the most talented people to have worked in the film industry. I've loved his work since I was a little kid back in the '60s. I'm glad you have experienced this film from Mr. Eastwood, it's one of the finest ever made. My favorite Western, however, was actually a film by Sam Peckinpah called "THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE" (1970), set in the waning era of the Old West (the early years of the 20th Century), much like Peckinpah's "THE WILD BUNCH" (1969). It's unlike any Western you'll ever see, stars Jason Robards and a remarkable supporting cast. There is nothing like it -- be sure to add it to your list, Dawn, you will love it.
Wild Bunch.... WOW what memories! First BLOODY western, as when they got shot... they bleed alot!
Love that someone referenced The Ballad of Cable Hogue! Great film. But unfortunately it would never pass muster with the "Western" movie gatekeepers here. I would love to see how much Dawn identifies with Hildy, Stella Stevens role!
@@ericjorgensen3911 Hi, Eric! Yeah, "THE WILD BUNCH" left a lot of viewers and film critics in a state of shock back when it released. I was still a little kid when I saw it, but I thought it was awesome. I did my master's in Screenwriting and actually did a final project on writing and extended screenplay that picks up at the end of the film. Fun project.
@@Hexon66 Yeah, Dawn will love Stella Stevens' character. I know I do. I was still a little guy when the film released, and I remember the lady sitting behind me in the theater reaching over my seat and trying to cover my eyes in the scene (no spoiler) when the stagecoach showed up early. She failed miserably. I was bobbing and weaving like Muhammad Ali.
Great reaction Dawn. One of the things I love most about this movie is the way Wills character changes once he starts drinking again. The ruthlessness evil that lies within is exposed for all to see and you can see from the reactions of the young kid and the working girls how scared they are of Will and what he has become once more. Thankfully it would seem that the 'stopper' is put back in the bottle at the end and the better part of Will returns. Such a great movie.
DAMMIT! I'm an idiot. I just realized you did these westerns in chronological order! Well played!
😏
@@DawnMarieX You have NEVER reacted to a Western with female leads (1954) movie named "Johnny Guitar" with huge Old Hollywood Actress Joan Crawford is considered a cult classic. 🙃
Really like your reactions. They are so genuine. You really are living these movies, don't you, Dawn? Your laughing during all those Marx Brothers flicks (and, yes, they are hilarious!) always was so infectious that I often found myself rolling on the floor despite living almost 10,000 kilometers away from Scotland. Laughter knows no distance, I guess.
Tombstone is a must see!!!
Yess!
@@DawnMarieX You are absolutely going to love Doc Holliday in Tombstone. Promise. And just to let you know, Tombstone is pretty much based on a true story.
@@DawnMarieX and "Lonesome Dove"
And 'Wyatt Earp' with Kevin Costner
Another western on my favorites list is The Long Riders (1980). It stars four sets of actor brothers as the real-life sets of outlaw brothers.
The Keaches:
James Keach as Jesse James
Stacy Keach as Frank James
The Carradines:
David Carradine as Cole Younger
Keith Carradine as Jim Younger
Robert Carradine as Bob Younger
The Quaids:
Dennis Quaid as Ed Miller
Randy Quaid as Clell Miller
The Guests:
Christopher Guest as Charley Ford
Nicholas Guest as Robert Ford
When we turn our eyes toward the door to see who it is, standing tall and with no fear, it sends a chill down your spine. And when he says, "Bury Ned right or I'll come back and kill everyone of you sons of bitches." I would believe him. Actually think i would move out of that town, just in case. William Munny doesn't seem like a man who goes back on his word.
It's kind of humorous when Clint Eastwood's daughter asks, "Did pa used to kill folks?" She's not expressing dismay. She is expressing disbelief. She is saying that she didn't think her father could hurt anyone.
An incredible output in 7 days, Dawn! So many classics.
Clint Eastwood was channeling his iconic Man With No Name character with "Unforgiven" in a nod to the three spaghetti westerns that made him famous (and with a dedication to director Sergio Leone). Even the timeline of William Munny coincides with Blondie's adventures after the last of the Dollars Trilogy.
we need to keep MissDawn on our Screens 7Days Week!!!! she went and done got us spoilt now!!!!
I'd love to!
@@DawnMarieX we would too,,,,Happy Overload!!!!!😁
This is my absolute favourite Western & Eastwood movie ever!!!!!!
Add The Shootist to your list. It was John Wayne's last movie, he was dying of cancer at the time.
Common misconception. Wayne died 3 years after the premiere of the Shootist. He did not have the stomach cancer at the time that would kill him in June of 1979.
Indeed. That one guy (the undertaker, IIRC) was from the silent movie era and had those exaggerated facial expressions still. Jimmy Stewart, the guy who directed Apollo 13, Richard Lenz as that smarmy newspaper guy (Ma'am, we have a touchy situation here.), Scatman Crothers as the stable keeper. Oh, and the marshal by the guy who played the Colonel in the MASH television show.
IMO, that's the only movie that John Wayne did a decent job of acting in. I've just not been a fan. The Longest Day, sheesh, and while I liked Liberty Valance John Wayne wasn't the best even in that.
@@Anon54387 Watch The Searchers. He should have won an Oscar. The actors names are Ron Howard, Harry Morgan, and John Carradine, who was the father of Robert Carradine (Slim).
seventies westerns They Call Me Trinity and Trinity Is Still My Name are heartwarming
A professor of mine in college, in a class I took that was specfically about Westerns (which was phenomenal, as we watched some of the toppest tier Westerns that exist), had us watch this as the final final film for the class. He broke down why this movie was certainly excellent, but more importantly how it was the nail in the coffin on the Western genre (not in a bad way, at all). Very much has to do with the fact that American Westerns, by nature, were a product of their time; as time and cinema progressed, same as the old west, just started disappearing.
The Western genre will NEVER die because of its strong history and masculine connotation. It might have evolved just like the Samurai genre with likes of John Wick. But there are hugely popular modern TV shows like Yellowstone, Justified. That still show the cowboy in the modern concrete Jungle. Even in new shows like Fallout based on a video game set in a dystopian future u got a Cowboy.One of the most popular video game series and characters on the Playstation is based on the Western. The Western genre is now edge in human mind as a feeling, not just a time. You had Sci Fi westerns like Serenity tv show and movie were u had Cowboys in Space which was very popular with our generation. Im not a Cowboy, but i got 2 cowboy hats i wear regularly. So even if in a thousand years we are still around on other planets, or on a dystopian earth, you are going to have Cowboys in Cowboy hats, and leather outfits.
@@SalPerez-io3mz - Yes, Westerns will always exist now as the genre expanded. And certainly I'm not saying there haven't been good/great ones since (remember, I'm just explaining one person's opinion). But the American Western film genre was a specific product of its time and development of the country itself, and also almost more importantly the changing industry of film and its capbilities, allowing more people to make a growing number of other types of films. The specific likes of it and the cultural shifting of the landscapes was tied directly to the genre, hence why the majority of American Westerns are period-set way back whenever when. The very first footage of film recorded was of someone riding a horse, and the earliest footage for some time after that (video or photograph) was directly of the old west. Cinema and the Western genre are directly tied hand in hand.
Unforgiven very much tackles the theme of the times changing and leaving the wild west behind. Heck, even Red Dead Redemption 2 touches largely on why those times were changing whether people got on board or not.
Europeans in large numbers have always been fascinated by American westerns. Europeans citizens don't have the wide open empty spaces, and they definitely don't have the freedom to just shoot people who are obviously the bad guys. In the westerns good guys hand out justice as a matter of fact 'natural law' sort of thing.
This one and "The Outlaw Josey Wales" are his two best Westerns. And he directed them both!
Once Upon a Time in the West is possibly the very best Western ever.
it's my favorite!
Dawn, in your next western week, please fit in some TV westerns, there are quite a few, but the grandaddy of them all has got to be "Gunsmoke", especially the early episodes from 1955 to about 1965, the early ones were only 1/2 hour long and in black and white, you will absolutely love Matt, Chester, Kitty and Doc, and the rest of the crew, lots of shoot'em ups, bar fights and quick draw show downs, on top of that some really great one-liners sprinkled in, if you watch, I guarantee you'll give it " Best TV Ever"!
Some of the saddest moments involve the subplot with the younger cowboy.
He was not involved in cutting up Delilah, he just stood there while the nasty one was calling to him to help him hurt the girl.
Then later he - alone - tries to apologize and bring her an extra pony, but the other whores are having non of it and chase him off in anger.
Then finally, he is the first to die, and gets gut-shot, dying in great pain.
It was all undeserved, he died just for having been around when the bad cowboy , just guilt by association.
In a way, he's like the counterpart to Ned, who never actually shot anyone. Ned only the guy's horse, but could not go through with the murder - but Ned also dies basically for being associated with a bad guy, not the bad guy himself.
That's a nice comparison. The loss of an innocent man on both sides.
All fits around the theme in the title: Unforgiven.
Who and what are unforgiven? The crime? The people? William Munney?
The story is a great one because it's not romantic or cliched but human - flawed, dark and filled with fallen pride.
"It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna get." Beautiful line.
"Deserve's got nothing to do with it." Keeping it real.
It’s hard to believe that this came out 32 years ago.
It's harder to believe that I was only 26 back then...
@@escapetheratracenow9883 you’re not alone there.
@@RZK1966 I'm glad though, that I was lucky enough to live life to the full back then😀
A good Western with a happy romantic ending is OPEN RANGE with Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall.
Why would you spoil the film?
You really suck. What do you think you gained from doing that?
Don't ever do that again.
You really suck for doing that.
Don't ever do that again.
Everybody has their favorites. For me, I think the best westerns are probably this one and "Tombstone."
This, by far, is the best Western / Clint movie post 1990. I live near Dodge City, Kansas... my opinion is valid. 🤠
You could do worse than going down the Gene Hackman rabbit hole, Dawn. Everyone has their favourite Hackman movieSSSS to list off for ya to watch... you already saw his cameo as the blind man in Young Frankenstein ("Wait... I was going to make espresso." 😂). You could do a Gene week, he really has traversed the gamut of movie genres... Superman, The Firm (Tom Cruise), Absolute Power (again, starring and directed by Clint(!)), The Replacements (with Keanu, SO good), The French Connection, No Way Out (Costner)...
Support Your Local Sherrif
One of my all time favorites. Jack Elam at his best. Funny as hell.
Nah most local sheriffs are corrupt power hungry assholes and the whole concept of sherriffs should be long gone.
..fix his house...
With her sense of humor, she'd love it.
Yes!!! This is such a fun comical movie, especially after a heavy film like Unforgiven.
It's also good that Ms Dawn Marie has already watched westerns like 3:10 to Yuma, High Noon and Rio Bravo.
I absolutely LOVE westerns. I'm a western junky. I love it all. And Unforgiven might be in the top five all time westerns.
One of the best westerns ever made is "A Boy and his Dog."
That's an excellent movie...but I wouldn't personally consider it a Western. It's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi set in a post-WWIII future ...or something. 🤷♂️
@@timothylockard3846 Shhhhh. But, viewed with the right frame of mind, it's a western. Loner on the range and his animal companion encounters an unusual town.
@@btrenninger1 Well, that's fine. If that's how you see it. Not quite my take on it, but...to each his own!
Given the things that happen in that movie, I don't think Dawn would enjoy it. Too dark. A western? Hardly, IMO.
Richard Harris has had a long and Very distinguished career on film and on the stage. An Irishman, knighted by the Queen of Denmark, in the late sixties he talked/sang a wonderful Jimmy Webb tune called MacArthur Park which rose to the top 10 in the pops charts during the days of (wine and roses??) peace, love, and our beloved Hippies. Along with Hackman, Eastwood, and Freeman, he gave the film additional gravitas with an unusual turn as a Brit in the American West.
On that prison scene: the reason Little Bill would've killed English Bob is because there were only 5 bullets in the 6-shot revolver. The revolver was set up on an empty chamber, which means if English Bob had grabbed it and fired first, it would've been empty. Little Bill would've shot him AND the writer, claiming it was an attempted prison escape (because the writer gave Bob a loaded gun, which is technically true). Little Bill was deliberately baiting English Bob so he could kill him without it being considered murder.
If that was Bill's plan he could have just shot them both and placed a gun in Bob's hand. There were no fingerprint analysis, no gun residue analysis, no way of connecting any bullet to a certain gun (other than the caliber and weapon type).
It would make sense, however, if he planned to NOT shoot the writer, then he would be able to witness that Bob tried to fire first, but for whatever reason the gun didn't work, and Bill was justified in shooting back.
@@phj223 Little Bill comes across, at least to me, like a person who considers himself principled (even though he isn't). I think he'd consider that beneath him. What you describe is outright murder, whereas what I described would technically be legal and justified.
That may sound like I'm reading too much into it, but I think it fits with the character's behavior throughout the movie.
And importantly, if he had no intention of killing the writer, he wouldn't have given the gun to him first. His original intention was to claim the writer grabbed the gun and tried to shoot him so he could free English Bob.
That ain't how revolvers work.
They'd put an empty chamber under the hammer so if the hammer was hit, it'd not go off. But the moment the hammer is pulled back (manually or by pulling the trigger if it is a double action) the cylinder rotates to a loaded cylinder.
@@AceMoonshot Did you actually have trouble understanding what I meant, or are you deliberately being pedantic? I meant it was set so that the next cylinder was empty. It shouldn't have been hard to figure out.
@@Hank.. Well, I've always interpreted the scene as Bill giving the loaded gun to the writer, calculating (correctly) that the writer would never shoot him and try to free English Bob. He's just a writer, a civilian making an honest living etc, and Bill knows he's not about to throw that away to free a known gunslinger that he has no loyalty to.
But as Bill reaches out to retrieve the gun, the writer pulls it back and proposes that he give the gun to English Bob. Did Bill plan for this? Possibly, but I'm not sure.
Either way, if Bill had wanted to kill Bob, he could have done it without the writer being there, and just made up any story. The writer has no business in the jail except for Bill allowing it, so if anything I think Bill wanted the writer as a witness. This also fits in with (as you pointed out) with Bill's sense of principles and honor; a straight up murder won't sit well with him, but if there's at least a semblance of a "duel" he's ok with it. ;)
1) Beguiled with Clint Eastwood
2) The Long Riders with full line of top actors (the tale of the Jessie James gang)
3) Cold Mountain with Nicole Kidman
4) The Claim with Wes Bentley and Mila Jovovich
top notch westerns 🤠
If you've never watched LITTLE BIG MAN or the 1962 movie HOW THE WEST WAS WON, you show consider these for your next Western Week. This Western weel has been great. Excellent choices.😊❤️
Definitely doing another one 😁
@@DawnMarieXPlease please please react to Tombstone from 1993, it's roundly considered the best Western ever, with the greatest cast!!! You would go nuts for it!!!!!!! 👍😁🤗
UNFORGIVEN is Clint Eastwood's last western. He sat on the script for a decade, claiming he wasn't old enough for the main part. In reality, he wanted it to become his Western Swansong. UNFORGIVEN is his redemption, his last comment on the genre that made his career. UNFORGIVEN is a story about Western myth-making, the hunt for the juiciest story to tell. Note that all the tales told in this movie are tall ones, except for William Munny, his stories don't give him true credit. For UNFORGIVEN, Eastwood took all the nameless gunmen he ever played and put them together in William Munny, creating a grim reaper coming up from hell, loaded with whisky, "killing women and children, practically everything that walked or crawled from one time to another", and he kills five men, just like that. He leaves the town BIG WHISKY like a dark, evil demon.
During the scene in the jail, when Little Bill has Beauchamp offer the gun to English Bob, the gun is only partly loaded. Once Bill gets the gun back, he unloads it onto the floor - and only 5 cartridges fall, before the sixth chamber clicks on an empty. The gun "would've killed (Bob)" because his first shot wouldn't have done anything, but it would've given Bill a perfect excuse to gun Bob down - at no risk to himself.
I'll have to say that, in my opinion, that's an entirely false premise. Revolvers of that Era were unsafe to carry with a live round under the hammer. Any person who knew *anything* about guns back then would *never* be walking around with 6 rounds loaded in the cylinder.
You would load one round, rotate the cylinder past the next chamber, then load the next 4 chambers, then cock the hammer, and lower it onto the unloaded chamber, so the hammer was resting over an empty chamber. As soon as you thumb back the hammer to cock the gun, the cylinder would rotate, bringing a live cartridge in line with the hammer, ready to fire.
If you carried the gun in your holster with the hammer over a live round, one sharp blow to the back of the hammer, and there was an excellent chance that the gun would discharge. Sure, if you're definitely expecting trouble, you might choose to load all 6 rounds. But otherwise, having 5 rounds loaded in a revolver at that time was absolutely the norm.
@@timothylockard3846 well said and perfectly accurate.
@@timothylockard3846 A young forebear of mine found that out the hard way. German immigrant in his early twenties, a farmer, he joined the Union side in the Civil War. He was on stable duty one night and was running after an escaped horse when he slipped and fell in some mud and his holstered revolver discharged into his side. It took him two weeks to die, so he almost certainly would have survived in an age with antibiotics.
If i remember correctly this movie was the first Academy Award nomination for Eastwood and it was for directing not acting
He also received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor for Unforgiven. (and best picture nomination as the producer)
This is a masterpiece that breaks all the western tropes. I love the scene when Will learns that Ned was killed. He starts drinking whiskey and you can see his transformation ... he is reverting back to his old dangerous self. I'm not sure what you noticed, but The 'Schofield Kid' was scared to death of him at that time. You noticed Will answers "I guess so" a lot until the end when Little Bill said something about him going to hell. Will didn't guess at all with that answer.
Dawn, you would love "Heartbreak Ridge" - a war drama directed and starring Clint Eastwood with "More Badassery!"
I've always loved Young Guns and Young Guns 2, with the notorious Billy the Kid as the central character. So many starting actors in those movies.
Can't wait to see them!
@@DawnMarieX
Awful films. Cheesy and a waste of time. Many better westerns out there.
To continue your Western kick, you should try Rio Lobo with John Wayne!! (not to be confused w/ Rio Bravo) One of Wayne's top films!
YES! The best modern western ever.
Now it's just Once Upon a TIme in the West that's missing (has to be part of the next western week)
(And than Tarantino's The Hateful Eight is also an excellent western.)
I'd add Django Unchained
@@chadfalardeau5396 Yeah, that one is also great!
@@chadfalardeau5396 Yes, that's a real good one as well.
10:03 the actor playing English Bob is Richard Harris who was the first Professor Dumbledore. Fun fact when he was interviewed about role Harris (who was Irish) said he absolutely hated the character because he reminded him so much of the aristocracy in Britain and their sycophants.
Dances with Wolves
Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris and Gene Hackman - best cast ever! Watched it back then in the cinema. Unforgiven = Unforgotten!
Runner up, Glengarry Glen Ross:
Alec Baldwin
Ed Harris
Jack Lemmon
Alan Arkin
Kevin Spacey
Al Pacino