Saturday, December 30, 2023

2023 Saturdays with the Stars Recap

Yesterday we finished up our month with Kris Kristofferson, and today, we are putting the final cap on our "When Cowboys Ruled Hollywood" season.  I will totally own this, our fifth season, is probably my favorite season we've done since Season 2 (when we tackled sex symbols), and maybe my favorite ever.  I knew going into this that westerns have always been one of my favorite genres, and getting to see such a wide array, including a lot of hidden gems that have been on the To Do list for a while, was an absolute treat.  But I didn't realize how many of the films would end up being downright classics, from Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy to some of the gorgeous westerns that Anthony Mann made with Jimmy Stewart, there are movies on this list that have quickly catapulted to my favorite westerns list, and I have even added a few already to my home collection.

The biggest thing that excited me, though, was how this really ended up being the tale of Hollywood, starting with The Big Trail and ending with Heaven's Gate, and how much of Classical & New Hollywood came in-between.  This has been the case in all of our seasons, but seeing it through the most American of genres, the western, it felt like I was hearing it for the first time.  We'll get into our sixth season, where we will be "Crowning America's Sweethearts," on Saturday, but one last time, take a look at some of the best from this season of "When Cowboys Ruled Hollywood."

Favorite Performance from Each Star 

January: Gary Cooper, Man of the West
February: James Stewart, The Naked Spur
March: Gregory Peck, The Gunfighter
April: Marlene Dietrich, Witness for the Prosecution
May: Randolph Scott, Ride the High Country
June: Yul Brynner, Westworld
July: John Wayne, The Shootist
August: Franco Nero, Querelle
September: Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
October: Robert Redford, Barefoot in the Park
November: Sam Elliott, Molly and Lawless John
December: Kris Kristofferson, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

5 Favorite Performers (Alphabetical, and based solely on the films we watched as a collective & not on the rest of their careers)


5 Favorite Performances of the Year (Alphabetical)


12 Favorite Films of the Year (Alphabetical)


Top 12 Performances of the Year (Not By Our Stars...and Yes, Alphabetical)

Dan Duryea, Winchester 73
Mariette Hartley, Ride the High Country
Burl Ives, The Big Country
Elsa Lanchester, Witness for the Prosecution
Charles Laughton, Witness for the Prosecution
Lee van Cleef, For a Few Dollars More
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1 comment:

Patrick Yearout said...

I adore the Big Country! The cinematography, the score, Burl Ives, even the title sequence!

9:03 PM

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