John Ford's Most Spellbinding Westerns
by DoctorBuster | created - 13 Nov 2016 | updated - 09 Oct 2018 | PublicOscar winning director, writer and producer, John Ford, might be best known for his prestige westerns.
Which one of his westerns would you consider to be your favorite?
After voting, you may discuss the list here.
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1. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, Western
A senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
Votes: 82,279
2. The Searchers (1956)
Passed | 119 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
An American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond
Votes: 96,267
3. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,754
4. My Darling Clementine (1946)
Passed | 97 min | Drama, Romance, Western
After their cattle are stolen and their brother murdered, the Earp brothers have a score to settle with the Clanton family.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs
Votes: 25,753
5. Fort Apache (1948)
Passed | 128 min | Drama, Western
At Fort Apache, an honorable and veteran war captain finds conflict when his regime is placed under the command of a young, glory hungry lieutenant colonel with no respect for the local Indian tribe.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, Pedro Armendáriz
Votes: 19,686
6. 3 Bad Men (1926)
Unrated | 122 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Three outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.
Director: John Ford | Stars: George O'Brien, Olive Borden, Lou Tellegen, Tom Santschi
Votes: 1,502
7. Sergeant Rutledge (1960)
Approved | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Western
Respected Black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing a white woman and murdering her father, his superior officer.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter, Woody Strode, Constance Towers, Billie Burke
Votes: 5,364
8. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Passed | 104 min | Western
Captain Nathan Brittles, on the eve of retirement, takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson
Votes: 19,319
9. The Iron Horse (1924)
Passed | 150 min | Drama, History, Romance
After witnessing the murder of his father by a renegade as a boy, the grown-up Brandon helps to realize his father's dream of a transcontinental railway.
Director: John Ford | Stars: George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy, Charles Edward Bull, Cyril Chadwick
Votes: 2,444 | Gross: $2.06M
10. Rio Grande (1950)
Passed | 105 min | Drama, Romance, Western
A cavalry officer posted on the Rio Grande is confronted with murderous raiding Apaches, a son who's a risk-taking recruit and his wife from whom he has been separated for many years.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr.
Votes: 17,662
11. Wagon Master (1950)
Approved | 86 min | Drama, Western
Two young drifters guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter cutthroats, Indians, geography, and moral challenges on the journey.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond
Votes: 5,526
12. The Horse Soldiers (1959)
Approved | 120 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1863, a Union outfit is sent behind Confederate lines in Mississippi to destroy enemy railroads but a captive southern belle and the unit's doctor cause frictions within ranks.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, William Holden, Constance Towers, Judson Pratt
Votes: 11,650 | Gross: $1.75M
13. 3 Godfathers (1948)
Passed | 106 min | Drama, Western
Three outlaws on the run risk their freedom and their lives to return a newborn to civilization.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond
Votes: 10,608
14. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Romance, War
Newlyweds Gil and Lana Martin try to establish a farm in the Mohawk Valley but are menaced by Indians and Tories as the Revolutionary War begins.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver, Eddie Collins
Votes: 6,791 | Gross: $1.00M
15. How the West Was Won (1962)
G | 164 min | Adventure, War, Western
A family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the 19th century, including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.
Directors: John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, Richard Thorpe | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda
Votes: 23,319 | Gross: $46.50M
16. Two Rode Together (1961)
Passed | 109 min | Drama, Western
A corrupt marshal is pressured by his army friend into negotiating the release of white captives of the Comanches, but finds that their reintegration into society has its consequences.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Shirley Jones, Linda Cristal
Votes: 6,950
17. Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
PG | 154 min | Drama, History, Western
The Cheyenne, tired of broken U.S. government promises, head for their ancestral lands but a sympathetic cavalry officer is tasked to bring them back to their reservation.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Sal Mineo
Votes: 6,446
18. Just Pals (1920)
Not Rated | 50 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
Small-town tramp befriends runaway boy.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Buck Jones, Helen Ferguson, Georgie Stone, Duke R. Lee
Votes: 501
19. Straight Shooting (1917)
Passed | 62 min | Drama, Western
Cattleman Flint cuts off farmer Sims' water supply. When Sims' son Ted goes for water, one of Flint's men kills him. Cheyenne is sent to finish off Sims, but finding the family at the newly dug grave, he changes sides.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Harry Carey, Duke R. Lee, George Berrell, Molly Malone
Votes: 718
20. Hell Bent (1918)
53 min | Western
A cowboy must save his girlfriend from captivity and then cross the desert on foot with a single waterhole on the way.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Harry Carey, Duke R. Lee, Neva Gerber, Vester Pegg
Votes: 407
21. A Marked Man (1917)
50 min | Western
A mother is convinced her son is a ranch owner when in fact he is an outlaw, and she just saves him from hanging.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Harry Carey, Molly Malone, Harry L. Rattenberry, Vester Pegg
Votes: 57
22. Bucking Broadway (1917)
53 min | Western
A ranch foreman battles a rich stockbroker for the affections of a beautiful young woman.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Harry Carey, Molly Malone, L.M. Wells, Vester Pegg
Votes: 675
23. The Fighting Gringo (1917)
50 min | Western
On their way to Panama "Red" Saunders, a youth, meets Mary Smith and Arthur Saxon They become friends and he learns Mary is on her way to do missionary work with a Mr. Belknap. Arthur and ... See full summary »
Director: Fred Kelsey | Stars: Harry Carey, Claire Du Brey, George Webb, Rex De Rosselli
Votes: 49
24. A Gun Fightin' Gentleman (1919)
Passed | 50 min | Comedy, Crime, Western
"Cheyenne Harry", owner of the biggest cattle ranch in his corner of the West, is having trouble with John Merritt, a land-grabbing Chicago meat-packer. By some artifice of shrewd legal aid... See full summary »
Director: John Ford | Stars: Harry Carey, J. Barney Sherry, Kathleen O'Connor, Harry von Meter
Votes: 87
25. The Big Punch (1921)
50 min | Western
While preparing to enter a theological seminary, Buck aids his brother and some friends who are fleeing from justice, and thus implicated he is sent to prison for two years, where he meets ... See full summary »
Director: John Ford | Stars: Buck Jones, Barbara Bedford, Jack Curtis, George Siegmann
Votes: 61
26. The Scarlet Drop (1918)
50 min | Western
A man declined admission to fight in the American Civil War joins a gang of marauders and winds up as a fugitive.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Harry Carey, Molly Malone, Vester Pegg, Betty Schade
Votes: 52
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