AFI Names Top Ten Western Films of All Time

The Searchers is Top Movie on American Film Institute List

Jul 27, 2008 Christine Nyholm

The Searchers was named the number one Western movie of all time by the American Film Institute. Westerns are films set in the American West.

The American Film Institute has recently designated the "Top 100 Films of All Time." The op 100 are divided into 10 lists of 10 movies each. The "Top Ten Western Films of All Time" are led by the 1956 movie, 'The Searchers.' The top ten westerns in order are: The Searchers, High Noon, Shane, Unforgiven, Red River, The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Stagecoach and Cat Ballou.

The American Film Institute defines 'western' as a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier. John Wayne acted in three of these top ten movies: The Searchers, Red River and Stagecoach. The oldest movie on the top ten list is 'Red River, made in 1948. The most recent movie on the list is 'Unforgiven,' made in 1992.

AFI Top Ten Epic Films of All Time

1. The Searchers. Western set in 1868 in Texas. Cast: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood. Director: John Ford. 1956
2. High Noon. Stanley Kramer film set in 1870. Three outlaws ride into the western town of Hadleyville. Cast: Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly. Director: Fred Zinnemann. 1952
3. Shane. Paramount film set in Wyoming. Cast: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon de Wilde, Walter Jack Palance. Director: George Stevens. 1953
4. Unforgiven . Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett. Director Clint Eastwood. 1992
5. Red River. A wagon train leaves St. Louis and heads to California in 1851. Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, Coleen Gray. Director Howard Hawks. 1948
6. The Wild Bunch. In 1913, an aging band of outlaws rides into San Rafael, Texas to rob the local railway office. Cast: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates. Director: San Peckinpah. 1969
7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Outlaws go on a bank robbing spree. Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katherine Ross, Strother Martin, Henry Jones. Director: John Foreman. 1969
8. McCabe & Mrs Miller. Western about an itinerant gambler and a madame in 1902. Cast: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois, William Devane, John Schuck. Director: Robert Altman. 1971
9. Stagecoach. Western set in 1855 when the overland stage from Tonto to Lordsburg leaves town with eight people on board. Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell. 1939
10. Cat Ballou Catherine Ballou is an aspiring schoolteacher who travels by train to visit her father in Wyoming. Cast: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, Nat King Cole. 1965.

Resources: American Film Institute and IMDb.

AFI Names Top Ten Epic Films of All Time

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John Wayne in The Searchers

Gary Cooper High Noon