Western Bad Guys

[Retro Grouch]

Everyone has a favorite good guy but who were your favorite bad guys?

Charlie "Blackie" King

 

[The Captain]

Retro, one that comes to mind is the late Jack Elam. His scenes in the opening of "Once upon a Time in the West" are gems.

Richard

 

[jamespowers]

He was even better with a bit of comedy in Blazing Saddles as a sicophantic bad guy to Hedley Lamar (Harvey Corman).
How about John Russell in Rio Bravo? Can't help but hate him there.

Regards to all,

J

P.S. Notice how El Dorado is the same story line with different people? I dislike Ed Asner more as the villian in El Dorado but that might have something to do with him personally. LOL

 

[Retro Grouch]

All those are great bad guys. Jack Elam will be missed.

Who could forget Headley...Hadley...Hidley...?LOL

 

[SamMarlowPI]

Brian Dennehy in Silverado was pretty evil...

Alan Rickman in Quigley Down Under...

and of course Ian McDonald as Frank Miller in High Noon...

 

[Doh!]

Bruce Dern in The Cowboys.

Yul Brenner in Westworld.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Let's not forget one of the great against-type castings of all time: Henry Fonda as the vicious killer Frank in Once Upon A Time In The West.

 

[merkman]

Lance Henrikson in "Dead Man"
Karl Malden in "Nevada Smith"

 

[Martinis at 8]

Lee Van Cleef

 

[Josephine]

Eli Wallach as Tuco (The Ugly). My favorite line from a movie, bar none: If you're going to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.

 

[Justdog]

Western Badguy

Jack Palance

 

[Mark G]

"Progress" in "Monte Walsh".

 

[Dixon's Dame]

Richard Boone and Lee Marvin.

 

[Elmonteman]

Those guys mentioned so far are classic, but Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men" is the scariest and maybe the new standard bearer for evil in modern Westerns. He is an emotionless, compassionless killing machine with a very 'sick' sense of humor. Surprising that he won an Academy Award for that role since "heavies" never seem to get the credit they deserve.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

Lee Marvin.

Liberty Valance was one mean guy...

 

[Hondo]

Liberty Valance was one mean guy...

Right between the eyes! (Liberty) :eusa_clap

 

[SamMarlowPI]

Right between the eyes! (Liberty) :eusa_clap

i also think he has one of the best movie deaths...

 

[Naphtali]

I've always preferred villains who were predominantly not evil guys -- that is, not stick figures. Among Western villains like that are:
1. Arthur Kennedy in "The Man From Laramie" (1955) and "Bend of the River" (1952);

2. Burl Ives and Charles Bickford in "The Big Country" (1958);

3. Walter Brennan in "The Westerner" (1940);

4. John Wayne in "Red River" (1948) and "The Searchers" (1956);

5. Emile Meyer (Rufus Ryker) in "Shane" (1954). I rooted for him against Shane because I felt he was right. Only his final method was wrong.

 

[blacklagoon]

Richard Boone was magnificent in Big Jake with John Wayne.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

forgot about Eli Wallach in Magnificent Seven...