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The Searchers (1956)

Often cited as one of the most complex and greatest Westerns ever made, director John Ford’s moody tale stars John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran who returns to his settler brother’s West Texas home and finds that his family has been attacked by the Comanche. Joined by a half-breed youth (Jeffrey Hunter) raised by the family, Edwards begins an all-consuming search for his surviving niece (Natalie Wood), now living with her captors. Ward Bond, Vera Miles also star; based on Alan Le May’s 1954 novel. 119 min. C/Rtg: NR

The Wild Bunch (1969)

In the Southwest of 1913, a band of outlaws led by Pike Bishop (William Holden) is seeing their way of life fading into history. The gang is coerced by a ruthless Mexican general (Emilio Fernández) into robbing a shipment of U.S. Army guns, a move that has fatal consequences as they’re double-crossed by their employer and pursued by a posse headed up by Bishop’s former partner (Robert Ryan). Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates, Edmond O’Brien co-star in this violent masterpiece from Sam Peckinpah. Director’s cut; 145 min. C/Rtg: R

How The West Was Won (1962)

The sprawling story of three generations of 19th-century pioneers, and their odyssey from New England to the frontier, is a true western classic with an all-star cast. The saga begins as families are joined together when fur trapper Linus Rawlings (James Stewart) marries Eve Prescott (Carroll Baker) after saving her family from river pirates. John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Debbie Reynolds, and Gregory Peck co-star; Spencer Tracy narrates. Co-directed by John Ford, Henry Hathaway, and George Marshall. 164 min. C/Rtg: G