Alan Ladd, Clint Eastwood, and John Wayne loom large in the lineup.
Great news, buckaroos: The good folks at Turner Classic Movies have rounded up a passel of westerns for our viewing enjoyment in July. On each Tuesday and Wednesday during the month, TCM will air all-day/all-night blocks of sagebrush sagas, during a special series, hosted by Keith Carradine, titled Shane Plus 100 More Great Westerns.
The straight-shooting begins at 6:15 am ET July 5 with The Great Train Robbery, Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 silent classic, and concludes very late July 27 — specifically, at 2:25 am ET July 28 — with Michael Cimino’s controversial 1980 epic Heaven’s Gate.
In between, TCM will offer a series of mini-festivals dedicated to key stars, directors and subgenres. There will be no fewer than three such programs dedicated to John Wayne, focusing on his collaborations with John Ford (July 5), Howard Hawks and Andrew McLaglen (both July 20). Also on tap: Programs of pictures starring Randolph Scott (July 6), Clint Eastwood (July 19), and Glenn Ford (July 20), and others directed by Sam Peckinpah (July 6), Anthony Mann (July 12), and John Sturges (July 13).
A program of Epic Westerns — including The Big Sky (1952), How the West Was Won (1962), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), The Alamo (1960), and Cimarron (1960) — is set for July 12. And if you like cowboy stories with a few good laughs, check out West Comedies on July 26. That lineup includes Buster Keaton in Go West (1925), Laurel and Hardy in Way Out West (1937), James Garner in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), and Jeff Bridges and Andy Griffith in Hearts of the West (1975).
And Shane? Director George Stevens’ enduringly popular 1953 drama starring Alan Ladd will be part of the Great Barroom Brawls lineup also slated for July 26.
But wait, there’s more: Singing Cowboys (July 13), Spaghetti Westerns (July 19), True Stories (July 27), and Revisionist Westerns (also July 27).
Here is a link to the complete Shane Plus 100 More Great Westerns schedule.
