The star-studded series continues through Aug. 11 on HDNET Movies.
When the folks at the HDNET Movies cable channel asked Wes Studi to serve as host for their Summer of Westerns series, the Cherokee actor and activist — and C&I reader favorite — didn’t hesitate to sign on. “I like westerns,” he told us. Then, with a chuckle, he added: “And I have no problem with having my face on television for an entire summer.”
John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Burt Reynolds, James Garner, Bruce Dern, Gary Cooper and Sidney Poitier are among the other famous faces you’ll be seeing as Summer of Westerns, which began May 19, proceeds apace on Sundays through Aug. 11. Here are the remainder of the titles in store on HDNET Movies.
Sunday, June 2
The Duel (2016) — Liam Hemsworth stars as a Texas Ranger who investigates a series of murders in a small town led by a charismatic preacher played by Woody Harrelson. (9 pm ET)
The Homesman (2014) — Tommy Lee Jones is director and star of this drama about a wayward claim jumper who teams up with a devout pioneer woman (two-time Oscar-winner Hilary Swank) to escort three insane women from Nebraska to Iowa across the 1850s frontier. (10:55 pm ET)
June 9
Red River (1948) — Howard Hawks’ classic western pits John Wayne as a fanatically driven cattle driver against Montgomery Clift as his reluctantly rebellious adopted son. (9 pm ET)
The Alamo (1960) — John Wayne does double duty as director and star of this epic historical drama co-starring Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey, Richard Boone, Chill Wills and Patrick Wayne. (11:15 pm ET)
June 16
Duel at Diablo (1966) — James Garner stars to perfection in director Ralph Nelson’s violent western as a former army scout in grim pursuit of the varmint who killed his Indian wife. But the real scene-stealer is Sidney Poitier, who comes off as the epitome of self-assured cool as a high-stakes gambler and seasoned horse-breaker who doesn’t aim to please. (9 pm ET)
Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973) — John Wayne reunites with director Andrew V. McLaglen (The Undefeated, McLintock!) to play a widowed lawman whose impressionable sons (Gary Grimes, Clay O’Brien) fall under the influence of a notorious outlaw (George Kennedy). (10:50 pm ET)
June 23
Chisum (1970) — John Wayne rides again, this time as land baron John Chisum in a drama loosely based on real-life events that defined the 1878 Lincoln County War in the New Mexico Territory. Co-stars include Forrest Tucker, Ben Johnson, Patric Knowles, Christopher George and John Agar. (9 pm ET)
Lone Star (1996) — Writer-director John Sayles’ critically acclaimed contemporary western stars Chris Cooper as a Texas county sheriff who comes to suspect his late father (Matthew McConaughey), a legendary lawman, may have killed his corrupt predecessor (Kris Kristofferson). (10:55 pm ET)
June 30
Death Rides a Horse (1967) — A gunfighter (Lee Van Cleef) recently released from prison has good reason to a help a young man (John Philip Law) who goes gunning for the outlaws who killed his family in Giulio Petroni’s cult-favorite Spaghetti Western. (9 pm ET)
The Cowboys (1972) — Yep, this is the one where Bruce Dern plays the bad guy who shoots John Wayne in the back. And then he gets exactly what’s coming to him. (11 pm ET)
July 7
Man of the East (1974) — One of several Spaghetti Westerns directed by Enzo Barboni under the pseudonym E.B. Clucher, this one starring Terence Hill as a dreamy young man who attempts to fulfill his father’s dying wish by becoming a Wild West hero. (5:15 pm ET)
Man of the West (1958) — Gary Cooper is the star of director Anthony Mann’s western about a reformed outlaw forced to rejoin the gang led by his aging uncle (Lee J. Cobb). (7:15 pm ET)
The Kentuckian (1955) — Burt Lancaster is director and star of this period drama about a rugged frontiersman bent on relocating to 1820s Texas with his young son. (9 pm ET)
Sam Whiskey (1969) — A roguish adventurer (Burt Reynolds) agrees to help preserve the honor of a sexy widow (Angie Dickenson) by recovering a cache of gold bullion her late husband stole from the Denver Mint – and then breaking into the mint vault to replace the booty. Clint Walker co-stars. (10:45 pm ET)
July 14
The Hills Run Red (1967) — A heaping helping of Spaghetti Western action, starring Thomas Hunter as an ex-convict who gets help from a mysterious stranger (Dan Duryea) while seeking revenge against the former partner who betrayed him. (5:30 pm ET)
The Mercenary (1970) — From Spaghetti Western master Sergio Corbucci (Django, Navajo Joe) comes a violent drama about a cynical revolutionary (Franco Nero) who joins forces with a Mexican revolutionary (Tony Musante) — and runs afoul of a flamboyant gunfighter (Jack Palance). (7:05 pm ET)
The Professionals (1966) — A personal favorite of Hell on Wheels star and occasional C&I contributor Anson Mount, who wrote about it in our November/December 2016 issue. (9 pm ET)
Vera Cruz (1954) Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster and Ernest Borgnine star in director Robert Aldrich’s hard-edged western about a plot to steal gold intended to pay Emperor Maximillian’s army during the Franco-Mexican War. — (11 pm ET)
July 21
Barquero (1970) — Lee Van Cleef is a feisty ferry operator who impedes the progress of a murderous outlaw (Warren Oates) and his gang as they attempt to escape into Mexico. (5:30 pm ET)
Man with the Gun (1955) — Robert Mitchum plays a lawman who uses any means necessary to rid a Wild West town of outlaws in this western directed by Richard Wilson (Invitation to a Gunfighter). (7:30 pm ET)
Young Billy Young (1969) — Robert Mitchum again, this time as a former Dodge City sheriff who accepts as his protégé a callow young gunfighter (Robert Walker Jr. in the title role) while searching for his son’s killer. Burt Kennedy served as director, working from a screenplay he adapted from a novel written by Henry Wilson Allen under the pseudonym Will Henry. (9 pm ET)
Lawman (1971) Burt Lancaster plays a brutally efficient marshal on the trail of rowdy cowboys who shot up his town and left an elderly citizen fatally wounded in director Michael Winner’s violent western. Robert Duvall, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Ryan, J.D. Cannon, Joseph Wiseman, Ralph Waite and Sheree North co-star. (10:30 pm ET)
July 28
The Misfits (1961) — Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe made their final screen appearances in director John Huston’s drama about an aging cowboy’s relationship with a newly divorced young woman. (4:55 pm)
The Glory Guys (1965) — Directed by Arnold Laven (Rough Night in Jericho, Sam Whiskey) from a screenplay by Sam Peckinpah, this rousing western finds a U.S. Cavalry officer (Tom Tryon) and his regiment’s scout (Harve Presnell) vying for the affections of deals with a beautiful widow (Senta Burger) when they’re not involved in a campaign against the Sioux. James Caan, Andrew Duggan, Slim Pickens and Peter Breck co-star. (7:05 pm)
The Indian Fighter (1955) — Kirk Douglas plays a frontier scout hired to escort a wagon train bound for Oregon in this period drama directed by Andre de Toth (House of Wax). Walter Matthau, Lon Chaney Jr. and Elsa Martinelli loom large in the supporting cast. (9 pm ET)
Stagecoach (1966) — Alex Cord fills in for John Wayne as The Ringo Kid in director Gordon Douglas’ remake of John Ford’s 1939 classic. Also on board: Bing Crosby, Ann-Margret, Michael Connors, Red Buttons, Bob Cummings, Stefanie Powers, Van Heflin and Slim Pickens. (10:30 pm ET)
Aug. 4
Gun Fury (1953) — Rock Hudson plays as an ex-Confederate soldier on the trail of a cynical outlaw (Philip Carey) who left him for dead and abducted his fiancée (Donna Reed) during a stagecoach robbery. (7:30 pm ET)
Two Rode Together (1961) — An Army major (Richard Widmark) and a Texas marshal ((James Stewart) form an uneasy alliance while trying to ransom captive held by Comanches in John Ford’s western.(9 pm ET)
Buchanan Rides Alone (1958) — One of the best collaborations of director Budd Boetticher and veteran actor Randolph Scott, about a cowboy who befriends a young Mexican who avenges his sister’s honor by fatally shooting the spoiled son of a politically ambitious judge. (10:55 pm ET)
Aug. 11
Unforgiven (1992) — Clint Eastwood Oscar-winning masterpiece, which we celebrated on its 25th anniversary. (9 pm ET)
Mackenna’s Gold (1969) — Omar Sharif plays a wily bandit named Colorado in director J. Lee Thompson’s star-studded western. And, as he told us back in 2004, he treasured the experience: “I remember I had a scene by a sort of campfire or something. And there was Gregory Peck, there was Lee J. Cobb, there was Edward G. Robinson, there was Eli Wallach and Telly Savalas and Raymond Massey. All these great actors were sitting around the campfire, and I was making a speech to them. The thrill of just meeting these people — that’s a thrill that can’t be duplicated.” (11:15 pm ET)
