The Saturday Morning Western

I love Saturdays. Saturday mornings especially, and no, not for the reasons you might normally assume either.

You see, Saturday morning is when my favorite television event of the week takes place, the Saturday Morning Western on AMC.

Every Saturday, starting at 6 AM, AMC runs three classic westerns back-to-back-to-back. This week's selections weren't too exciting, but it got me fired up for a John Wayne movie. And since it's a dreary day here in Atlanta, I thought it would be perfect to curl up on the couch and pop one into the ol' DVD player.

Today I figured I'd might as well go for the best, so I put in The Searchers, which is not only my personal favorite western, but is generally considered one of the finest films of all time. The story is a great one as John Wayne's niece is kidnapped by Commanche Indians. Over the course of seven years he tracks them until finally finding and rescuing his niece. It's an amazing movie, the best part of which just might be the scenery it was shot in, Monument Valley in Arizona and Utah.

I highly recommend you check it out if you haven't. And if you get in the mood for more, here are my top five John Wayne westerns.

5) Rio Bravo - John Wayne plays Sheriff John Chance, who arrests the brother of a wealthy land owner for murder. Determined to get him out, the brother hires men to kill Wayne and the men he fights with, including Dean Martin who stars as a character known as Dude.

4) El Dorado - John Wayne stars with Robert Mitchum in this story about two old friends, one a drunken old sheriff (Mitchum) and a famous gunfighter (Wayne) who team up to battle a crooked cattle baron. This movie contains one of my favorite exchanges as Mitchum's character asks Wayne's, "What the hell are you lookin' at?" Wayne replies, "I'm looking at a tin star with a drunk pinned on it." James Caan also stars in the movie.

3) McLintock! - Wayne stars as George Washington McLintock, a rich cattle baron who's wife (Maureen O'Hara) left him years before for a better life. She returns though as their daughter comes home from college. This is a great movie with a lot of laughs, one great fight scene and a lot of memorable quotes including: "I am not intoxicated...yet," "Don't say it's a fine morning or I'll shoot ya!" and the line of the movie, "Pilgrim you caused a lot of trouble this morning, might have got somebody killed. Well somebody oughta belt you in the mouth. But I won't. I won't. The hell I won't!" BAM!!

2) True Grit - John Wayne finally won an Oscar for Best Actor by portraying Rooster Cogburn, a one-eyed, over the hill US Marshall who's hired by a young girl to help track down her father's killer. Robert Duvall stars as outlaw Ned Pepper. Glen Campbell plays a Texas Ranger who helps track down Pepper's gang. The shootout in the end was chosen by Maxim Magazine as the "Best Guy Scene Ever." Wayne stares down Duvall and three of his cronies from across a field.

The exchange is absolutely hilarious:
Ned Pepper (Duvall): What's your intention? Do you think one on four is a dogfall?
Rooster Cogburn (Wayne): I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned. Or see you hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience. Which'll it be?
Ned Pepper: I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.
Rooster Cogburn: Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!

John Wayne then charges them and takes them down. It's a great guy moment.

1) The Searchers - We've already covered this one, so I'll leave you with a memorable quote, said as Wayne's character reveals another character's wife has been murdered by Indians, "What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more!"