BEST WESTERN COMEDIES
by mikegreco | created - 26 Feb 2018 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicThe best western comedies are satires, parodies, or spoofs of the western genre. They expose the "chinks in the armor" (no pun intended) of America's beloved cowboy heroes, the frontier communities they saved, and the myths about themselves that Americans cherish.
BLAZING SADDLES is the best of the great western comedies--a hilarious parody that disarms its audience with belly laughs while exposing its hypocrisy, racism and pusillanimity.
Sheriff Bart tips his hat and greets a little old lady with "mornin' ma'am. And isn't it a lovely mornin'?" She rudely responds: "Up yours, nigger!"
The Waco Kid attempts to console his friend Sheriff Bart: "What did you expect? 'Welcome, sonny'? 'Make yourself at home'? 'Marry my daughter'? You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know . . . morons."
The following twenty films, listed in order of excellence, are the best comedy western movies that make fun of America's sacred mythmaking genre.
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1. Blazing Saddles (1974)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Western
In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman
Votes: 152,446 | Gross: $119.50M
2. Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
G | 92 min | Comedy, Western
In the old west, a man becomes a Sheriff just for the pay, figuring he can decamp if things get tough. In the end, he uses ingenuity instead.
Director: Burt Kennedy | Stars: James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan
Votes: 12,690
3. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,686 | Gross: $102.31M
4. McLintock! (1963)
Passed | 126 min | Comedy, Western
Wealthy rancher G. W. McLintock uses his power and influence in the territory to keep the peace between farmers, ranchers, land-grabbers, Indians and corrupt government officials.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen | Stars: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Patrick Wayne, Stefanie Powers
Votes: 16,604
5. Little Big Man (1970)
PG-13 | 139 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam
Votes: 37,886 | Gross: $31.56M
6. Maverick (1994)
PG | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Bret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner, Graham Greene
Votes: 119,034 | Gross: $101.63M
7. North to Alaska (1960)
Approved | 122 min | Comedy, Romance, Western
During the Alaska gold rush, prospector George sends partner Sam to Seattle to bring his fiancée but when it turns out that she married another man, Sam returns with a pretty substitute, the hostess of the Henhouse dance hall.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian
Votes: 8,486
8. The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
GP | 103 min | Western
An aging cowboy finds to his embarrassment that the successful business he has inherited from his brother is actually a house of prostitution.
Director: Gene Kelly | Stars: James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Shirley Jones, Sue Ane Langdon
Votes: 5,079 | Gross: $0.11M
9. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
PG | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Stranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Tom Wilson
Votes: 480,706 | Gross: $87.73M
10. City Slickers (1991)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Western
On the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.
Director: Ron Underwood | Stars: Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 63,046 | Gross: $124.03M
11. Three Amigos! (1986)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Western
Three actors accept an invitation to a Mexican village to perform their onscreen bandit fighter roles, unaware that it is the real thing.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Alfonso Arau
Votes: 83,635 | Gross: $39.25M
12. Son of Paleface (1952)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Western
Junior Potter returns to claim his father's gold, which is nowhere to be found. "Mike" is the luscious head of a gang of thieves, and Roy Barton is the federal marshal hot on her trail.
Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers, Trigger
Votes: 2,508
13. A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Western
As a cowardly farmer begins to fall for the mysterious new woman in town, he must put his newly found courage to the test when her husband, a notorious gun-slinger, announces his arrival.
Director: Seth MacFarlane | Stars: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried
Votes: 198,482 | Gross: $43.14M
14. The Paleface (1948)
Approved | 91 min | Comedy, Family, Western
Calamity Jane is dispatched to find out who's smuggling rifles to the Indians, and winds up married to a hapless correspondence-school dentist as part of her cover.
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Robert Armstrong, Iris Adrian
Votes: 4,561
15. The Westerner (1940)
Passed | 100 min | Drama, Western
Judge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Doris Davenport, Fred Stone
Votes: 6,797
16. Rango (2011)
PG | 107 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Rango is an ordinary chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless outpost in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 292,990 | Gross: $123.48M
17. Rancho Deluxe (1975)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Romance, Western
Two drifters, of widely varying backgrounds, rustle cattle and try to avoid being caught in contemporary Montana.
Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Elizabeth Ashley, Clifton James
Votes: 2,148
18. The Sheepman (1958)
Passed | 85 min | Western
A brash stranger and his sheep arrive in a small town, but not soon after, the townspeople decide they've seen enough of him.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLaine, Leslie Nielsen, Mickey Shaughnessy
Votes: 3,019
19. Along Came Jones (1945)
Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Romance, Western
A good-natured saddle tramp traveling with his sidekick is mistaken for a ruthless outlaw with a price on his head.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, William Demarest, Dan Duryea
Votes: 2,406
20. Cat Ballou (1965)
Not Rated | 97 min | Western
A young schoolteacher turns into an outlaw to avenge her murdered father.
Director: Elliot Silverstein | Stars: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman
Votes: 16,190 | Gross: $20.67M
21. Destry Rides Again (1939)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Western
Deputy sheriff Destry tames the town of Bottle Neck, including saloon singer Frenchy.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger
Votes: 12,547 | Gross: $0.35M
22. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In Vinegaroon, Texas, former outlaw Roy Bean appoints himself the judge for the region and dispenses his brand of justice as he sees fit.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Paul Newman, Ava Gardner, Roy Jenson, Gary Combs
Votes: 9,332 | Gross: $16.53M
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