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The short answer, quoted from Wikipedia, is as follows
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italian Western, is a broad sub-genre
of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio
Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The
term was used by critics in USA and other countries because most of
these Westerns ...
10
The Spaghetti Western, or Euro-Western, carries the legacy of NeoRealism in its very fabric, yet is a conscious step away from the Historical cynicism and introversion that had entrenched itself within Italian Cinema.
Cinecitta, as the Italian Film Mecca or "Hollywood on the Tiber" was naturally the primary studio for most Italian Neorealism (after being re-...
answered Mar 26 '14 at 21:33
John Smith Optional
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I don't know if the references to westerns are quite as direct as you might be expecting. Interviews with Vince Gilligan about the series indicate that he was influenced by many films of many genres, and the western was certainly among them. These are a few examples
Tuco Salamanca was named after Tuco Ramirez, the 'Ugly' in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
...
7
Ooops! - I found the answer myself! It's Bite the Bullet (1975), starring Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen and James Coburn. Not as good a movie as I'd have hoped from that line-up, in all honesty.
The movie centres on a 700-mile "endurance horse race". I think one of the central themes is basically that it's "the American way" to win at all costs. Per the ...
6
I have at least a partial answer myself (even though I'd like to hear others):
The direct inspiration for the Man with No Name character seems to have been the character of Sanjuro Kuwabatake, in the film Yojimbo: This is a samurai film by Akira Kurosawa, with the character played by Toshiro Mifune.
This character, in turn, was supposedly inspired by The ...
6
Based off your description and an extensive search, I believe that I found your childhood western, Los Amigos. It also goes by Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears.
From Wikipedia:
"...Johnny recognises a girl he earlier has watched taking a bath in the river as the prostitute Susie Q..."
"...Deaf pays so he can spend a night with her..."
"...They set ...
6
Could be Blind Justice (1994):
Source
... a western about a blind gunfighter roaming the range with a baby in tow.
The enigmatic Canaan (Armand Assante) is a serape-clad vision in black, first glimpsed carrying a swaddled infant through Monument Valley
[...]
He gets sidetracked in a one-horse town, where a small band of federal ...
6
For some reason I keep being drawn to The Magnificent Seven - but I have a feeling it's a John Ford film as mentioned elsewhere.
Here's a couple of '7' shots anyway.
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As I've written before, I don't watch westerns, but I just found a clip of Rango that shows the few minutes up to the above screencap. The surrounding area looks like Monument Valley, which is where John Ford is known to make his westerns. Feeling that Rango was looking to employ the well-known, I was concentrating on the John Ford/Monument Valley ...
5
This sounds like Firecreek. Jimmy Stewart plays a part-time sheriff in a small town:
"He is a peace-loving farmer whose childishly made sheriff's badge is practically an honorary one."
Roger Ebert described the sheriff (and badge):
This time, Jimmy is the part-time sheriff of a town populated with broken-down, defeated settlers. He gets two bucks a month ...
5
Hmmm... Seem like you will have to be cautious as this reminds me of Mos Eisley Spaceport where you won't find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy:
In case you don't know, this is from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
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You might be looking for At Gunpoint starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone, and Walter Brennan:
The peace-loving owner of a general store, who became a town hero when he luckily killed the leader of a gang of bank robbers, is deserted by the townspeople who fear the threatened return of the vengeful bandits.
5
I've decided to put my comment as an answer, since it might get more to the point of the original question.
In the mid-to-late 1800s, tales of cowboys both famous and infamous were filtering into the eastern US, and piquing interest. The idea that the west was still wild, as opposed to New York City, for example, was fairly romantic and exciting. At the ...
4
The existing answers have already provided some very interesting examples and I'd like to add a few small things, even if they're not directly referencing particular movies or not too obvious or relevant. Of course there's all the more general Western themes probably discussed in your links already, the whole New Mexico setting and the many scenes shot in ...
4
A Thunder of Drums
IMDb:
The trials and tribulations of bitter veteran Captain Maddocks and
argumentative rookie Lieutenant McQuade at a cavalry desert outpost.
Captain Maddocks will never be promoted beyond Captain because of a
mistake that he made in the past. Lt. McQuade is a green rookie who is
now under the command of the tough Captain ...
4
Thanks to the research by the commenters above, I am sure the location must be the "Bonanza Creek Ranch". Looking at the location on Google Maps it fits with where we were shortly before and afterwards. Doing a new search, there are 3 films within the time frame:
The Preacher and the Gun (this looks hilariously awful)
Sweet Vengeance (aka Sweetwater)
The ...
3
I was specifically looking for such a thread, I am happy to see somebody else already asked the question! Nice interpretation of Todd's killing, I hadn't noticed that. I can give my two cents and add further evidence.
It is very interesting that you mention Once Upon a Time in The West (OUaTitW) by Leone because that it is the main influence for the series ...
3
This is Michael Curtiz's B Western The Boy from Oklahoma from 1954. From the TCM synopsis:
On his way to an apprenticeship in Lincoln, Tom Brewster, a correspondence school law student from Oklahoma, rides into the corrupt town of Blue Rock to mail his examination papers. The post office is closed because it is Election Day, but alcohol flows freely in ...
3
I agree with the first answer above. And maybe it is as simple as that in terms of how the question was worded. But I would like to bring a little reality here, since this is what those artistic images actually represent. So... Is this just an edible prop to show austere, unsanitary conditions, or was it really the way it was?
In one case, you have the ...
3
Looks like baked beans. A common staple in American's diets (or at least was a common staple...)
2
Stories of the Western US have been popular in the past. Like other genres, their popularity seems to wax and wane over the years. The Wikipedia article on Western Fiction has a fairly good timeline pointing out such eras of popularity as (paraphrasing) :
pre-1850's - James Finemore Cooper's stories, including "Last of the Mohicans"
1850-1900 - "...
2
The concept of "revisionist" means just that; they aim to revise history. Many of Eastwood's movies use themes and characters that wouldn't really exist in the era the Western is meant to portray. For instance, you wouldn't have Native American or female Marshals, and movies that use those characters are revisionist because they create a false sense of ...
1
Well, after the WWII, in Italy there was the so called "Hollywood on Tevere". Because of an Italian law, American productions were obliged to invest part of their earnings due to the Italian audience in Italy. Enchanted by the urban and natural landscape, lots of productions started in Italy, starting a strong co-operation with Italian movie artists and ...
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