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The Wild WestDiscussions on Cowboys & Indians, Mexican War, etc. Sponsored by Wild West magazine.
Lee Marvin as Tully Crow in the 'Commancheroes'. There was more abject, smouldering evil, anger and rage expressed in his all too short, 10 or 12 minute performance than any other that comes to mind..
I agree with you about Marvin's performance, but I think that he was even meaner and more evil as Liberty Vallance.
Let's not forget "Walter" Jack Palance as Jack Wilson in "Shane" - a snake on legs.
I completely agree! Shane is one of my all-time favorite westerns, largely because of Palance's performance, although Alan Ladd is also unforgettable in the title role
Ben Foster as Charlie Prince in "3:10 to Yuma". Stylishly evil, quick witted, utterly ruthless, but also loyal and a very fast accurate shot. A complex character.
TadCar: Just FYI; it wasn't Dan Duryea, but rather Richard Widmark who tied Mildred Dunnock (who also played Elvis Presley's mother in Love Me Tender) to her wheelchair and pushed her down a flight of stairs, snickering as she bounced to her death. The film was the 1947 production of Kiss of Death with Victor Mature in the lead and Widmark's breakthrough performance as Tommy Udo!
My own favorite evil bad guy was "Jack Wilson" in SHANE, played by the wonderful Jack Palance (billed as Walter Jack Palance). Then for the most durable bad guy of them all - Roy Barcroft who appeared in close to 400 movies, cliffhangers and TV Episodes.
I think for most enduring "bad guy" in a western...Clint Eastwood. Even if he lived by his own code of honor, he still had borderline ethics and moral flaws in many of his characters. Unforgiven, Josey Wales and High Plains Drifter immediately come to mind.
He's the bad guy we love because he is easy to identify with.
For one-time movie roles, as has been mentioned before, Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West. He played this role with such malevolence, so utterly evil in every way, he seems inhuman. As if he were this dark maelstrom trying to destroy everything in it's path.
Another recent movie I would also classify as a modern day western had a similar character - Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men.
Both of these characters lack any kind of moral compass, any kind of reason for showing mercy other than random chance. I can think of other honorable mentions for western characters with a similar vein. But these two roles stand out to me. I still can't see a different Hank Fonda movie without thinking of his role in that film.
Ben Foster as Charlie Prince in "3:10 to Yuma". Stylishly evil, quick witted, utterly ruthless, but also loyal and a very fast accurate shot. A complex character.
"I hate posses"
Careful rancher. That's Ben Wade you are talking too. He is may favorite of the present day.
Dirty Ned Peeper gets my vote for films done back in the 1960's and 1970's.
For one-time movie roles, as has been mentioned before, Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West. He played this role with such malevolence, so utterly evil in every way, he seems inhuman. As if he were this dark maelstrom trying to destroy everything in it's path.
Speaking of Fonda, he was a great heel playing the role of Owen Thursday in Fort Apache:
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The Ibis
“Here’s a horse that had a guy with a flaming spear on his back, who parades in front of 60,000 screaming fans with the band playing, and a guy in a duck costume is going to scare him?” John Routh
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