The article highlights several iconic Western actors and their available films on Prime Video. It also mentions the must-watch movies in this genre from Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchum, Gary Cooper, and Burt Lancaster.
Many of Hollywood's best Western actors have at least one of their best films available to check out on Prime Video . The streaming service offers small samples from the filmographies of a long list of actors who contributed so much to the Western genre, particularly in the 20th century.
Several of those actors starred in dozens of Westerns over the course of their careers. Many Hollywood stars, like Glenn Ford, Joel McCrea, Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, and James Stewart made several great Westerns, but aren't known exclusively for their work in the genre. The opposite is true for the likes of Randolph Scott, Charles Bronson, and Sam Elliott, who will always be pictured in a saddle or with a revolver in their hand.
John Wayne, for his part, specialized in two genres, Westerns and war movies. Something similar can be said of Robert Mitchum, who is remembered for his Westerns as well as his iconic film noir roles. For one reason or another, all the aforementioned actors are icons of the Western genre. And fortunately, in the cases of some of these stars, a few of their films are fairly easy to find and watch online.
Multiple John Wayne Westerns, for instance, are in Prime Video's library, just as it with the Westerns of Gary Cooper, Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchum, Clint Eastwood, and Burt Lancaster. But all six actors have one movie in particular on Prime Video that's considered a must-watch. Clint Eastwood - High Plains Drifter A handful of Clint Eastwood's Westerns can be watched on Prime Video: Two Mules for Sister Sara, Paint Your Wagon, Hang 'Em High, and High Plains Drifter.
Both Hang 'Em High and High Plains Drifter are incredible entries into the genre, but the better of the two is arguably High Plains Drifter, which masterfully weaved a supernatural tale into a Western revenge movie. In the film, Eastwood stars as The Stranger, a gunslinger who takes over a town and brings misery upon its citizens.
As the story plays out, the film gives the eerie impression that Eastwood's character is the spirit of a dead man wrongfully killed by the townspeople. Although it may seem like a surprising mix of genres, the terror that the Stranger inflicts on the town meshes perfectly with Eastwood's knack for playing morally gray anti-heroes in dark and gritty Westerns.
Even in Westerns without horror elements, such as Fistful of Dollars and Unforgiven, Eastwood brings an intimating presence to his films, with characters easily coming across as men to be feared and never to be trifled with. The actor turns it up a notch in High Plains Drifter to create one of his scariest and most imposing roles. John Wayne Because they're in the public domain, several of John Wayne's 1930s Westerns are available on Prime Video.
However, the vast majority were low-budget, forgettable movies made before the actor found his footing in his Hollywood. Also found on the streamer is the very film that changed the trajectory of John Wayne's career forever - Stagecoach. Released in 1939, the genre-defining Western charted a path for Wayne with a scene that's since become a metaphor for his rise in Hollywood.
From the moment John Wayne's Ringo Kid stands in front of the stagecoach and halts its ride to Lordsburg, it's clear that Stagecoach is his movie, even if it's Claire Trevor who has top billing. Wayne isn't yet a star in the industry, but his charasimatic performance effortlessly allows him to take command of the story, which takes viewers through a long journey across the desert, culminating in one of the greatest action sequences you'll ever see in a Western.
Randolph Scott - Last Of The Mohicans Prime Video offers a few worthwhile Randolph Scott Westerns, from Canadian Pacific to Wild Horse Mesa. The best of these is one of his earliest efforts, The Last of the Mohicans. In a turn that feels quite different from the standard cowboy roles he later became distinguished for, Scott plays Hawkeye white man who grew up in a Mohican tribe and learned their ways.
Hawkeye becomes a guide for a group of people navigating an area overrun with violent Mohawks. The premise lays the groundwork for an interesting romance arc for Hawkeye and one of the women in his charge, great action sequences, and superb cinematography. It's no wonder the Randolph Scott film boasts a 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The 1936 film, which is based on a novel of the same name, was remade in 1992 with Daniel Day Lewis stepping into Scott's shoes. The remake was an Academy Award-winning classic and is remembered today as one of Danie Day Lewis' best movies. While the original doesn't boast the same reputation, it too uses the source material to deliver a gripping story and an intriguing protagonist in Hawkeye.
Burt Lancaster - Vera Cruz There's no shortage of enjoyable Burt Lancaster-led Westerns on Prime Video, with The Kentuckian, The Devil's Disciple, Apache, and Lawman all being quality vehicles for the actor. But while good, none of these stack up to the legacy of Vera Cruz, which sees Lancaster star opposite Gary Cooper in a story about a soldier and a veteran of the Confederate army who team up to escort a beautiful countess to Veracruz.
An assortment of colorful characters on board for the adventure, combined with standout performances from Lancaster and Cooper go a long way toward making Vera Cruz an entertaining Western. But that's only part of its charm, as it also excels in using the darker facets of the Western genre to build nuanced characters. How well it achieves this is evidenced by the fact that it had an influence on the"godfather" of the Spaghetti Western himself, Sergio Leone.
Robert Mitchum - The Man With The Gun With his nonchalant,"tough guy" persona, Robert Mitchum is easily one of the greatest leading actors in the Western genre, and what makes him so good at playing the hero in films such as these is on full display in The Man with the Gun. The 1955 black-and-white Western places Mitchum in the role of Clint Tollinger, a town-tamer.
In other words, Tollinger is a gunslinger paid to essentially clean up towns of the crime and corruption that infests them. Newsletter: Classic Western Picks and Prime Video Finds Subscribe to the newsletter for curated must-watch picks, smart context, and Prime Video recommendations that spotlight classic Westerns — perfect for fans who want dependable, handpicked streaming choices and deeper film insight.
Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. It's a perfect part for Mitchum, whose penchant for playing villains lends itself well to a character like Clint Tollinger.
He's the hero of the story, but also someone overswelling with confidence, to a point where he's easily able to assert control and decide for himself what's best for the town, much to the chagrin of the people around him who disagree with his methods. To them, it's he who's the villain, threatening their way of life.
Gary Cooper - Man Of The West Interestingly, Vera Cruz is but one of the two all-time great Gary Cooper Westerns on Prime Video. The other is Man of the West, a 1956 film that tells a story that would feel like it belongs in a 1940s film noir, were it not for its Western landscape. In Man of the West, Cooper plays Link Jones, a seemingly innocent, principled man on a mission to recruit a schoolteacher for his own.
But certain misunderstandings thrust Link into a conflict with a gang, which ultimately reveals that there really is more to Link than what meets the eye. Link Jones is a unique Western protagonist, in that he blurs the line between the near-perfect heroes seen in so many 1950s Westerns and the more morally ambiguous anti-heroes found in The Searchers and Clint Eastwood's Westerns.
Jones has elements of both kinds; as Link pursues a noble goal and stays true to his wife, he feels like any other Gary Cooper role. But other moments in the draw out a darker side to him that's fascinating to watch.
Western Actors Prime Video Quick Movie Watch Clint Eastwood John Wayne Randolph Scott Robert Mitchum Gary Cooper Burt Lancaster Must-Watch Western Movies
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