"The Long Riders" should be on the list. The settings actually looked like Missouri, not the south west. Also casting real brothers as the James, Youngers, etc. really worked.
"I Will Fight No More Forever", 1975. The story of Chief Joseph's resistance to the federal government taking the land of his tribe, the Nez Perce. Powerful, and accurate movie.
A very good movie indeed. And the story is both sad and remarkable, especially since the Nez Perce had been very peaceful but when they fought the Army, they won repeatedly.
This will amuse you. I was researching Wild West swear words last week and came across a site titled "Frontier Cussing." The author pointed out that both soldiers and Indians became adept at learning each other's swear words, which resulted in this exchange during a battle with the Nez Perce: "Nez Perce warriors overheard General Miles yell to his men, “Charge them to hell!” A bemused Nez Perce fighter adept in English cursing taunted: “Charge, hell! You s*ns of b*tches! You aren’t fighting g*dd*mned Sioux!” Nez Perce laughter and whoops erupted from rifle pits across the hillsides." :)
However, changing the reason why he left the res is taking a bit too much poetic license. Him feeling fenced in and restrained and bugging off is different from being forced to leave.
Regarding The Big Trail, I recall watching a documentary on the early days of filmmaking and someone being interviewed mentioned when filming this movie, a call went out to locals for covered wagons, draft animals and extras. The wagons and people in this film were actual wagons, pioneers and their decedents. He said they need very little direction. They knew how the hitch up and drive the wagon's, cross a river and set up camp.
Actually, gambling was not allowed in most saloons. Gambling halls, brothels and saloons were separate establishments in most cases. The "all in one" saloon with dance hall girls and gambling tables is a Hollywood invention. Hollywood saves money by building one "set" instead of 3 separate "sets" for each activity.
These are some good choices all though I'd say Culpepper Cattle Company was a bit on the Monty Python Holy Grail "just throw mud on the peasants and it will be realistic" side;). Jeremiah Johnson would be another decent pick for a follow up video for it's portrayal of the fur trade era in the west.
@@robertclark972 In New Zealand, the campfire sound effects were replaced with neighing horses. It wasn't til many years later that I got to hear the intended full track.
Although "Once Upon a Time in the West" is a favorite of mine, it's not really historically accurate at all. Only aspects of it could be called accurate, such as the fact that railroads needed water along the routes, and helpless widows sometimes faced unscrupulous men who pressured them for their property or forced them into marriages. But that happened mostly in the South after the Civil War. I actually met an old woman from Texas in the 1990s, who told me her life story. It was about how a man had forced her to marry him by threatening to shame her. He treated her cruelly throughout their marriage. When he died, she was finally free. I sat spellbound and amazed for at least an hour, listening to her. I wanted to do or say something to help, but it was obvious that I had already done all I could by just listening to her.
"Ride with the Devil", the most accurate portrayal of the border areas of Civil War, including the correct age of actors portraying the characters. Bloody Bill Anderson was in his early 20's, killed at age 24 actually, rather than the middle aged men usually used. The cultural issues of slave vs free state also covered in a realistic rather than preachy way, as well as the young men's alliances based of personal associations rather than ideologies or any 'nobel' reasons. Many buildings used were actual antebellum structures and movie filmed in region where events occurred. Historical re-enactors used as extras.
Yeah, RWTD showed how war was in the borders between Kansas/Missouri. Really depicted the sacking of Lawrence,KS. in how it historical correct the filmmaker shot it. Too many people don't even know that technically the War started there, and not by firing on Ft. Sumpter five years later.
Underrated CLASSIC. I didn't even hear about the movie when it came out. I was in the Navy so I missed a lot back then.....but when I did come across it I assumed everybody loved. Come to find out it was panned by critics and mostly known for the Western Jewell was in But to me it makes my top 10. Love that movie
@@carywest9256 Anyone who knows much about the Civil War knows about the history of "Bloody Kansas," John Brown's "Beecher's Bibles," etc. But few know that the reason was that if Kansas became a slave state, the South would have enough votes to defeat the tariffs that were the real cause for the near secession of 1828, and the actual one in 1861. Secession was why Lincoln invaded the South. He said that he would use troops to enforce the new Morrill Tariff that raised the taxes even higher on Southern produce. Without the tariffs, the North would collapse economically. You can find this in history books, but you have to dig for them.
I have a big problem with the "historical accuracy" of the "Iron Horse". The whole concept of the engineer trying to save 200 miles on the length of the railroad is at odds with historical fact. In fact the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific went out of their way to make the route longer, They actually passed each other before the government forced them to link up. This was because both railroads wanted to claim as much land as possible along the right of way in a gigantic land grab. 🤠🤠🤠🐴🐴🐴
I think the point of the video is the most realistic about western life, not about railroad history. Not that I agree with the list as there been far more realistic movies about the West made more recently.
Unforgiven . . . Clint Eastwood's deconstruction of the Western genre is missing. A colossal blunder in the video. Depiction of clothing, weapons, brutality, and life overall combined with fantastic writing, acting, and cinematography. . . .
I am not enough of an expert on the period to know what details are right and wrong so I can only go by those movies that had an authentic feel to them. The Culpepper Cattle Company is one that certainly had the right vibe for me.
I agree, and I’m glad to see Monte Walsh on the list, too. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it so I may be off the mark, but Bad Company, with Jeff Bridges, had a similar vibe for me.
I agree fully. I saw Harry Tracey with Bruce Dern and it just was perfect the clothes were perfect the deep wagon rutts in the mud road the board and batten construction It was my aha moment. I am now a true movie freak, directors never got my appreciation now I see them as the driving force. Stanley Kubrick's movies are masterpieces I never realized at the time why they were so so good, I just felt it
@@richard8626 What do you mean by "wrong time period"? The era of the American Western began around 1805, the dawn of Westward Expansion, and ended around the time of the First World War. _The Wild Bunch_ is sometimes called the greatest western of all time, and it took place in 1913.
Except of course, bullets don’t make you fly backwards thru the air. That scene in that movie is the reason we have this spillway ass trope of folks in movies getting hit with bullets and flying thru the air. The main reason bullets Work is that they keep moving fast, you you have so much inertia, you don’t
Western movies showed people wearing what we know now as “cowboy hats “, that is false, they wore what was worn back home in the East. The Stetson didn’t come until later.
Actually the Stetson's Boss of the Plains was first manufactured in 1865. Bowlers were very popular in the Victorian age. Felt hats, and military hats were common as were sombreos in some areas of the southwest. The turned up brims and modern cowboy hats weren't around until 1920s movie cowboys. So y'all are both partially right but way off in giving a full explanation as was my explanation also. People in the west wore what they had.
Well, that was the California Gold Rush, which was a thing in itself. I grew up right there and studied the Gold Rush up close. Our family had property near "Hangtown," Placerville. I even used to go gold dredging with my uncle who had a prospector's license. Yes, I love "Paint Your Wagon." But we must keep in mind that it was a musical comedy in a historical setting.
A vastly under rated film IMO. The scene where Horn is slogging across the street in town thru mud to the top of his boots shows just how unglamorous the West was.
I remember seeing, "The Culpepper Cattle Company," when it was released - at the drive-in with my family. I recall being shocked at the language used - and thus getting insight into how things really were as opposed to the sanitized versions we'd gotten up to that point. It was an eye-opener for me. Thanks for sharing these selections.
What's funny is that "Culpepper Cattle Company" was rated PG. Had the "PG-13" rating existed then, I'm sure it would've received it. Hell, it may have even received an "R" rating had it been submitted in the late 1980s. That era of 1970-1977 was probably the most liberal that the MPAA was prior to the current era. "Outlaw Josey Wales" is another one that had nudity, near rape, violence and harsh language that somehow earned a PG rating.
I was going to mention this . The atmosphere, the solitary life, the nightmarish setting. Robert Altman made several great avant-garde films, and this was one of the unforgettable best.
Have tried numerous times over my life to watch that movie since have read the reviews. Find it extremely boring after about 20 minutes into it and loosing all interest.
What is a shame is that normally if I saw a movie here that I wanted to see. I would get the DVD from Netflix. But we cannot do that anymore. So much of our movie culture has been cut off from us.
Nicely done....very tight assembly of facts and pix. A fun note: I spent a day in Moab on the set of Geronimo. In between takes filming a formation of cavalry riding from right to left in a wide shot, the occasional white rental car would pop into view bouncing through the sage brush.
"Conestoga Wagons": were not used on the journey west across the grasslands. They were too too big and heavy and would get stuck every two minutes.. They were used east of the Mississippi as freight haulers. They needed actual roads to haul Freight
my vote is Tombstone with Kurt Russell , Authentic costumes and the way they carry their guns on their hips are very accurate and Tom Horn with Steve McQueen,
Tombstone is a highly fictionalized portrayal of historical events. The costumes (by Joseph Porro) looked great on screen, but were revisionist designs cut from modern patterns, rather than authentic patterns. It was a highly stylized look that borrowed some elements of historicity, but if you were to take a time machine back to the Tombstone of that era, you wouldn't have seen anyone looking like they did in the movie.
Exelent choices and many classic examples that no one really knows your a true expert on films unlike many bogus pillocks that pass themselves off as film critics You’ve gained a fan Keep going 🎥
As a lover of the genre, a common mistake appears to be the lack of men's facial hair. If you look at photos of the period, few men are clean shaven like John Wayne and other leading actors of the time.
A shave was something you had to go to town for. Aint got time to clean shave on the old dusty trail....especially back then.....there were no portable razors. Just straight razors
There was a Canadian-French western in the 80s titled Bordertown which is amazingly accurate, there was an entire town build In Pitts Meadows, BC Canada that was in part modeled after the stores in Shane, another historically accurate movie.
The old Westerns seem more accurate to me. The background shots, the players have authentic look to their faces, the action of the shots all speak realism as many of the props, players, etc. Were not far removed from the real time. I love bar room shots as many of the older guys sitting at the tables just look so authentic as gold miners, mule skinners, plainsmen,etc.
You have the support of Westen Historian Gregory Michno. "Circle the Wagons" is his title for a review of the most accurate Hollywood depictions of the Old West. He makes that very same statement and gives examples.
I think I would have placed one of Gary Cooper's last Westerns on this list, "The Hanging Tree". Whether Cooper's costume was authentic or not, add to it Karl Malden's means of dressing, Maria Schell's plain dressings, George C. Scott's attire as with the rest of the cast.
Again..... nice collection. Conspiculusly absent is Will Penny with C. Heston and Ben Johnson. The gear and particularly the dialog are 'real' period cowboy. Watch it and discover what 'stud duck' refers to.
I'm not an accredited Old West historian either. So my choice of "most historically correct western" will be the Three Stooges' "Out West". Seems accurate to me.
Interesting collection. I have seen most of these, but will make sure to see the ones that I missed. I know you only have so much time, but there are a number of titles I would have included with these, "Jeremiah Johnson," "Tom Horn" (Steve McQueen), is another true story of the end of an era and the fate of men who made the new one possible. Not one on your list dealt the the very real and common enough history of Indian raids and white captives. "The Searchers" is based on a combination of captive stories from Texas, which probably saw more of that activity than anywhere else (see Gregory Michno's "A Fate Worse than Death"). Another one that pulls no punches is "Ulzulmo's Raid." "The Long Riders" is a very good rendition of the James/Younger Gang. My two favorite "minor" Westerns that portray aspects of frontier life that are worthy are "The Oxbow Incident," and "Yellow Sky." "Heaven's Gate," contains a lot of accurate names and events, but scrambles and condenses it while making a major faux pas in casting Cattle Kate as a foul-mouthed French brother operator (which Kate was not, but accused of being), culminating in an exaggerated siege at the end. But it's gorgeously filmed with an equally gorgeous soundtrack. It at least might stir interest in the actual history of the Johnson County War. "Pat Garret and Billy the Kid," trudges along, but tells the story well. It's possible that Bob Dylan might have time-traveled back there to cover Billy's back at the right moment, sure, why not?
NIce presentation. Thank You. Some of the films presented I haven't seen but intend on seeking them out. On a personal note, I always liked Death Valley Days, especially the old ones from the early to mid 50's with the Old Ranger hosting. I felt and the TV show encouraged believing that the stories were true. Maybe care wasn't taken in the production but the story's felt real. I also liked Zane Gray books and felt a sense of reality with these stories as well. Dick Powell did a fine job on TV but I'm not so sure if the ZG stories were true or not. Back in the 1930's there were still people walking around who lived during the later half of the 1800's. That may have been some of the reasons things were produced with more care to detail. I'm assuming all this. Anyways, Thanks for entertaining me.
How is Unforgiven or Pale Rider or Wyatt Earp or Remake of True Grit or original film not on here. There are several movies I would have recommended. Hondo is another good accurate representation of old west in the movies. Tombstone is actually pretty close to the vest too. 3:10 to Yuma the remake was spot on. The Missing is another good choice.
@michaelwall3393 You seem to have mistaken films you like as being 'historically accurate' simply because they're good movies. I like the Scott Forbes _Adventures of Jim Bowie_ television series, but that doesn't make it an accurate depiction of Bowie's life. _Tombstone_ is one of the least historically accurate westerns ever made. Much of the story was entirely fictional, and what few historical pieces that ended up in the film came from the 1927 novel _Tombstone: An Iliad of the Soutwest_ which was itself mostly fiction. And let's not even start on Val Kilmer's accent, which no southerner has ever sounded like at any point in history. Revisionist Westerns such as _Unforgiven_ , _Pale Rider_ , and _Wyatt Earp_ are, by their very nature, inaccurate, as they're revisionist history. They present a revised depiction of the American West that is more suited to drama than realism, in order to tell a more compelling story. Dimestore Westerns (ie, westerns based on dimestore novels like _Hondo_ , _True Grit_ , and _3:10__ to Yuma_ ) fall into this same category, as they are *romanticized* westerns meant to depict an idealized fictional West that never actually existed. _Tombstone_ and the Kevin Costner _Wyatt Earp_ both draw very heavily from Dimestore paperbacks of the early 20th century, such as the aforementioned "Tombstone: An Iliad" novel and the myriad of fictional biographies of the Earp Brothers and Doc Holiday. Much of John Ford and John Wayne's Western output is based on this romanticized wild west. Part of the reason so many Americans have such a skewed understanding of history is because they base their knowledge on Hollywood movies. They're not documentaries; they're meant to generate profit from people that want to see an entertaining story. Occasionally, you'll find a movie that tries to do both- entertain and educate- but this is the exception rather than the rule.
The video mentions Brigham Young movie taken in 1914. The movie came out in 1914 the actors in it would’ve been teenagers, or younger. they must’ve meant 1934 or 44.
I always hated that Westerns always showed all the women, no matter what station in life, looked like they’d just stepped out of the Beauty parlour complete with modern hairstyles and makeup. Particularly in the fifties and sixties, the women’s over coiffed wigs were often the strangest of colours. It used to make me laugh in derision, and I was just a young girl.
Holsters were as rare as they were expensive. Wyatt Earp didn't wear one at the infamous Gunfight at the OK Corral (which didn't take place there). It was common to tuck pistols in the belt. Handguns were expensive, too and cheap, those that were sometimes dangerous were used far more often than the better made and much more expensive Colts. Stetson Hats (actual and knockoffs) didn't become popular in the West (or anywhere else) until they were mass manufactured in Philadelphia in about 1885. Genuine Stetson's were expensive and probably not all that common in the West until about 1890. Every western movie cowboy hat is referred to as a "Stetson" whether they were or not. The aforementioned Wyatt Earp sported a Derby at the OK Corral gunfight. No holsters? No Stetsons? No one would make a movie like that.
The Good the Bad & the Ugly depicted the civil war like no other before it. Following that film other movie's had to up their game. Glory is another one, Arizona, Outlaw Josey Wales (though a fictional character, it was period accurate). How the West was Won movie had many accurate depictions, as did Paint Your Wagon (though with less singing). Others, such as Ride With the Devil, Young Guns, Tombstone/Wyatt Earp, Little Big Man, Soldier Blue, The Alamo (newer film) are all honorary mentions with very good, though different levels of accuracy.
As with literature , film tends to project a lot of irony onto situations Of course without that you have no entertainment so it seems to be necessary But getting at reality is quite a different thing allowing you to vicariously feel what it was like Actuality the people that lived during these so-called Western times in the USA we're just people trying to get by much as they are now or ever have been So technology or historical circumstances in context provide a backdrop for what is otherwise the samald's human story over and over and over I suppose what makes it special special is the idea that people were pouring in to wyeah yeah 2 wilderness areas to claim land and in the beginning there would be lttle local law enforcement and of course clashes with the native Americans who are already there But as far as the being outside the shining light of law enforcement many extreme rural areas around the world experience that, and people have to fend for themselves
But it lies by omission. Brigham Young and his colony nearly went to war with the United States, they only backed down when the U.S. Army was on its way to Salt Lake City. And there were some very dark occurrences and practices. The Mountain Meadows Massacre was an event that today would be called a major terrorist act by a religious sect. It requires a great deal of fanaticism and hate to convince a couple hundred men, women, and children to lay down their arms and separate only to be slaughtered wholesale by sex and age. Only a few children survived.
The most accurate western of all time was the 2012 Hatfield & McCoy's, you could follow the story along with online encyclopedia. Out of all westerns ever made and I seen a lot of them, this is one western where you actually see someone putting bullets in the belt loops on a gun belt, you just try and see that in a western, a lot of westerns show loading the revolver from gun belt but never putting bullets in the gun belt but yet you always see bullets in the gun belt..... Fun fact, No bullet loops on gun belts on tv show Bonanza cept when Guy Williams was on....
That film can't really be called a Western because it happened in West Virginia, far away from the actual West. I'd agree that classifying is a problem, however.
I would massively suggest "Westward the Women"... You'd never get Hollywood to fund this again, nor actresses to put up with what the many women did... No air conditioners nor blow dryers for these hard working stars... YP
I raised this point too. Westward the Women was a little schmalzy at the beginning and end, but what's in the middle is pure gold. Really captures the hardships.
News of the World is an odd one but I liked it in large measure because it very well-depicted the oppression of Yankee occupation of the South and was surprisingly sympathetic to Southerners. The scene where Hanks's character meets a Yank patrol and the arrogance and hostility of the Yanks was written on their faces and the fear and trembling of their victims clear. Coming from Hollywood and Hanks both, this surprised me.
I only watched Geronimo. That movie is pretty far removed from reality. It's a standard Hollywood 'Also Dances With Wolves' biopic, replete with unrealistic gun duels. Makes me suspect the rest of your choices are also crap. John Ford the exception, of course
No mention of Jane Mansfield and Kenneth Moore. Support your Local Sheriff an honourable mention . Pure escapist mind bubblegum? Alias Smith and Jones? And that Risable Kung Fu series! So much entertainment in picking them apart. Spoofs are the best. Calamity Jane! And Jimmy Stuart, Henry Fonda as inheritors of the Little Ho House?
I still have that book. It made a profound impact on my world view when it was published. "They made many promises, they never kept but one, they promised to take our land and they took it". Government promises remain the same what was yours is theirs.
Surprised you left out 1951's Westward the Women, with Robert Taylor, Denice Darcel, and John McIntire. The depiction of the hardships faced while crossing the country to northern California was very realistic. The production company took a couple of months teaching the largely female cast to ride, shoot, and drive a team. Some films that you did include show women wearing lipstick, but I don't believe lipstick (or lip coloring) became acceptable to other than prostitutes until the very early 20th century. Pioneer women didn't wear it.
Whats the point of showing a bunch of dusty westerns too old to be interesting to contemporary viewers, when there are so many well done and enjoyable modern films that are widely praised for their historical accuracy? Take for instance "Once upon a time in the West", by Sergio Leone.
The majority of my audience is over 65 and enjoy the older classics. That does'nt mean I don't include newer westerns, in fact some of my videos are dedicated to them, take a look in my channel.
@@famouspeople63 almost everything ... Sons of poor widowed homestead , forms a strong brotherly bond , gold rush background, Pacific coast western location, early San Francisco included , gun fight scenes quite accurate and psycho mentality moulded by 1800 harsh life out west. .
"The Long Riders" should be on the list. The settings actually looked like Missouri, not the south west. Also casting real brothers as the James, Youngers, etc. really worked.
I agree - wholeheartedly!
Yes - you're correct
Amen!
Yes! Great film!
My personal best western ever!
"I Will Fight No More Forever", 1975. The story of Chief Joseph's resistance to the federal government taking the land of his tribe, the Nez Perce. Powerful, and accurate movie.
A very good movie indeed. And the story is both sad and remarkable, especially since the Nez Perce had been very peaceful but when they fought the Army, they won repeatedly.
A couple of plaques at Ft. Leavenworth tell his story..... quite a man.
This will amuse you. I was researching Wild West swear words last week and came across a site titled "Frontier Cussing." The author pointed out that both soldiers and Indians became adept at learning each other's swear words, which resulted in this exchange during a battle with the Nez Perce: "Nez Perce warriors overheard General Miles yell to his men, “Charge them to hell!” A bemused Nez Perce fighter adept in English cursing taunted: “Charge, hell! You s*ns of b*tches! You aren’t fighting g*dd*mned Sioux!” Nez Perce laughter and whoops erupted from rifle pits across the hillsides." :)
@@wyominghome4857 And a good time was had by all...hopefully.
@@wyominghome4857 Did you know that Sioux warriors accompanied General MIles to fight the Nez Perce? Indians in rifle pits?
I noticed the most accurate films seemed to be one's dealing with every day life and struggles, not Gunslingers and Lawmen.
Wes Studi’s portrayal of Geronimo was very accurate in clothing and weapons, and stuck closely to true life story.
However, leaving out the surrender is sort of like lying by omission.
However, changing the reason why he left the res is taking a bit too much poetic license. Him feeling fenced in and restrained and bugging off is different from being forced to leave.
@@hardrockminer-50 actually, he was transported to Florida along with his small group of Chiricahua followers .
Regarding The Big Trail, I recall watching a documentary on the early days of filmmaking and someone being interviewed mentioned when filming this movie, a call went out to locals for covered wagons, draft animals and extras. The wagons and people in this film were actual wagons, pioneers and their decedents. He said they need very little direction. They knew how the hitch up and drive the wagon's, cross a river and set up camp.
Most people didn't play poker in saloons waiting to get in a gunfight. The average person lived quiet lives on a farm
Actually, gambling was not allowed in most saloons. Gambling halls, brothels and saloons were separate establishments in most cases. The "all in one" saloon with dance hall girls and gambling tables is a Hollywood invention. Hollywood saves money by building one "set" instead of 3 separate "sets" for each activity.
These are some good choices all though I'd say Culpepper Cattle Company was a bit on the Monty Python Holy Grail "just throw mud on the peasants and it will be realistic" side;). Jeremiah Johnson would be another decent pick for a follow up video for it's portrayal of the fur trade era in the west.
Blazing Saddles was very accurate. Mel Brooks bent over backwards to carefully depict the Real West.
except " it'll never work- they will kill him in one day" was probably true.
Did the audio man get nominated for the campfire scene ?
@@robertclark972 " want some beans , Mr. McTaggert?"
Most accurate portrayal of the consequences of a diet consisting of beans, black coffee and bacon.
@@robertclark972 In New Zealand, the campfire sound effects were replaced with neighing horses. It wasn't til many years later that I got to hear the intended full track.
Open Range.
Lonesome Dove.
Once Upon a Time in the West.
Although "Once Upon a Time in the West" is a favorite of mine, it's not really historically accurate at all. Only aspects of it could be called accurate, such as the fact that railroads needed water along the routes, and helpless widows sometimes faced unscrupulous men who pressured them for their property or forced them into marriages. But that happened mostly in the South after the Civil War. I actually met an old woman from Texas in the 1990s, who told me her life story. It was about how a man had forced her to marry him by threatening to shame her. He treated her cruelly throughout their marriage. When he died, she was finally free. I sat spellbound and amazed for at least an hour, listening to her. I wanted to do or say something to help, but it was obvious that I had already done all I could by just listening to her.
"Ride with the Devil", the most accurate portrayal of the border areas of Civil War, including the correct age of actors portraying the characters. Bloody Bill Anderson was in his early 20's, killed at age 24 actually, rather than the middle aged men usually used. The cultural issues of slave vs free state also covered in a realistic rather than preachy way, as well as the young men's alliances based of personal associations rather than ideologies or any 'nobel' reasons. Many buildings used were actual antebellum structures and movie filmed in region where events occurred. Historical re-enactors used as extras.
Yeah, RWTD showed how war was in the borders between Kansas/Missouri.
Really depicted the sacking of Lawrence,KS. in how it historical correct the filmmaker shot it.
Too many people don't even know that technically the War started there, and not by firing on Ft. Sumpter five years later.
Underrated CLASSIC. I didn't even hear about the movie when it came out. I was in the Navy so I missed a lot back then.....but when I did come across it I assumed everybody loved. Come to find out it was panned by critics and mostly known for the Western Jewell was in
But to me it makes my top 10. Love that movie
@@carywest9256 Anyone who knows much about the Civil War knows about the history of "Bloody Kansas," John Brown's "Beecher's Bibles," etc. But few know that the reason was that if Kansas became a slave state, the South would have enough votes to defeat the tariffs that were the real cause for the near secession of 1828, and the actual one in 1861. Secession was why Lincoln invaded the South. He said that he would use troops to enforce the new Morrill Tariff that raised the taxes even higher on Southern produce. Without the tariffs, the North would collapse economically. You can find this in history books, but you have to dig for them.
I have a big problem with the "historical accuracy" of the "Iron Horse". The whole concept of the engineer trying to save 200 miles on the length of the railroad is at odds with historical fact. In fact the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific went out of their way to make the route longer, They actually passed each other before the government forced them to link up. This was because both railroads wanted to claim as much land as possible along the right of way in a gigantic land grab. 🤠🤠🤠🐴🐴🐴
Not to mention, they got paid by the mile. The more miles the more they got paid and the more land they acquired.
I think the point of the video is the most realistic about western life, not about railroad history. Not that I agree with the list as there been far more realistic movies about the West made more recently.
Unforgiven . . . Clint Eastwood's deconstruction of the Western genre is missing. A colossal blunder in the video. Depiction of clothing, weapons, brutality, and life overall combined with fantastic writing, acting, and cinematography. . . .
True, and no where near the Black Hills.
I am not enough of an expert on the period to know what details are right and wrong so I can only go by those movies that had an authentic feel to them. The Culpepper Cattle Company is one that certainly had the right vibe for me.
I agree, and I’m glad to see Monte Walsh on the list, too. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it so I may be off the mark, but Bad Company, with Jeff Bridges, had a similar vibe for me.
Lonesome Dove better be on this list .
I agree fully. I saw Harry Tracey with Bruce Dern and it just was perfect the clothes were perfect the deep wagon rutts in the mud road the board and batten construction It was my aha moment. I am now a true movie freak, directors never got my appreciation now I see them as the driving force. Stanley Kubrick's movies are masterpieces I never realized at the time why they were so so good, I just felt it
The Long Riders. The most historically accurate depiction of the James-Younger gang ever made. 1980
The Outlaw Josie Wales could be added. Depicting post civil war violence
Wrong rime period .
That's all any westerns do.
@@richard8626 What do you mean by "wrong time period"? The era of the American Western began around 1805, the dawn of Westward Expansion, and ended around the time of the First World War. _The Wild Bunch_ is sometimes called the greatest western of all time, and it took place in 1913.
Shane! The plot is dead on to reality. Cow men and farmers war,
Except of course, bullets don’t make you fly backwards thru the air. That scene in that movie is the reason we have this spillway ass trope of folks in movies getting hit with bullets and flying thru the air. The main reason bullets Work is that they keep moving fast, you you have so much inertia, you don’t
Not surprising that so many were made when there were still people alive that had lived through such times.
Western movies showed people wearing what we know now as “cowboy hats “, that is false, they wore what was worn back home in the East. The Stetson didn’t come until later.
Yes the Bowler was actually pretty popular.
Actually the Stetson's Boss of the Plains was first manufactured in 1865. Bowlers were very popular in the Victorian age. Felt hats, and military hats were common as were sombreos in some areas of the southwest. The turned up brims and modern cowboy hats weren't around until 1920s movie cowboys. So y'all are both partially right but way off in giving a full explanation as was my explanation also. People in the west wore what they had.
I loved the film Paint Your Wagon because for the first time it showed how filthy dirty and muddy life was in the Wild West.
Well, that was the California Gold Rush, which was a thing in itself. I grew up right there and studied the Gold Rush up close. Our family had property near "Hangtown," Placerville. I even used to go gold dredging with my uncle who had a prospector's license. Yes, I love "Paint Your Wagon." But we must keep in mind that it was a musical comedy in a historical setting.
Goes to show that Hollywood can 'produce' good quality films that retain historical accuracy.
McCabe and Mrs. Miller always struck me as being very period-correct.
Tom Horn with Steve McQueen gets my vote
A vastly under rated film IMO. The scene where Horn is slogging across the street in town thru mud to the top of his boots shows just how unglamorous the West was.
I always thought that the “Long Riders” was a very accurate film.
HOUR OF THE GUN from 1967 is not purely accurate, but has some essential truth in it. Besides being an incredibly good movie.
The great locomotive chase was the story of the first recipients of the congressional Medal of Honor.
I remember seeing, "The Culpepper Cattle Company," when it was released - at the drive-in with my family. I recall being shocked at the language used - and thus getting insight into how things really were as opposed to the sanitized versions we'd gotten up to that point. It was an eye-opener for me. Thanks for sharing these selections.
What's funny is that "Culpepper Cattle Company" was rated PG. Had the "PG-13" rating existed then, I'm sure it would've received it. Hell, it may have even received an "R" rating had it been submitted in the late 1980s. That era of 1970-1977 was probably the most liberal that the MPAA was prior to the current era. "Outlaw Josey Wales" is another one that had nudity, near rape, violence and harsh language that somehow earned a PG rating.
What do you think about McCabe and Mrs Miller. You can just feel the cold, damp muddy conditions.
I was going to mention this . The atmosphere, the solitary life, the nightmarish setting. Robert Altman made several great avant-garde films, and this was one of the unforgettable best.
Superb film & overlooked by critics. Also add to this list: The Ballad Of Caleb Hogue, Meeks Cutoff, The Great Silence & Once Upon A Time In The West.
Have tried numerous times over my life to watch that movie since have read the reviews. Find it extremely boring after about 20 minutes into it and loosing all interest.
I get your point about the plot but sometimes I will watch a film for it's atmosphere, costumes etc...even if the plot is thin.
What is a shame is that normally if I saw a movie here that I wanted to see. I would get the DVD from Netflix. But we cannot do that anymore. So much of our movie culture has been cut off from us.
Don’t forget Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! Most people sang and danced their way through life back then.
With a full orchestra to accompany them.
Nicely done....very tight assembly of facts and pix. A fun note: I spent a day in Moab on the set of Geronimo. In between takes filming a formation of cavalry riding from right to left in a wide shot, the occasional white rental car would pop into view bouncing through the sage brush.
Thanks for the personal note
Meeks Cutoff. The ultimate accurate western film. From guns; wagons to women's dresses every detail was historically accurate. Fantastic film.
"Back to the Future III" gets my vote.
Many of tom sellecks movies are accurate as far as clothing is concerned. Sam Elliott too
Both men have a moustache. That helps a lot!
See my video on the best Mustaches in westerns in my channel, they both feature
Absolutely
I love those original Conestoga wagons, never see that in movies anymore.
"Conestoga Wagons": were not used on the journey west across the grasslands. They were too too big and heavy and would get stuck every two minutes.. They were used east of the Mississippi as freight haulers. They needed actual roads to haul Freight
You beat me to it, Conestoga wagons weren’t used by pioneers moving west.
“Bring ‘em Young”
That’s rich.
I saw the, "Big Trail". I was actually impressed. I would like to see "Geronimo".
my vote is Tombstone with Kurt Russell , Authentic costumes and the way they carry their guns on their hips are very accurate and Tom Horn with Steve McQueen,
Broke back Mountain where cowboys are making love to each other in the wilderness. 😊
Fun film to watch, but a far cry from being accurate in numerous ways.
Tombstone is a highly fictionalized portrayal of historical events. The costumes (by Joseph Porro) looked great on screen, but were revisionist designs cut from modern patterns, rather than authentic patterns. It was a highly stylized look that borrowed some elements of historicity, but if you were to take a time machine back to the Tombstone of that era, you wouldn't have seen anyone looking like they did in the movie.
Exelent choices and many classic examples that no one really knows your a true expert on films unlike many bogus pillocks that pass themselves off as film critics
You’ve gained a fan
Keep going 🎥
Thank you kindly!
…………….where’s “Stagecoach(1939),or “She wore a yellow ribbon”?
Blackrobe is an incredibly accurate portrayal of early European exploration of the new world.
Ah yes, an Australian/Canadian co production.
I don't know if the wild bunch is historically accurate but it does capture the feeling of an era coming to an end.
Yes, definitely one of the important plot points
What no Blazing Saddles?!😂😂😂😂😂
Mel Brooks is the best.
Two westerns that I would add for realism is "Bad Company", 1972 and "Good for Nothing", 2011
'Bring 'em Young' - yeah, that tracks.
As a lover of the genre, a common mistake appears to be the lack of men's facial hair. If you look at photos of the period, few men are clean shaven like John Wayne and other leading actors of the time.
A shave was something you had to go to town for. Aint got time to clean shave on the old dusty trail....especially back then.....there were no portable razors. Just straight razors
Also westerns depicted post civil war seldom showed the many veterans with missing limbs and disfigurements ,and addictions to the drugs of that time.
1888 depiction of the riders and how they moved cattle was more real than anything I have seen to date. It’s usually really bad.
There was a Canadian-French western in the 80s titled Bordertown which is amazingly accurate, there was an entire town build In Pitts Meadows, BC Canada that was in part modeled after the stores in Shane, another historically accurate movie.
Black Robe? Australian/Canadian
The C.C.Co is in My Top 5, right below "The Wild Bunch". @Famous People
The old Westerns seem more accurate to me. The background shots, the players have authentic look to their faces, the action of the shots all speak realism as many of the props, players, etc. Were not far removed from the real time. I love bar room shots as many of the older guys sitting at the tables just look so authentic as gold miners, mule skinners, plainsmen,etc.
You have the support of Westen Historian Gregory Michno. "Circle the Wagons" is his title for a review of the most accurate Hollywood depictions of the Old West. He makes that very same statement and gives examples.
The Ox Bow Incident
I think I would have placed one of Gary Cooper's last Westerns on this list, "The Hanging Tree". Whether Cooper's costume was authentic or not, add to it Karl Malden's means of dressing, Maria Schell's plain dressings, George C. Scott's attire as with the rest of the cast.
Have mentioned in several of my videos, the last being romantic westerns
Again..... nice collection. Conspiculusly absent is Will Penny with C. Heston and Ben Johnson. The gear and particularly the dialog are 'real' period cowboy. Watch it and discover what 'stud duck' refers to.
Shane?????? Missouri Breaks?? Long Riders? WTF??
I'm not an accredited Old West historian either. So my choice of "most historically correct western" will be the Three Stooges' "Out West". Seems accurate to me.
Awesome list of movies, especially the older films!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I always thought the film the “The Long Riders” seems very accurate depicting life in the west in that part of the late 1800s
Interesting. I will watch some of these movies if I can find them.
As an adult, I’m amazed how clean shaven most cowboys/lawmen are depicted!
If you look at westerns by decade, you can see styles popular at the time reflected in the look. Especially hair and facial hair.
"Dirty little Billy" is missing from my point of view
Open Range....
Interesting collection. I have seen most of these, but will make sure to see the ones that I missed. I know you only have so much time, but there are a number of titles I would have included with these, "Jeremiah Johnson," "Tom Horn" (Steve McQueen), is another true story of the end of an era and the fate of men who made the new one possible. Not one on your list dealt the the very real and common enough history of Indian raids and white captives. "The Searchers" is based on a combination of captive stories from Texas, which probably saw more of that activity than anywhere else (see Gregory Michno's "A Fate Worse than Death"). Another one that pulls no punches is "Ulzulmo's Raid." "The Long Riders" is a very good rendition of the James/Younger Gang. My two favorite "minor" Westerns that portray aspects of frontier life that are worthy are "The Oxbow Incident," and "Yellow Sky." "Heaven's Gate," contains a lot of accurate names and events, but scrambles and condenses it while making a major faux pas in casting Cattle Kate as a foul-mouthed French brother operator (which Kate was not, but accused of being), culminating in an exaggerated siege at the end. But it's gorgeously filmed with an equally gorgeous soundtrack. It at least might stir interest in the actual history of the Johnson County War. "Pat Garret and Billy the Kid," trudges along, but tells the story well. It's possible that Bob Dylan might have time-traveled back there to cover Billy's back at the right moment, sure, why not?
NIce presentation. Thank You. Some of the films presented I haven't seen but intend on seeking them out. On a personal note, I always liked Death Valley Days, especially the old ones from the early to mid 50's with the Old Ranger hosting. I felt and the TV show encouraged believing that the stories were true. Maybe care wasn't taken in the production but the story's felt real. I also liked Zane Gray books and felt a sense of reality with these stories as well. Dick Powell did a fine job on TV but I'm not so sure if the ZG stories were true or not. Back in the 1930's there were still people walking around who lived during the later half of the 1800's. That may have been some of the reasons things were produced with more care to detail. I'm assuming all this. Anyways, Thanks for entertaining me.
How is Unforgiven or Pale Rider or Wyatt Earp or Remake of True Grit or original film not on here. There are several movies I would have recommended. Hondo is another good accurate representation of old west in the movies. Tombstone is actually pretty close to the vest too. 3:10 to Yuma the remake was spot on. The Missing is another good choice.
Unforgiven is not realistic because cowboys didn't treat women that way.
@michaelwall3393 You seem to have mistaken films you like as being 'historically accurate' simply because they're good movies. I like the Scott Forbes _Adventures of Jim Bowie_ television series, but that doesn't make it an accurate depiction of Bowie's life.
_Tombstone_ is one of the least historically accurate westerns ever made. Much of the story was entirely fictional, and what few historical pieces that ended up in the film came from the 1927 novel _Tombstone: An Iliad of the Soutwest_ which was itself mostly fiction. And let's not even start on Val Kilmer's accent, which no southerner has ever sounded like at any point in history.
Revisionist Westerns such as _Unforgiven_ , _Pale Rider_ , and _Wyatt Earp_ are, by their very nature, inaccurate, as they're revisionist history. They present a revised depiction of the American West that is more suited to drama than realism, in order to tell a more compelling story.
Dimestore Westerns (ie, westerns based on dimestore novels like _Hondo_ , _True Grit_ , and _3:10__ to Yuma_ ) fall into this same category, as they are *romanticized* westerns meant to depict an idealized fictional West that never actually existed.
_Tombstone_ and the Kevin Costner _Wyatt Earp_ both draw very heavily from Dimestore paperbacks of the early 20th century, such as the aforementioned "Tombstone: An Iliad" novel and the myriad of fictional biographies of the Earp Brothers and Doc Holiday. Much of John Ford and John Wayne's Western output is based on this romanticized wild west.
Part of the reason so many Americans have such a skewed understanding of history is because they base their knowledge on Hollywood movies. They're not documentaries; they're meant to generate profit from people that want to see an entertaining story. Occasionally, you'll find a movie that tries to do both- entertain and educate- but this is the exception rather than the rule.
The video mentions Brigham Young movie taken in 1914. The movie came out in 1914 the actors in it would’ve been teenagers, or younger. they must’ve meant 1934 or 44.
I would put Shane up front...
Come back, Shane !
That wretched boy! What a cissy. At that age he'd be doing man's work in reality, not slobbering over Mummy and the hired help. Ruined the movie .
I always hated that Westerns always showed all the women, no matter what station in life, looked like they’d just stepped out of the Beauty parlour complete with modern hairstyles and makeup. Particularly in the fifties and sixties, the women’s over coiffed wigs were often the strangest of colours. It used to make me laugh in derision, and I was just a young girl.
They aren't history, they're just movies!
You should have featured The Last Of The Mohicans,Dances With Wolves & Wyatt Earp.
Holsters were as rare as they were expensive. Wyatt Earp didn't wear one at the infamous Gunfight at the OK Corral (which didn't take place there). It was common to tuck pistols in the belt. Handguns were expensive, too and cheap, those that were sometimes dangerous were used far more often than the better made and much more expensive Colts.
Stetson Hats (actual and knockoffs) didn't become popular in the West (or anywhere else) until they were mass manufactured in Philadelphia in about 1885. Genuine Stetson's were expensive and probably not all that common in the West until about 1890. Every western movie cowboy hat is referred to as a "Stetson" whether they were or not. The aforementioned Wyatt Earp sported a Derby at the OK Corral gunfight. No holsters? No Stetsons? No one would make a movie like that.
Thanks for the facts, very interesting.
Killing animals for a shot is a deal breaker.
The Terror of Tiny Town should be on the list. People were shorter back then. Horses too.
The Good the Bad & the Ugly depicted the civil war like no other before it. Following that film other movie's had to up their game.
Glory is another one, Arizona, Outlaw Josey Wales (though a fictional character, it was period accurate). How the West was Won movie had many accurate depictions, as did Paint Your Wagon (though with less singing).
Others, such as Ride With the Devil, Young Guns, Tombstone/Wyatt Earp, Little Big Man, Soldier Blue, The Alamo (newer film) are all honorary mentions with very good, though different levels of accuracy.
As with literature , film tends to project a lot of irony onto situations
Of course without that you have no entertainment so it seems to be necessary
But getting at reality is quite a different thing allowing you to vicariously feel what it was like
Actuality the people that lived during these so-called Western times in the USA we're just people trying to get by much as they are now or ever have been
So technology or historical circumstances in context provide a backdrop for what is otherwise the samald's human story over and over and over
I suppose what makes it special special is the idea that people were pouring in to wyeah yeah 2 wilderness areas to claim land and in the beginning there would be lttle local law enforcement and of course clashes with the native Americans who are already there
But as far as the being outside the shining light of law enforcement many extreme rural areas around the world experience that, and people have to fend for themselves
Brigham Young has an excellent cast!
But it lies by omission. Brigham Young and his colony nearly went to war with the United States, they only backed down when the U.S. Army was on its way to Salt Lake City. And there were some very dark occurrences and practices. The Mountain Meadows Massacre was an event that today would be called a major terrorist act by a religious sect. It requires a great deal of fanaticism and hate to convince a couple hundred men, women, and children to lay down their arms and separate only to be slaughtered wholesale by sex and age. Only a few children survived.
The most accurate western of all time was the 2012 Hatfield & McCoy's, you could follow the story along with online encyclopedia. Out of all westerns ever made and I seen a lot of them, this is one western where you actually see someone putting bullets in the belt loops on a gun belt, you just try and see that in a western, a lot of westerns show loading the revolver from gun belt but never putting bullets in the gun belt but yet you always see bullets in the gun belt.....
Fun fact, No bullet loops on gun belts on tv show Bonanza cept when Guy Williams was on....
That film can't really be called a Western because it happened in West Virginia, far away from the actual West. I'd agree that classifying is a problem, however.
Bring them Young. That says it all.
The best/most accurate Western was Deadwood.
Thanks. I've never seen ANY of these, and I'm old and like westerns. Talk about a sheltered and "screened" life?!
Unforgiven. Showed gun jamming.
Wagons were circled to keep livestock within barrier it created
Makes sense!
So Sorry you missed Man in the Wilderness, Lonesome Dove, and Tombstone.
What was it about these films that you think were historically accurate? More than others I mean?
They are all mentioned in others of my videos, take a look at my channel
I would massively suggest "Westward the Women"... You'd never get Hollywood to fund this again, nor actresses to put up with what the many women did... No air conditioners nor blow dryers for these hard working stars... YP
I remember that film, It was very good.
I raised this point too. Westward the Women was a little schmalzy at the beginning and end, but what's in the middle is pure gold. Really captures the hardships.
Conheger, based on the Louis L'Amour work of the same name should be on this list.
Good picks.
Automatic like for your videos. Suggest Hostiles and News of the World .
News of the World is an odd one but I liked it in large measure because it very well-depicted the oppression of Yankee occupation of the South and was surprisingly sympathetic to Southerners. The scene where Hanks's character meets a Yank patrol and the arrogance and hostility of the Yanks was written on their faces and the fear and trembling of their victims clear. Coming from Hollywood and Hanks both, this surprised me.
@@unbreakable7633 give somebody too much power, even if they are on the right side, and it will be abused.
I only watched Geronimo. That movie is pretty far removed from reality. It's a standard Hollywood 'Also Dances With Wolves' biopic, replete with unrealistic gun duels. Makes me suspect the rest of your choices are also crap. John Ford the exception, of course
How are these "Most Historically accurate movies", but you clearly detail in your description.... These movies are fictional accounts of history?
good show, no obvious AI. thanks
No mention of Jane Mansfield and Kenneth Moore. Support your Local Sheriff an honourable mention . Pure escapist mind bubblegum? Alias Smith and Jones? And that Risable Kung Fu series! So much entertainment in picking them apart. Spoofs are the best. Calamity Jane! And Jimmy Stuart, Henry Fonda as inheritors of the Little Ho House?
The best book to read if you want historical accuracy is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
I still have that book. It made a profound impact on my world view when it was published. "They made many promises, they never kept but one, they promised to take our land and they took it". Government promises remain the same what was yours is theirs.
Surprised you left out 1951's Westward the Women, with Robert Taylor, Denice Darcel, and John McIntire. The depiction of the hardships faced while crossing the country to northern California was very realistic. The production company took a couple of months teaching the largely female cast to ride, shoot, and drive a team. Some films that you did include show women wearing lipstick, but I don't believe lipstick (or lip coloring) became acceptable to other than prostitutes until the very early 20th century. Pioneer women didn't wear it.
gotta watch the assassination of jesse james. Filmed in my neighborhood
Too many of these characters in these movies are too clean shaven...
Best western ever Culpepper Cattle Company! "EVER"
LOL "BRING"-ham Young. Accuracy? LOL.
I feel so ignorant. I've never heard of most of them.
Loved it.
Whats the point of showing a bunch of dusty westerns too old to be interesting to contemporary viewers, when there are so many well done and enjoyable modern films that are widely praised for their historical accuracy? Take for instance "Once upon a time in the West", by Sergio Leone.
The majority of my audience is over 65 and enjoy the older classics. That does'nt mean I don't include newer westerns, in fact some of my videos are dedicated to them, take a look in my channel.
@@famouspeople63 Thanks for answering 🙂
Sister Brothers ...
What do you find accurate about this movie?
@@famouspeople63 almost everything ... Sons of poor widowed homestead , forms a strong brotherly bond , gold rush background, Pacific coast western location, early San Francisco included , gun fight scenes quite accurate and psycho mentality moulded by 1800 harsh life out west.
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Interesting!
Lonesome Dove & Open Range is accurate and their not mentioned. gets a down vote