Hellbent for Letterbox | The Walking Hills (1949)

I accidentally pulled a fast one and made Pax watch a non-historical Western, John Sturges' The Walking Hills. It stars Randolph Scott and Ella Raines as two members of a party that enters the desert dunes looking for a lost wagon train and (according to legend) the gold that it was carrying.

But even though the movie takes place in the 1940s, the comic Pax read does not: the Sixth Gun mini-series Shadow Roads.

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Hellbent for Letterbox | The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976)

Pax and I touch the plums on Western-comedy The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, starring Goldie Hawn and George Segal.

Also: I vote for Lee Van Cleef as a bounty-hunter-turned-politician in The Big Gundown.

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Hellbent for Letterbox | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Pax and I watch the Coen Brothers' anthology movie, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Plus, Pax listens to the 1001 Stories from the Old West podcast and I watch The Secret of Convict Lake (1951) and Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949).

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Hellbent for Letterbox | Hatfields & McCoys (2012)

Pax and I try not to break into a blood feud when we delve into the History Channel mini-series Hatfields & McCoys starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton.

Plus: Cowboys & Indians magazine, Rachel and the Stranger, and Zorro Rides Again.
 

Hellbent for Letterbox | Comanche Moon (2008)

Pax and I return to the world of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove with the chronologically second mini-series in the saga, Comanche Moon, starring Steve Zahn, Karl Urban, Linda Cardellini, Elizabeth Banks, Melanie Lynskey, Wes Studi, and Val Kilmer.

Plus: quick thoughts on Robert McCammon's Trevor Lawson books and the movies Station West (1948) and Westward the Women (1951).

Hellbent for Letterbox | Hang 'Em High (1968)

Pax and I talk about the Clint Eastwood classic, Hang ‘Em High. It’s the revenge movie that’s about so much more than just revenge

Plus: Blazing Guns On The Chisholm Trail by Borden Chase, The Further Adventures of Zorro by Johnston McCulley, The Mark of Zorro (1940), and Zorro comics by Matt Wagner, Francesco Francavilla, and Cezar Razek.

Hellbent for Letterbox | The Mark of Zorro (1920)

Pax, Evan Hanson, and I wrap up our Zorro double-feature with the movie that started it all, the silent classic The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks.

Hellbent for Letterbox | The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Pax and I welcome back Evan Hanson to talk about the first movie of a Zorro double-feature on Hellbent. It's Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro, starring Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Anthony Hopkins.

Hellbent for Letterbox | McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

Pax and I watch the Robert Altman revisionist classic, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie with smaller roles for Shelley Duvall, Keith Carradine, and Rene Auberjonois. 

Pax also checks out Sukiyaki Western Django (2008) and I watch a couple of older films: Union Pacific (1939) and Gentle Annie (1944).

Hellbent for Letterbox | The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)

Pax and I welcome our friend Jeeg to discuss Jee-woon Kim's The Good, the Bad, the Weird, set in WWII-era Korea, but inspired by Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Hellbent for Letterbox | 3 Godfathers (1948)

In this special holiday episode, Pax and I watch John Ford's adaptation of Peter B Kyne's Christmas Western novel, The Three Godfathers. Starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Harry Carey Jr.

Pax also watches a variety of Christmas episodes of TV Westerns and I catche up on a spooky Western, From Hell to the Wild West (2017), as well as Walter Hill's new film, Dead for a Dollar.

Hellbent for Letterbox | The Great Silence (1968)

Since we're heading into winter, Pax picked a snowy Western with Sergio Corbucci's The Great Silence starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski. 

I also catch up with some Halloween Westerns - Wesley Snipes in Gallowwalkers and Danny Trejo in Dead in Tombstone - while Pax gets Christmas cheer from Roy Rogers in Trail of Robin Hood.

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Hellbent for Letterbox | The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

Pax and I stretch the definitions of both Western and Horror in this second Halloween pick, The Valley of Gwangi starring James Franciscus, Gila Golan, and Richard Carlson. And with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen.

But our Westernin' picks this month are full on horror-related as Pax reads Tim Seeley, Aaron Campbell, and Jim Terry's vampire comic West of Sundown, and I watch Sam Shepard's Western ghost story Silent Tongue and the super cheesy Teenage Monster.

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Hellbent for Letterbox | The Pale Door (2020)

Pax and I celebrate the Spooky Season with Aaron B. Koontz'  witchy Western, The Pale Door.

I also watched another low-budget Western horror, Blackwood, and both of us talk about the Predator prequel, Prey. And Pax shares his thoughts on Epix' new Billy the Kid series.

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Hellbent for Letterbox | The Frisco Kid (1979)

Pax, Shawn Robare, and I travel with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford in Robert Aldrich's The Frisco Kid.

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Hellbent for Letterbox | The Tin Star (1957)

Pax and I welcome returning guest Shawn Robare to talk about the Anthony Mann classic, The Tin Star, starring Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, and Betsy Palmer.

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Hellbent for Letterbox | Murder at Yellowstone City (2022)

Pax and I watch the recent Western whodunnit, Murder at Yellowstone City, starring Isaiah Mustafa, Gabriel Byrne, Thomas Jane, Anna Camp, Zach McGowan, and Richard Dreyfuss. It's a mystery and we spoil it, so please watch the movie before listening to our discussion.

Pax also reads the next couple of Undertaker comics in his pile while I watch a couple of movies: the documentary Bitterbrush and Hell's Heroes, an early adaptation of the Three Godfathers story.   

Download or listen to the episode here.