Daily Dirt: Butch, Sundance and Josey were all deserving of an Oscar

Daily Dirt for Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024

Seriously, only three westerns have ever won the Oscar for best picture? That’s a cinematic crime … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,046 of The Daily Dirt.

1. If ever there has been an overlooked genre of films when it comes to major awards, it has been the western.

Do you realize in the long history of Hollywood that only three true westerns have ever won the Academy Award for best picture? Three.

That’s an outright insult to the likes of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Randolph Scott, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Errol Flynn, Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster and many other grade-A actors who have been involved with numerous quality films depicting life in the old west.

For the  record, here are the Oscar winners:

• “Cimarron” (1931). Old school. Really, really old school. Not sure it would compare to any of the modern efforts, but that would probably be the same kind of an argument as comparing Babe Ruth and Aaron Judge.
• “Dances with Wolves” (1990). Kevin Costner’s all-time classic. 
• “Unforgiven” (1992). Arguably, Clint Eastwood’s finest overall effort. The film won four Oscars in all.

And here are 10 more that could have/should have easily won an Oscar for best picture:

• “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. This film is 55 years old, and it plays as well today as it did in ’69.
• “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (1976), starring Clint Eastwood. Seriously, the guy was never involved in a bad western … except maybe a few of the those “spaghetti westerns” in the mid-to-late ’60s.
• “They Died With Their Boots On” (1941), starring Errol Flynn. The Australian-born Flynn has about a half-dozen quality westerns to his credit, but this one is under the “magnificent” column. No actor ever had a more impressive performance as Gen. George Armstrong Custer, even though it was a bit on the fictionalized side.
• “High Noon” (1952), starring Gary Cooper. I was always a big Cooper fan, and this movie was why.
• “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” (1957). Personally, I prefer this version with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas much more than the 1993 remake with Kurt Russell.
• “Fort Apache” (1948): Henry Fonda as Lt. Col. Owen Thursday and John Wayne as Capt. Kirby York. And lots of Indians.
• “Stagecoach” (1939), starring John Wayne. This was the original, and much better than either of the the remakes, including the 1986 release with Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.
• “High Plains Drifter” (1973), starring Clint Eastwood. Clint the Squint was born to portray a cowboy.
• “My Darling Clementine” (1946). Directed by the legendary John Ford, another take on Wyatt Earp (this time portrayed by Henry Fonda).
• “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” (1949): Another John Wayne epic. As Capt. Nathan Brittles, he saves the day against impending doom from a massive Indian attack.

2. Did you know (Part 108) …

• When John F. Kennedy was going to the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, a cab driver took him to his hotel, but JFK found he had no cash when he went to pay the fare. The cab driver followed JFK into the hotel to make sure he got paid — which he did, with an appropriate tip, I would imagine. That cab driver was (drum roll, please … ) a 25-year-old Leonard Nimoy. 
• At the 1972 Dallas headquarters of Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern, two of the employees were a young Bill Clinton and an equally young Steven Spielberg.
• There are nine states with more turkeys than people: Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, South Dakota, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Indiana. (I know, I know. I’m kind of shaking my head, too. I’m not sure if that’s something to be proud of.) 
• One of the leading candidates to play Bonnie in “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) was Cher, but Faye Dunaway wound up getting the role.
• The original choice to play “Beetlejuice” before Michael Keaton was the late Sam Kinison.

3. What would a weekend be without a few more Chuck Norris tributes?

• Chuck Norris once threw a party … that went several hundred yards.
• When Chuck Norris goes to McDonald’s, the ice cream machine is never broken.
• Chuck Norris never won an Oscar because he is not acting.
• Chuck Norris does not mow his lawn. He dares it to grow. 

Steve Thought O’ The Day

Speaking of would-be movie roles, the original choice to play “Rambo” was actually Al Pacino, not Sylvester Stallone.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. If Steve had lived during the Old West, his nickname would have been “Buckeye Slim.”