ArizonaRealCountry.com 39 March 2019 before becoming a comic foil in films like Support Your Local Gunfighter and Sheriff. And who would have thought that the film Once Upon a Time in the West would start out with perennial hero Henry Fonda as a cold-blooded killer gunning down an entire family. Many times the bad guy is simply a misunderstood hero like any number of films about Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Belle Star, or how about that darn fun-loving duo, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; or Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch which took the hero/outlaw premise to a entirely different level. Women aren’t excluded. In the 1950s, Barbara Stanwyck might have cornered the market on shady ladies in The Violent Men, The Maverick Queen, 40 Guns, and The Furies. She had some strong competition in Joan Crawford as the misunderstood Vienna in Johnny Guitar, and let’s not forget Marlene Dietrich who lead the way for these ladies in Destry Rides Again and Rancho Notorious. So next time you watch a western remember that the villain is the very reason the hero even exists. Without them, there would be no cause for the good guys to say “Head ‘em off at the pass,” “Be out of town by sundown,” or “They went that away.” C’mon, cheer for the bad guys. They’re working hard for you… to dislike them… as much as possible. The next time you watch a western, take just a minute to give out a cheer for the bad guy. You heard me right, applaud for the villain, the ones with the evil intentions, those that will do harm at a moment’s notice. Why you may ask? Think about it, without them there’d be no movie. Take for example the creepy ever smiling Jack Wilson played by Jack Palance in Shane. Granted, there was no excuse for the cold-blooded killing of Stonewall Torrey, as portrayed by perennial film sniveler Elisha Cook Jr., other than moving the plot along; but isn’t that a good enough reason? Without the gun down on Torrey, how would the story move to its conclusion? Another prime example is the libertine Plummer Brothers in Stagecoach, lead by elder brother Luke Plumber as played by western favorite Tom Tyler. Without them, there’d be no reason for John Wayne as the Ringo Kid to catch the stage to Lordsburg. Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance was one of the most depraved bad guys ever to hit the screen, but keep in mind his name was even part of the film’s title. In High Noon Gary Cooper wouldn’t have a reason for any worry if not for bad guys Lee Van Cleef, Sheb Wooley, and Robert J. Wilke. Then there are all the actors who specialized in villainy in the 30’s through the 50’s like Roy Barcroft, Kenne Duncan, Charlie King, Glenn Strange, and George Chesebro; when you saw these guys you knew they were up to no good. Of course, we can’t forget the evilness of Jack Elam By Charlie LeSueur Charlie LeSueur, AZ’s Official Western Film Historian. Encore Fellow @ Western Spirit, Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. azfilmhistorian@gmail.com, silverscreencowboyz.com CHEERING FOR THE Bad Guys... and Gals Clockwise from top: Lee Van Cleef, Robert J. Wilke, Sheb Wooley in High Noon; Ray Barcroft, the perennial bad guy; Jack Elam; Glenn Strange, as Butch Cavendish in The Lone Ranger TV Show; Marlene Dietrich in Rancho Notorious; Barbara Stanwyck in Maverick Queen; Jack Palance in Shane; Tom Tyler in Stagecoach.