Classic Westerns Top Recent Genre Rankings
Classic Westerns are drawing renewed attention through recent rankings: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly remains IMDb’s highest-ranked Western, High Noon topped a suspense-focused list as a remake moves forward, and The Shootist placed among John Wayne’s best films. Their histories also include notable refusals—Charles Bronson passed on roles in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and The Shootist, while Wayne rejected Little Big Man—and modern films continue to reinvent the genre with darker themes and morally complex characters.
Entertainment · 9 sources · Sep 27, 2026Read itThe journal
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About Little Big Man
Little Big Man is a 1970 American revisionist Western film directed by Arthur Penn, adapted by Calder Willingham from Thomas Berger's 1964 novel of the same title. It stars Dustin Hoffman, Chief Dan George, Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, Jeff Corey and Richard Mulligan. The film follows the life of a white man who was raised by members of the Cheyenne nation during the 19th century, and then attempts to reintegrate with American pioneer society. Although broadly categorized as a Western, or an epic, the film encompasses several literary/film genres, including comedy, drama and adventure. It parodies typical tropes of the Western genre, contrasting the lives of white settlers and Native Americans throughout the progression of the boy's life.
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