Best Western Movies of 1972

When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage; however, neither Andersen nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.

A band of Mexicans find their U. S. land claims denied and all the records destroyed in a courthouse fire. Their leader, Louis Chama, encourages them to use force to regain their land. A wealthy landowner wanting the same decides to hire a gang of killers with Joe Kidd to track Chama.

Report reaches the US cavalry that the Apache leader Ulzana has left his reservation with a band of followers. A compassionate young officer, Lieutenant DeBuin, is given a small company to find him and bring him back; accompanying the troop is McIntosh, an experienced scout, and Ke-Ni-Tay, an Apache guide. Ulzana massacres, rapes and loots across the countryside; and as DeBuin encounters the remains of his victims, he is compelled to learn from McIntosh and to confront his own naivity and hidden prejudices.

Outlaw and self-appointed lawmaker, Judge Roy Bean, rules over an empty stretch of the West that gradually grows, under his iron fist, into a thriving town, while dispensing his his own quirky brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by.

A posse pursues Pardon Chato (Charles Bronson) a mestizo indian after he killed a US marshal in self-defense. As they get deeper into Indian territory, just who is hunting who.

After avenging the death of his teacher, a Shaolin monk flees China to the American West and helps people while being pursued by bounty hunters.

Orphaned and left in the desert as an infant, Evil Roy Slade (John Astin) grew up alone—save for his teddy bear—and mean. As an adult, he is notorious for being the "meanest villain in the West"—so he's thrown for quite a loop when he falls for sweet schoolteacher Betsy Potter (Pamela Austin). There's also Nelson L. Stool (Mickey Rooney), a railroad tycoon, who, along with his dimwitted nephew Clifford (Henry Gibson), is trying to get revenge on Evil Roy Slade for robbing him.

After Drew Dixon, an upright young man, is sent west by his religious family to avoid being drafted into the Civil War, he drifts across the land with a loose confederation of young vagrants.

Working as an assistant on a long cattle drive, the young Ben Mockridge contends between his dream of being a cowboy and the harsh truth of the Old West.

With his bronco-busting career on its last legs, Junior Bonner heads to his hometown to try his luck in the annual rodeo. But his fond childhood memories are shattered when he finds his family torn apart by his greedy brother and hard-drinking father.

A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.

John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.

The life of peaceful rancher John Benedict is torn apart when his family is massacred by a gang of marauding outlaws and his farm is destroyed. He assembles a team of mean, lawless convicts to act as his posse as he pursues the gang responsible for the deaths of his loved ones.

The gangs of Jesse James and Cole Younger join forces to rob the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota, but things do not go as planned.

Set in the 1920s, several foreigners held by a South American military group are offered possible freedom if they accept to topple a local crazed military leader.

Kinkaid is a rugged, hard-driving bounty hunter, determined to find outlaw Billy Riddle. He tracks Billy, takes him captive, and starts the long trek to justice. However, this journey may lead him to dire consequences... a gang of cut-throats headed by Angus Keough is pursuing them, after the bounty for themselves.

A parable based on the life of Christ. This ain't your father's Bible story, full of references about the destruction of the world through massive constipation and a New Mexican setting.

Marshal Chris Adams turns down a friend's request to help stop the depredations of a gang of Mexican bandits. When his wife is killed by bank robbers and his friend is killed capturing the last thief, Chris feels obligated to take up his friend's cause and recruits a writer and five prisoners to destroy the desperadoes.The last in the original series of four "Magnificent Seven" movies.

This is the story of the foundation sire of the Morgan Horse Breed.

Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy gets mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked rancher.

A trio of runaway slaves evade authorities in the Old West.

Due to a home-steading law, a fur trapper schemes to keep his land by hiring a hooker, a pickpocket and a thief to pose as his family.

After losing eight years to prison, cowboy J. W. Coop is released to return to life as a professional rodeo cowboy in the 60's. Determined to make up for the lost 'prime' years of his career, he doggedly goes forward, and learns that not only has the business of rodeo changed during his incarceration but society as a whole has made dramatic changes as well.

In this nature adventure, a courageous cougar must struggle to survive after a cruel human hunter kills her mate.

The commander of an isolated frontier cavalry post tries to stop an Indian war and find his son, who has been kidnapped.

An over-the-hill rodeo champion is so self-centered that he ignores his wife, son, and best friend.

Clearly influenced by the darker, more sinister style of spaghetti westerns, Dirty Little Billy offers a unique insight into the beginnings of the notorious outlaw Billy The Kid.

An elderly rodeo rider becomes mentor to a young man attempting to make his own name in the business.

Two episodes of the TV series "The Virginian" edited together: "Duel at Shiloh" (2 Jan. 1963) and "Nobility of Kings" (10 Nov. 1965).

A man thought-dead comes home to find that his wife has sold their ranch and married a Mexican revolutionary.

Drifter falls in love with Native American girl, with tragic results.

The Texas Rangers are called in to investigate a string of attacks on wagon trains.

A group of five Confederate mercenaries led by Sergeant Will Hansen must choose sides carefully in a small village where they find themselves trapped in the middle of a rebellion. The group is torn as to whether they should honor the powerful military dictator who forces them to spy for him or help the local village fight for its independence. Follow Sergeant Hansen and his men as they make a decision that could cost them their lives.

A mountain boy takes it upon himself to protect wild animals from hunters and trappers.

A white child is orphaned in the desert by his dying parents, grows up alone, and is found by a Native American and his half breed brother, from whom he finally learns about love. The two men are outcasts from their own tribe, having rejected making love to women and enjoying only male-to-male sex.

Molly, the shy, romance-starved wife of an arrogant frontier sheriff, finds herself drawn to a prisoner in her husband's jail. This prisoner, a handsome young man named Johnny, plays on Molly's sympathy and convinces her to help him escape. Molly then accompanies Johnny on his cross-country flight but soon learns he's simply been using her. Molly makes the best of the situation, however, and by the time the sheriff's posse catches up with them, Molly shows that she's learned how to assert herself.

A greedy land developer steals the land from an Apache Indian tribe. His plan involves shooting most of the Apaches but an Apache warrior survives and gets revenge.

A Union soldier travels through the South right after the Civil War ends, and runs up against angry ex-slaves, murderous former Confederates and desperate women.

Four women in a wagon are on their way to service the miners at Box Canyon. They get attacked by bandits and are rescued by the miners. The women show their appreciation.

A couple of thugs rob gold from the peaceful miners, then they steal their women.

A mentally and physically scarred monster rampages through the old west, killing and raping as he seeks to meet up with his cohorts in a bank robbery. He is pursued by a vengeful posse who have no thoughts of bringing him back for justice.

A young man arrives at the town of Fair Play to see his uncle. What he finds upon arriving is a town hiding a secret from any outsiders. The young man must uncover the truth the townspeople wish to keep hidden in order to save his uncle.

A gang of smugglers headed by an oil dealer are brought to justice by a lawman.

Formerly lost western starring Jack Elam

The first all-women Western. Set in a fictional 1850, the movie is about one woman's attempt to recruit others for an all-women commune. "..a Warholesque frolic" -- Daphne Davis, Women's Wear Daily " Some great comments about women, men and the pros and cons of living with either." -- Women & Film: International Festival, 1973 "A group of wonderfully idiosyncratic women improvise characters close to their real lives and fantasy lives. Funny, ambling, off-handedly lyrical, the film....is above all excellent for sharing warm feelings in a group." -- Ms. magazine