'Deadwood' stars Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane's favorite Westerns? A wild bunch
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Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane, the stars of HBO’s “Deadwood,” discuss their favorite movie Westerns.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
When it comes to judging Westerns, “Deadwood” veterans Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane have genuine street cred – of the dusty and muddy frontier-town variety.
Olyphant and McShane, who return 13 years after the show’s cancellation for one last stand in HBO’s “Deadwood: The Movie” (Friday, 8 EDT/PDT), have plenty of recommendations for fans of the classic film genre, from John Ford’s black-and-white sagas to Clint Eastwood’s rejuvenation of the long-running form.
McShane, who created his own iconic Western character in saloon proprietor Al Swearengen, starts the bidding with Ford’s 1946 classic, “My Darling Clementine,” which featured Henry Fonda.
“Nice,” Olyphant says, before raising him with Ford’s 1962 collaboration with John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. “I love ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.’ … I love all those John Ford” films.
More: Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane on the ‘Deadwood’ movie closure they never expected
McShane moves ahead in time to Eastwood’s 1992 “Unforgiven,” which many critics credit with revitalizing the frontier genre. He then tacks back to a memorable film from 1969, Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch.” “Warren Oates and Ben Johnson. The crazy brothers. Genius!”
“I just watched it,” Olyphant says, describing the experience as a family bonding event. “The best thing about having a teenage son, I’m like, ‘Oh, dude. We’re going to watch ‘The Wild Bunch.’ We’re going to watch (Eastwood’s 1973) ‘High Plains Drifter.” It’s just the best.”
More: Ian McShane: Return to ‘Deadwood’ was a ‘surreal, out-of-body’ experience
“It’s a great movie,” McShane says of ‘The Wild Bunch,’ conjuring up a visual image. “William Holden. First time you see him with a craggy face.”Â
Olyphant suggests a reason for the films’ eternal relevance: “Simple morality tale. It’s a simple myth, oftentimes.
“It’s amazing how much these movies hold up and resonate,” he adds, before delivering the final verdict. “Good old Westerns.”
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There’s nothing like the anticipation, expectation and dread that surrounds the finale of a beloved TV series. But sometimes, no matter how much you love what came before, a series can miss on its last swing, leaving a bitter taste for years to come. Here are ten series that stuck the landing, starting with “Six Feet Under.”
“Six Feet Under” was always about facing our own mortality (it was, after all, about a family-run funeral-home business), and the near-perfect finale faced the great beyond head-on in its excruciatingly beautiful last sequence, which flashed forward to the deaths of all the main characters — predictable, tragic or absurd. Every series finale that’s used the flash-forward technique owes a great debt to “Six Feet.”
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