2026 is the 70th anniversary of THE SEARCHERS, John Ford’s epic tale of abduction, revenge, and the old west. But while the film is highly venerated now, back in the 50s, it was just seen as another John Wayne horse opera, one of many the director and star made together. But the ascent of auteur theory film criticism in the late 60s elevated the title to one of being an overlooked masterpiece and while John Ford had won the Best Director Oscar four times, none of them were for westerns. Back then, Westerns were often dismissed as formulaic or prosaic and only rarely worthy of serious film discussion.

And so this series is about what were (and to many, still are) hidden gems from the genre of that decade–ones that never got love from the Academy or film scholars at the time, but now are seen as expressions of some powerful themes and stories. The Searchers now appears regularly in the famous Sight and Sound international poll of the Top Ten best films of all time, but these other titles are also well worth a revisit.

Nick Ray was a craftsman fluent in multiple genres (They Live By Night, In a Lonely Place, On Dangerous Ground) but JOHNNY GUITAR is a very special western and even though Sterling Hayden plays the title role, it’s Joan Crawford who’s the ferocious center and her showdown with Mercedes McCambridge may be the greatest female standoff in western history.

While Ford and Wayne are timeless western collaborators, I think their equals are Anthony Mann and Jimmy Stewart, who brought us a set of extraordinary westerns in the 50s: Winchester ’73, The Naked Spur, The Far Country, and maybe my favorite, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE. Along with Hitchcock, Mann best explored the darker recesses of Stewart’s everyman persona in the 50s, especially in his westerns, and this film about resistance against a ruthless cattle baron has powerful, heart-breaking support from Arthur Kennedy and Donald Crisp.

Director Budd Boetticher and legend Randolph Scott were also a duo that are rarely remembered anymore and while Scott’s best and last film (Ride the High Country) would come in the next decade, it’s easy to forget that Scott had been in the cowboy saddle for decades. Blazing Saddles gave him a reverent name drop for a reason! But my favorite of his, with Boetticher, is DECISION AT SUNDOWN, which takes many of the familiar conventions of lost love and betrayal and turns them on their head in sly and unexpected ways. It’s the most under-appreciated film in this series, but one that comes highly recommended.