The Civil Bunch
The Shut Mouth Society
The Shopkeeper

If you appreciate westerns of the old school, you'll enjoy Ride the High Country.

Under Peckinpah's direction, Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea take a standard script and turn it into a memorable film. The story, similar to The Ballad of Cable Hogue is about the passing of an era. The movie's theme is honor and betrayals as two aging ex-lawmen accept a job to protect a gold shipment and perhaps have a final fling pretending it's the good `ol days.

This is the first Peckinpah Western and he displays a love of the genre that reached fulfillment with The Wild Bunch.

Ride the High Country
This is a great Western and one that I did not fully appreciate when I was a lot younger.

Nuanced B Western - Peckinpah's best in my view
I'm not a big fan of Peckinpah, but this is by far his best film in my view. I read a review of this film somewhere else (IMBD maybe?) that stated that this was the last of the B grade Westerns. If so, this is certainly one of the best. It's ironic that one of the last films of this genre actually defines it. There is so much to love about this film. First, and most importantly, the story line is surprisingly complex for a film of this genre. This is no simple good guys versus bad guys type Western, the roles are more morally ambiguous and subtle. Second, this was the last performance for one of the actors (Scott) and the last decent performance by the other (McCrea) who largely defined the genre. Scott of course is an icon of the B Western, and McCrea had a solid career as well making this type of film. The plot is relatively straight forward. Two old friends decide to work together one last time. Their job is to ride up to a mining town, collect gold from the miners, and return it safely to the bank. One of the two decides it might be more profitable to take off with the gold themselves. Along the way they pickup a young Mariette Hartley who wants to escape from her overprotective Bible-quoting father. Things get interesting when Hartley marries a brute in the mining town and the groom and his family decide that she can't change her mind. Definitely recommended.

wstrnnut
Although this is an older movie, I would recommend it to any Western fan, young or old. It was well written, well directed, and a joy to watch with your family. There are a couple of memorable lines in the show that will stay with you forever.

Wonderful, thoroughly entertaining yet mature Western
After getting pretty tired of the usual crap coming out of Hollywood recently, you know, comic book heros and adult cartoons, I decided to revisit Westerns. It's been a hit and miss process, a mix of juvenile stuff with some good ones like this one. Would appreciate some help from people who share my taste.