Wintry Westerns - 8 Classic Westerns Set in Winter

I love westerns. I don't review them nearly as often as I should but I certainly do watch plenty of them! And, at this time of year, the best westerns to watch are the Wintry Westerns....those that are set in snowy locales. Most westerns take place in dusty desert areas such as Arizona and Texas or in lush green cattle-grazing lands like Wyoming and Colorado so this is a small niche. They are great to watch on a cold winter's day with a cup of hot cocoa, especially when the snow is falling outside.

I'll share with you some of my favorites ( from the oldest to the newest ) and hopefully, you'll share some of your favorite wintry western titles as well. 

THE WILD NORTH ( 1952 ) 

Stewart Granger plays a trapper accused of murdering a man in a Canadian village. He takes refuge in the mountains but can't shake a Mountie ( Wendell Corey ) off his trail. Instead, during a fierce snowstorm, they band together to battle the forces of nature and survive in the "wild North". This is one of my favorites, not only because of the great location scenery of Idaho ( not Canada ) but because of the presence of Stewart Granger and Cyd Charisse as an Indian maiden. 

BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY ( 1953 )

Perhaps this might not qualify as a western, but it takes place in the 1870s in snowy Alaska, so that's close enough for me. Rock Hudson plays an American sea captain who is taking a cargo of furs down to the states from Canada via dogsled. Contending with the weather is harrowing enough, but Rock also has a broken leg and two dangerous villains on his heels. 

TRACK OF THE CAT ( 1954 ) 

Robert Mitchum stars in this visually striking western as the son of a ranching family who heads out into the snow to track down a panther who is killing the family's livestock. Diana Lynn and Teresa Wright co-star and yes, that's William Hopper Jr. with a beard. Director William Wellman's son stated that his father created the picture as a "black and white film shot in color" with specific pops of color adding a beautiful splash to the overall monochromatic look. 

DAY OF THE OUTLAW ( 1959 ) 

"A day you'll never forget!" declares the poster to this Robert Ryan film. Unfortunately, I did forget most of this gritty western, but I do remember the winter landscape and Burl Ives cutting a powerful image on horseback. It's about a cattleman trying to save a small frontier town from Burl Ives and his gang of thugs. 

WILL PENNY ( 1967 ) 

This film starts off as a regular "sunny" western but about half way through we see the winter scenes. Will Penny ( Charlton Heston ) is an aging cowboy who gets a line camp job on a large cattle spread and finds that there is a woman ( Joan Hackett ) and her son already living in the cabin he is supposed to occupy by himself. He lets them stay over the winter and protects his "family" when the wicked Quint ( Donald Pleasance ) invades his home. 

THE GREAT SILENCE ( 1968 ) 

Spaghetti westerns are one of those genres that you either love or hate. I could live without them - especially the brutal ones - but I had to include this film because it is set is a snow-covered Utah and is renowned for being one of the best spaghetti westerns ever made. It's about a mute gunfighter who takes it upon himself to defend a group of outlaws from a band of bloodthirsty bounty hunters. Jean-Louis Trintignant, a French actor who couldn't speak a word of English, starred as the mute gunslinger "Silence". 

McCABE AND MRS. MILLER ( 1971 ) 

Warren Beatty and Julie Christie star as a gambler and a prostitute who become business partners in a brothel in a remote mining town. Their business trives until a major corporation comes to buy them out. This film is often cited as one of the first "anti-westerns" because it features no gunfights and no heroes but our purpose it can be classified as a western. McCabe and Mrs. Miller really captures the cold environment of winter and features some beautiful filming from director Robert Altman. 

JEREMIAH JOHNSON ( 1972 )

Robert Redford stars as mountain man Jeremiah Johnson in this outdoorsman's adventure set in the beautiful hills of Utah ( and filmed on Redford's recently acquired Sundance ski area ). Johnson is a  Civil War veteran who abandons mankind and heads for the mountains of Utah to become a trapper. With the help of another grizzled mountain man ( Will Geer ), he learns to live of the land but must contend with hostile natives when he incurs the wrath of a Crow chief. 

Like Father, Like Son - Celebrity Father/Son Look-Alikes

Happy Father's Day to all the proud papas of the world! This Father's Day we thought we'd pay tribute to some of the famous actor dads of yor through the legacy they left behind them in their sons....their facial legacies! 

Here is a selection of some of our favorite lookalike fathers and sons: 

Leslie Howard and Ronald Howard 

Ronald Howard was a true-blue Brit like his father and especially resembled him during the 1950s when he starred in the television series "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" taking the role of the famous detective that his father never had a chance to play. 

Robert Walker and Robert Walker Jr. 

If there ever was an actor who gave birth to a mini-me it's Robert Walker. And he didn't do it once, but twice! Brother Michael Walker also resembled his father with his mop of curly brown hair. 

Lloyd Bridges with sons Beau and Jeff

Lloyd Bridges made a ton of films, it's a wonder he had time to raise a family! Beau and Jeff made a name for themselves as actors starting the now famous Bridges family acting legacy. 

Desi Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. 

From his marriage to Lucille Ball, the father of Babaloo had only one daughter and son ( and his name wasn't Little Ricky ). Both children took after papa with those big Cuban eyes really popping out in Junior as he got older. 

Kirk Douglas and sons Joel and Michael

Michael Douglas is always touted as being the twin boy of Big Daddy Kirk but we hold that Joel bore more of his facial features. Just look at that chin!

John Wayne and Patrick Wayne

When it came to looks, little Pat topped his father to whom he owes that prominent square-jaw, just ripe for punching. All Pat was missing was his dad's hip-swinging walk. Makes you wonder if brother Ethan and him ever imitated their dad growing up. 

Charles MacArthur and James MacArthur

Screenwriter Charles MacArthur once encouraged his son "To pursue anything you like, just don't become a screenwriter...it's a fate worse than death!" Well, he followed his old man in the acting industry and made an even bigger name for himself than Charles did. 

Robert Mitchum and James Mitchum

One bad boy breeds another. Little James got his start in acting at the age of 8 but it wasn't until Thunder Road ( 1958 ) that girls started swooning over him just like they did with his famous dad. 

Errol Flynn and Sean Flynn

The spirit of adventure carried over from Errol to his son Sean. After a brief stint as an actor he tried his hand at big-game hunting in Africa before becoming a photojournalist, eventually being killed in Cambodia.

Jose Ferrer and Miguel Ferrer

Miguel Ferrer was the son of Jose and Rosemary Clooney but he doesn't look anything like Mom. Not only did Jose pass down that famous schnozz but he gave his son his giant ears too! Too bad he didn't give him hair.

School Bells Ringing, Children Swinging

Boy meets horse, boy loses horse, boy miraculously gets horse back - stories like these were endlessly cropping up in films of the late 1940s. "National Velvet" and "My Friend Flicka" started a chain reaction that continued on until the early 1950s. Most of these follow-ups were just average productions, but The Red Pony ( 1949 ) was a stand out. Beautiful Technicolor and big name drawing actors like Robert Mitchum and Myrna Loy helped draw the adult crowd to this pleasing family film. A young Peter Miles plays Tom Tiflin, the pony's proud papa, and here we see him getting a teasing from his fellow schoolmates. He probably should run to teacher for help, but won't, since she is played by the inimitable Margaret Hamilton.