Lee Van Cleef’s 10 Best Western Movies, Ranked

Lee Van Cleef was truly one of the biggest stars of his time, with a filmography that included some of the best westerns of all time. With more than 170 film and television roles, Van Cleef was particularly known for his leading and supporting roles in acclaimed spaghetti westerns and for his performances alongside stars such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. With a talent for playing tough, no-nonsense bad guys, Van Cleef had a sinister screen presence that made him a truly compelling villain.

From Western team-ups with iconic stars to truly spectacular Western sequences, Van Cleef’s time in the cinematic Old West was well spent. Although some of Van Cleef’s best Westerns featured him as the protagonist, he also often took a backseat to play highly memorable supporting characters that helped elevate these films to their now-legendary status. A true icon of the western genre, Van Cleef should be remembered alongside the greatest Hollywood stars of the 20th century.

10

The Magnificent Ride of the Seven! (1972)

Lee Van Cleef as US Marshal Chris Adams

While The Magnificent Seven was an undisputed classic of the western genre, things weren’t as acclaimed when it came to the fourth and final film, The Magnificent Ride of the Seven! While Yul Brynner’s iconic performance as gunman Chris Adams was an important aspect of the first film’s success, the character’s subsequent performances by George Kennedy and, ultimately, Lee Van Cleef did not have the same impact. Van Cleef took on the role of Chris Adams for a series finale that went out with a whimper rather than a bang.

Although it is easy to criticize The Magnificent Seven sequels, features a Western legend with Van Cleef in the lead role. It was interesting to see his interpretation of this character. As Chris Adams battled a writer and five prisoners to help him eliminate a gang of Mexican bandits, the most disappointing thing about The Magnificent Ride of the Seven! was that it essentially just retread the same territory as its predecessors. While it wasn’t a bad western, it just signaled a franchise that had lost steam and had a lot of revamps.

9

Return of Sabata (1971)

Lee Van Cleef as Sabata

Outside of Sergio Leone Dollar TrilogyLee Van Cleef was best known for his role as the western gunslinger Sabata. With a trilogy of films focused on the character, due to scheduling conflicts, Van Cleef did not return for the sequel Goodbye, Sabata, where he was recast with Yul Brynner, but he reprized his role in the final film, Return of Sabata. Following the skilled sniper helping the citizens of a small town get rid of the McIntock clan, Return of Sabata offered audiences the same intense Western style they’d come to expect from Van Cleef, but not much else.

Return of Sabata It was a fun, final introduction to the character, filled with Western gunfights and some tongue-in-cheek humor. Like a self-conscious spaghetti western, Van Cleef relied on his reputation as a genre icon to ruthlessly eliminate bad guys with a gentle sense of calm. While Clint Eastwood’s The Man With No Name characterization was considered the definitive Western antihero, Van Cleef’s Sabata was a close second when it came to pure cinematic charisma.

8

Shooting at the OK Corral (1957)

Lee Van Cleef as Ed Bailey

There have been numerous Western depictions of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, as these real-life Wild West figures have become true icons of American culture. OK Corral shooting dramatized the famous shootout between the lawmen and the outlaw Clanton gang in Tombstone, Arizona, and starred Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. Among the supporting cast was also Lee Van Cleef as Ed Baileya revenge-seeking man who hopes to bring Holliday to justice for his brother’s murder.

OK Corral shooting was one of the best Westerns of the 1950s, tense and suspenseful as it built ever closer to its violent climactic shootout. While Lancaster and Douglas’s performances carried the film, supporting characters like Van Cleef’s Bailey helped turn it into a Western classic. Although Wyatt and Holliday’s story would have been more effective in the 1990s cult classic Tombstone with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, it was portraits like this that helped lay the foundation for this acclaimed portrayal.

7

How the West Was Won (1962)

Lee Van Cleef as River Pirate

Despite only appearing in an uncredited role as River Pirate, Lee Van Cleef’s appearance in How the West was conquered showed how integral he was to the Western film scene in the 1960s. This acclaimed western by Henry Hathaway, John Ford and George Marshall told an epic family saga in five chapters, taking place from 1839 to 1889, which included the Gold Rush, the Civil War and the expansion of railroads to the West.

How the West was conquered It was one of Hollywood’s greatest epics and a surprising showcase of cinema’s inspiring capabilities. A magnificent spectacle that drew viewers in with vast landscapes and thematic resonance, the cast included not only a brief appearance by Van Cleef, but also other Western legends such as James Stewart, John Wayne and Henry Fonda. As a star-studded Western that utilized Cinerama’s three-strip panning process, viewers who want to check out this Western classic should do so on the biggest screen they can find.

6

Noon (1952)

Lee Van Cleef as Jack Colby

Lee Van Cleef began his film career when he intended to make his acting debut in the classic western Midday. This story of Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) decides whether to flee the city or face a gang of thugs it was a timeless story of honor and duty told in real time. While Midday It was controversial upon release for its apparent communist sympathies, its moral complexity and profound themes have led to its reputation as a true classic of the Western genre.

Van Cleef played the supporting role of Jack Colby, a member of Frank Miller’s gang waiting to confront Kane in the Midday. With an infectious level of charisma, although Van Cleef didn’t have much dialogue in MiddayHis bright future as a cinematic Western gunslinger was clear from the start. As Van Cleef calmly smoked cigarettes and played the harmonica while waiting to fight, he laid the foundation for the aloof, detached nature of many of his subsequent Western characters.

5

Sabata (1969)

Lee Van Cleef as Sabata

Continuing the surprising success of Sergio Leone’s work Dollar TrilogyLee Van Cleef continued to star in spaghetti westerns such as Sabata. Like a skilled sniper who killed thieves and bandits with ease, Sabata was a classic Western antihero who followed his own rules and lived by a personal moral code. Sabata was one of Van Cleef’s most iconic film roles, and the character continued to appear throughout the Sabata Trilogywith Yul Brynner recast for the first sequel and Van Cleef returning for the final film.

Like a wild and often cartoonish spaghetti western, Sabata was the perfect vehicle for Van Cleef’s unique talents, as he brought a confident coolness to the character. Van Cleef’s portrait of a bounty hunter with more than a few tricks up his sleeve made Sabata a cunning and engaging antihero who faced off against the best Western stars of this era. With an excellent soundtrack that echoed the aesthetics of the Old West, Sabata demonstrated Van Cleef doing what he does best.

4

Death Rides a Horse (1967)

Lee Van Cleef as Ryan

The action-packed revenge western Death rides a horse starred Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law. With Law as Bill Meceita, a cowboy whose father was killed and whose mother and sister were sexually abused when he was a child, and Van Cleef as an outlaw accused of armed robbery by the same four men responsible for this crime, this Western team- was a powerful story of revenge and retribution. Hoping to extort revenge on the same men, Van Cleef and Law work together to deliver their own particular brand of justice.

Death rides a horse it was a dark spaghetti western that wasn’t afraid to tackle complex themes of moral depravity. With complex emotional pain underlying the character’s actions, Death rides a horse dug deeper than the average film of this type. Much more than just a violent shootout, Death rides a horse captured the underbelly of depraved life in the Old West.

3

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Lee Van Cleef as Reese

Lee Van Cleef continued his trend of appearing in supporting roles in some of the most impactful Westerns of all time with The man who shot Liberty Valance. This western team featured two great stars, James Stewart and John Wayne, who joined forces to eliminate the outlaw Liberty Valance, played by Lee Marvin. Van Cleef appeared as Reese, a member of Valance’s gang, in yet another extraordinary demonstration of his skills playing Wild West villains.

The man who shot Liberty Valance was notable for the way it played with the notion of the Western genre itself, by exploring ideas around mythmaking and how stories become legend. As an insightful commentary on the legacy of the Old West and the origin story of AmericaMuch of the film’s message can be summed up in its famous quote, “When the legend becomes reality, print the caption.” With Van Cleef in a reduced yet significant role The man who shot Liberty Valance it was yet another demonstration of its importance to the Western genre as a whole.

2

For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Lee Van Cleef as Colonel Douglas Mortimer

The western genre gained an all-time classic when Sergio Leone released A handful of dollars in 1964, which was quickly followed by the sequel For a few more dollars the following year. With Clint Eastwood back as the iconic Man With No Name, the spaghetti western sequel was made even better by the infusion of Lee Van Cleef as Colonel Douglas Mortimer. Cleef was the missing ingredient in this franchise, playing a former Army officer turned bounty hunter who teamed up with Eastwood’s character.

As one of the few performers who could compete with Eastwood in terms of on-screen charisma, this dynamic duo helped make For a few more dollars one of the best western sequences ever made. With the fast-paced penalties made even more effective thanks to Ennio Morricone’s timeless scoring, Van Cleef was truly at his best. As a film often overshadowed by the initial and final films in this trilogy, A Few Dollars More was pure Western fun.

1

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes

Lee Van Cleef’s best and most iconic role came as ‘the Bad Guy’ in the defining Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Van Cleef played the ruthless and almost sadistic mercenary known as Angel Eyes in this legendary Sergio Leone film, starring Clint Eastwood as the Man With No Name. Featuring Leone’s signature wide shots and close-up cinematography, combined with Ennio Morricone’s incomparable score, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the benchmark by which all other spaghetti westerns are judged.

Van Cleef played the opposite of his character in For a few more dollars in this final entry in the trilogy, as Angel Eyes’ menacing nature meant he was not only willing to kill, but actually took pleasure in it. As an epic story complete with the most iconic Mexican three-way cinema ever seen, Van Cleef helped turn it into a true classic of Old West cinema. While the general public may mostly remember Eastwood’s iconic costume, those in the know recognize Lee Van Cleef so essential to this film’s status as an all-time Western classic.