America’s love for the Western film is more of a thing of the past, and top box office totals in recent decades prove that.
But that hardly diminishes the love many people have for the genre, and the modern Western speeches that make it memorable. The characters and unforgettable monologues live on forever, reminders of dusty frontier towns across the American West.
Here is a look at four memorable monologues that make up the greatest modern western speeches:
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Matt Howe in “High Noon”
In this 1952 classic, Oscar winner Gary Cooper (Best Actor) played Will Kane, the town marshal who wanted to retire on his wedding day but has to
face off with outlaws coming to town who want him dead, Rotten Tomatoes summarized. An ex-marshal named Matt Howe (Lon Chaney, Jr.) said this to Kane, as highlighted by FIlmsite in its “Best Speeches and Monologues”.
“It's a great life. You risk your skin catchin' killers and the juries turn 'em loose so they can come back and shoot at ya again. If you're honest, you're poor your whole life, and in the end you wind up dyin' all alone on some dirty street. For what? For nothin'. For a tin star.”
Davy Crockett in “The Alamo”
The famous John Wayne played Davy Crockett in this 1960 classic that took place during the Texas Revolution.
As he spoke with Col. William Travis (played by Laurence Harvey) he glorified the idea of Texas becoming a republic, according to Filmsite:
“Republic. I like the sound of the word. It means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. Some words give you a feeling. 'Republic' is one of those words that makes me tight in the throat -- the same tightness a man gets when his baby takes his first step or his first baby shaves and makes his first sound like a man. Some words can give you a feeling that make your heart warm. 'Republic' is one of those words.”
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Ed Tom Bell in “No Country For Old Men”
Tommy Lee Jones played Ed Tom Bell, a Texas sheriff, in this 2007 Coen brothers film. He shared his thoughts on the value life in the opening images of the film, as quoted by Filmsite:
“The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willin' to die to even do this job. But, I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet somethin' I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say: 'O.K., I'll be part of this world.'”
Rooster Cogburn in “True Grit”
In this 1969 Western, John Wayne played Rooster Cogburn and shared about his former wife, according IMDb.
“Oh, well, I didn't have her long. My friends was a pack of river rats and she didn't crave their society so she up and left me and went back to her first husband who was clerkin' in a hardware store in Paducah. ‘Goodbye, Reuben,’ she says, ‘the love of decency does not abide in you!’ That's a divorced woman talkin' for you, about decency. Well, I told her. I said, ‘Goodbye, Nola, and I hope that nail-sellin' bastard makes you happy this time!’”
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