10 Great Westerns From the 1940s Quiz

Answer: Northwest Passage

"Northwest Passage" was actually sub titled "Book I - Rogers' Rangers" - the plan was to have this as the first film of a series. Production problems doomed the movie series so as it turns out there is no search for the 'Northwest Passage'. Central Idaho near the town McCall and Payette Lake were the locations for filming.

Answer: The Westerner

Walter Brennan won his third Oscar as Best Supporting Actor with his portrayal of Judge Roy Bean. This was the first of five movies that Cooper and Brennan would work together on. Forrest Tucker's first movie role was in this film.

Answer: They Died With Their Boots On

This film is full of historical inaccuracies but it is entertaining and was one of the top-grossing films for 1941, earning over $2.5 million. The pairing of Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland happened in eight films; this was their final movie together. Two stuntmen were killed during filming.

Answer: The Ox-Bow Incident

Henry Fonda enlisted in the Navy after the filming of this movie. The three men who were hanged were portrayed by Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn and Francis Ford. Ford was the brother of the iconic director John Ford.

Answer: My Darling Clementine

Once again, this film is not historically accurate, but still a good movie. This was the first movie for Fonda after serving in the US Navy for two years. According to director John Ford, who had known Wyatt Earp, the sets for the shootout at the OK corral were staged exactly as Earp had remembered them.

Answer: Fort Apache

This movie was the first for John Agar. He and Shirley Temple, who also appears in the film, were married at the time this movie was filmed; they divorced in 1949. Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen give great performances as crusty Army Sergeants. The Fort Apache set was later used for the TV series "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin".

This film was the first of Director John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy".

Answer: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

John Huston took home the Oscar for Best Director and Best Screenplay, while his father Walter won for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2007 "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" was ranked as the 38th Greatest Movie of All Time by the American Film Institute.

Answer: Red River

"Red River" was released in 1948 but it was actually filmed in 1946 - the two year delay was due in part to a legal challenge by Howard Hughes that it was too similar to his film "The Outlaw". The film marked the first film role for Montgomery Clift. In 2008, the American Film Institute ranked "Red River" as the #5 All Time Western.

Answer: Yellow Sky

Lone Pine, California was the location for the ghost town set, and some of the exterior filming was done at the Death Valley National Monument. Anne Baxter was the granddaughter of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. "Yellow Sky" was based on a novel by W.R. Burnett. Burnett wrote numerous western and gangster novels and screenplays.

Answer: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

This film was the second of Director John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy" and the only one filmed in color. Near Kanab, Utah in Monument Valley, the Headquarters and Capt. Brittles' quarters from the film are still standing and open to the public. With a budget of $1.6 million, this was one of the most expensive westerns of the time, it was also one of the most popular. Monument Valley never looked better, and Winton Hoch won the Oscar for Best Color Cinematography.