What's in a Title? Horse Operas Part I Quiz

Answer: The Great Train Robbery

All the films are from 1903, and all have very prosaic titles. "The Cheese Mites" is almost enough to put one off one's Stilton. Almost.

"The Great Train Robbery" is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, Western film. Luckily, it has survived and can easily be accessed. Although its innovation might not be immediately obvious to the modern viewer, it clearly flows in a way other early films do not. In fact, the cinematic storytelling techniques trailblazing director Edwin S. Porter used aren't that different from what has come for decades since.

"The Great Train Robbery" has been visually cited countless times over the years, in particular the final shot of one the gang of robbers, played by Justus D. Barnes, shooting straight at the camera. I, like many people, was amazed when I first saw that and said to myself: "So that's where it comes from!".

Answer: Two-Gun Gussie

The title refers to the character played by Harold Lloyd, i.e. the hapless piano player. The switch of identities is entirely casual: Dagger-Tooth Dan finds himself in the bar where Gussie works. Standing at the bar is the local sheriff, Whooping-Cough Charlie. The sheriff has left on the bar two letters with photos attached. One is a warning about one of the toughest guys around: Dagger-Tooth. The other is a request from Gussie's father to hand over a cheque to his son Gussie. Dagger-Tooth simply switches the photos and you have the comedy ready to go. However, what makes the comedy is that Gussie takes on the persona rather than extricating himself.

At this point in his career, Harold Lloyd (and Hal Roach) had developed the "Glasses" character to a certain extent but he was still rough around the edges and not as completely innocuous as he would later become.

Answer: The Iron Horse

The title clearly refers to the common name for trains in the early days.

"The Iron Horse" is a fascinating film for many reasons. The starting point for the film's production seems to have been film producer/studio founder William Fox's research into Abraham Lincoln. What he came across was evidence of how important a figure Lincoln had been in the building of railroads, especially from a legal point of view, and there the idea for a film formed.

Indeed, one of "The Iron Horse"'s charms is how many figures from American history pop up. We have Lincoln both before and after his election to presidency, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, "Wild Bill" Hickok, and also many of the Chinese labourers who had actually built the railroads, here playing extras building the railroads.

Answer: Rio Grande

The title of "Rio Grande" refers to the river which represents the boundary between where the American troops can chase the Apaches and where they can't, i.e. Mexico. When the Apaches kidnap the American soldiers' children, General Sheridan makes a decision which could turn out to be a political hot potato and allows Yorke to cross the Rio Grande and attack the Apaches.

"Rio Grande" is a fantastic Ford/Wayne Western in which there are all sorts of sub-texts about the American Civil War and American demographics. Although the Apaches are a vital part of the plot, they are really reduced to an unquestionably baddy role.

The question of military duty, and specifically the conflict it can create with personal matters, is very interesting. Also fascinating is the tense relationship between the inimitable John Wayne as Yorke and the gorgeous Maureen O'Hara as his wife.

Answer: Johnny Guitar

The title refers to one of Vienna's old flames, Johnny Logan, who conveniently rolls into town around the time of the trouble. He used to be a gunslinger but has since hung up his holster and picked up a guitar, at least ostensibly.

"Johnny Guitar" seems to be a very simple story about female jealousy and small-town conservatism, but actually there is a lot more going on. On the surface, the anti-Vienna campaign is being led by Emma Small because she is in love with The Dancin' Kid, who is in turn in love with Vienna. Vienna is supposed to be in love with Johnny Guitar. It has been claimed that these two feisty female characters are actually lesbians attracted to one another. Both are certainly anything but typically submissive females, and furthermore the whole tension is between them. Practically all the male characters in the film are childish, insipid, or simple.

Another reading of the film is as a direct criticism of McCarthyism, and a general condemnation of vigilantism.

Whatever the case, it's a superb, albeit odd, film. Joan Crawford is frightening as Vienna, and Mercedes McCambridge is equally scary as the conniving Emma. The whole thing is jarring at times, which actually helps create the tension leading up to the terrifying violence. It had its critics on its release but has since become one of the key revisionist Westerns and a favourite amongst auteur filmmakers.

Answer: Man of the West

The title "Man of the West" refers to the rather vague answers Link Jones gives when asked where he's from. He changes his story a couple of times giving the audience the prior knowledge that not everything is completely kosher about him.

Link Jones was played impeccably by Gary Cooper. At fifty-seven Cooper was said to be old for the part by some, in particular since his foster father Dock Tobin was played by Lee J. Cobb who was ten years his junior. I beg to differ and argue that if anything it is Cobb's dodgy make-up and overacting which lets the film down a little. Nevertheless, it's a fantastic Western which dares break some of the rules and push things a little further.

On its release, these factors clearly hindered its reception but over time its reputation has really blossomed. It has some very dark moments in terms of what is happening but also how the characters are forced to behave, and the truths they have to face.

Answer: Compañeros

The title "Compañeros" refers to the idea of an unlikely partnership between the characters The Swede, played by Franco Nero, and El Vasco, played by Tomas Milian, which runs through the film. At the end, The Swede shouts out the Spanish title "Vamos a Matar, Compañeros" as he rejoins El Vasco.

The two actors were huge stars of Spaghetti Westerns. Although Nero is widely recognized as such, Milian is largely forgotten unfortunately. To my mind, Milian makes the film with his comedy idiosyncrasies. Having said that, Nero is fabulous, as are Fernando Rey as Xandos, and Jack Palance as a nasty character in a sub-plot.

Whichever way you look at it, "Compañeros" is a great slice of fun in the best Zapata Western tradition.

Answer: Soldier Blue

The title "Soldier Blue" comes from the mocking moniker Lee bestows upon poor Honus Grant. Lee is played by Candice Bergen and Grant by Peter Strauss and much of the film centres on the strained rapport between the two of them. It takes her a while to take the naive and somewhat awkward soldier seriously, but he does manage to impress her as time goes on. Things begin to change a little when they encounter Isaac Q. Cumber, an extremely creepy character played by Donald Pleasence. By the film's climax which depicts the infamous Sand Creek massacre, "Soldier Blue" is anything but jejune.

"Soldier Blue" caused quite a stir on its release. It was hugely popular outside the USA, but was a bit close to the bone. The graphic violence, ranging from decapitation, to rape, to human trophy gathering, was not only a grim reminder of what was going on in Vietnam but also shockingly realistic and explicit for 1970.

Answer: Pale Rider

"Pale Rider" was the third film which could be classified as a Western in which Clint Eastwood starred as well as directed. This time the character becomes known as the Preacher although the character never actually gives any name. The theme of Man with No Name came directly from Eastwood's role in the classic Sergio Leone-directed so-called "Dollars Trilogy" (1964 - 1966), which in turn had taken the idea from Akira Kurosawa-directed "Yojimbo" (1961).

In "Pale Rider" Eastwood forfeits subtlety for clarity and he has the teenager Megan reading from the Book of "Revelation" as the Preacher rides into the miners' settlement. Further religious references are sprinkled throughout the film.

In my opinion, too many of Eastwood's otherwise brilliant films suffer from his tendency to play lead characters whose superhuman prowess turns them into comic book super heroes. Although the Preacher does fall into that trap, the fact that he's clearly sign-posted as being supernatural makes it easier to swallow.

Answer: Once Upon a Time in Mexico

"Once Upon a Time in Mexico" was preceded by "El Mariachi" (1992) and "Desperado" (1995) in what is known as Robert Rodriguez's "Mexico Trilogy". Antonio Banderas played El Mariachi in both this one and its immediate predecessor. The title is a clear tribute to Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West", although Rodriguez has said that he saw it as the "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" of his trilogy.

Right from the start it's a highly entertaining film which doesn't take itself too seriously but never drifts into parody. For the Western aficionado, it's littered with homages and references. To my mind, the only weak point is Johnny Depp's portrayal of the CIA agent Sheldon Sands. Whilst all the other actors humbly fit into the genre of the film, Depp just can't help being Johnny Depp.

I apologise for including a film which doesn't feature a single horse in a quiz about horse operas, but I couldn't leave this one out on a technicality.