In this episode Mike and Pax start their three episode look at Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy.  We start with the movie that made Clint Eastwood a star, 1964's A Fistful of Dollars.  We talk about our history with this movie, we talk about Clint's performance, Ennio Morricone's score and we even discuss the rarely seen 4 minute CBS TV prologue filmed with Harry Dean Stanton.

At last! Pax and Michael discuss one of the greatest Westerns of all time. Or at least, certainly one of their very favorites. Grab your feather cape and gather 'round the campfire as we talk about the comedy classic starring Tom Berenger, GW Bailey, Marilu Henner, Sela Ward, Andy Griffith, and Carson from Downton Abbey.

Also up for discussion are the comic book series Six-Gun Gorilla, Trailblazer, and The Sixth Gun, the role-playing game Deadlands (which Michael can't remember the name of), Gary Cooper in 1929's The Virginian, Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson's Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights, and the pulp magazine adventures of Senorita Scorpion. 

Michael and Pax this week are watching the John Ford classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance starring Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Vera Miles, Lee Van Cleef and Woody Strode.  Before we talk about the movie we mention other things we're doing like reading the comics Galveston, Manifest Destiny, Kid Colt Outlaw and watching the movie The Big Trail starring a young John Wayne. 87bbvdpk

Pax and Michael bring noodles and meatballs to the campfire with the podcast's first Spaghetti Western episode. It's the Sergio Leone classic, How the West... no, wait... Once Upon a Time in the West. Keep getting those confused. Pax also shares Western reads To Hell on a Fast Horse and the two Rawhide Kid mini-series, Slap Leather and The Sensational Seven. Michael discusses the weirdness of the Shirley Temple short, Pie-Covered Wagon.

This week Michael and Pax are talking about The Quick and the Dead from 1995 directed by Sam Raimi and starring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe.  

Pax and Michael discuss the recent movie, Forsaken starring Kiefer and Donald Sutherland, Demi Moore, Brian Cox, and Michael Wincott. We also briefly touch on the concept of contemporary Westerns and whether or not those scratch the Western itch for us.

In this bonus episode Pax and Michael each picked a movie that was based on the themes and plots of High Noon, which we previously talked about in episode 5.  First, Michael chooses Outland from 1981 starring Sean Connery in a sci-fi take on the High Noon concept.  Next Pax chooses a 1980 TV movie sequel called High Noon II: The Return of Will Kane starring Lee Majors, David Carradine and Pernell Roberts.  

Mike and Pax talk about the 1952 western classic, High Noon, starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly and Lloyd Bridges.  We talk about likes and we talk about a surprising number of dislikes.  Come see if we wind up liking High Noon.

Michael and Pax discuss the 1958 epic starring Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Jean Simmons, Chuck Connors, and Sam the Snowman. Also: Pax talks about the TV shows Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, and The Wild Wild West, while Michael mentions Tumbleweeds (1925) and Jesse James (1939). Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck may come up as well.

Michael and Pax talk about Kurt Russell's other 2015 western, Bone Tomahawk.

Michael and Pax are back to talk about The Keeping Room starring Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, Muna Otaru, and Sam Worthington. Proving the diverse possibilities of the Western genre, this one's set in the South, has horror influences, and a predominately female cast. We also briefly discuss other recent Westerns, Jane Got a Gun and The Hateful Eight. 

Welcome to the very first episode of Hellbent for Letterbox.  This is a new monthly podcast hosted by Michael May and Paxton Holley talking about Westerns.  In this episode Michael and Pax introduce themselves and start setting up camp, talking about their love of the Western genre including movies, TV shows and books.  They also talk about what to expect from this show each month and Michael reveals what movie we'll be reviewing in our next episode.