15 Saddest Western Movies Ever Made

Humans love happy stories, and when it comes to Westerns, directors, screenwriters, and studios have often focused on tales that leave everyone with a smile on their faces. There might be an injustice here and there, but the general stories tend to be positive, with good things happening to good people and bad guys ending up dead or in jail. However, there are a few Westerns where most of the proceedings are of a grim nature. This could either be because of the numerous misfortunes that get piled on the protagonists, or the tendency of the characters to keep on making baffling and dishonorable choices. In some of these Westerns, the antagonists also ride into the sunset without any form of comeuppance.

15, High Noon (1952)

A wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest days in one’s life but High Noon’s protagonist, Marshal Will Kane, doesn’t get to enjoy the post-vows bliss because, shortly after tying the knot, he learns that an outlaw he once put behind bars has been released. The baddie is set to arrive by the noon train, so Kane has the option of either running away with his new bride or staying behind to fight.

Because Kane is no coward, he chooses the latter option, but assembling a posse to confront his enemy becomes a lot harder than he thought. One of the people he seeks out even sends his wife to lie that he isn’t at home. Another, a lawman, demands a promotion first. Betrayed and rejected by most of those he held dear, Kane is eventually forced to go the one-man-army route. Even worse is that his own wife chooses not to stick with him. High Noon is also one of the few movies that are set in real-time, so the tension keeps growing as noon approaches.

14, The Great Silence (1968)

Movies where the villain(s) wins are guaranteed to leave audiences tearful for a while and The Great Silence follows such a trajectory. In fact, the conclusion, where all the protagonists are murdered, is so dark that director Sergio Corbucci was ordered by the studio to shoot an alternate ending for the film’s re-release. However, the versions with the new endings are considered ‘lost films,’ and only the original intended bloody story is currently available.

In the film, the economic situation is so bad that most villagers have resorted to stealing. One standout scene shows some of them robbing a man of his horse so that they can eat it. Because of the high number of petty criminals, bounty hunters have a field day. And business is even more lucrative because they even get to grab the land of those that they kill. Only one man stands in their way: a mute gunslinger nicknamed ‘Silence’ who lost his voice while he was young after attackers sliced his throat. But even though he goes on to put up a great fight against the villainous bounty hunters, he too ends up being a victim

13, McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

It takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication to grow a business, so audiences can’t help but feel sad for McCabe & Mrs. Miller‘s John McCabe when he sets up one of the most profitable gambling and prostitution dens in the Old West only for executives of the Harrison Shaughnessy Mining Company to demand that he sells it to them. They also intend to buy most of the land in the town so that they can conduct their operations.

This is no ordinary dilemma for McCabe because the owners of the Harrison Shaughnessy Mining Company have a ‘bullet or coin’ policy. Anyone who refuses their offer for money gets murdered instead. Most of John McCabe’s running time thus focuses on McCabe as he wallows in stress and tries to figure out what to do. His business partner, Mrs. Miller, doesn’t fare so well either. She becomes an addict, leaving McCabe to confront the economic bullies all by himself.

12, The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Because of its title, and the presence of the ever-funny John. C. Reily as one of the lead actors, The Sisters Brothers can easily be mistaken for a comedy. However, it’s quite a grim film. In it, sibling assassins — Eli and Charlie Sisters — are hired to kill a psychopathic inventor named Hermann Warm, and it ends up being one of the toughest assignments they have ever undertaken.

Much of the melancholy in The Sisters Brothersstems from the misfortunes the brothers are forced to endure as they go after their target. Eli, especially, suffers the most as he not only loses his nose during a grizzly bear attack but also gets bitten by a venomous spider. Luckily, he survives. As for Charlie, he comes into contact with contaminated water at some point, hence his arm gets amputated. Worse still, the brothers get betrayed by a private detective that was supposed to help them.

11, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

One of the finest films of 2007 tells the story of the notorious outlaw, Jesse James. Prolific and ruthless, James manages to rob numerous places and take out many bounty hunters who are targeting him. His courageous exploits turn him into a celebrity, with many members of the public rooting for him.

The man’s daredevilry, coupled with Brad Pitt’s great performances makes it easy to adore the character. But by simply reading the title, one can tell that The Assassination of Jesse Jamesby the Coward Robert Ford is no happy story. Soon, James’ henchmen grow jealous of him because of his popularity. One of them plots to kill him so that he can not only collect the bounty but also get immunity from the authorities for all the crimes he has committed before.

10, Track of the Cat (1954)

Dealing with unreasonable family members is already stressful enough, yet the Bridges face an even bigger headache when a panther starts prowling the hills around their ranch. None of the main characters is shown to be a decent human. The father is a drunkard, the mother is a zealot and the siblings have an unhealthy rivalry that stems from the desire to inherit the biggest share of the ranch.

In the third act of Track of the Cat, one of the siblings dies while pursuing the panther and even though this initially seems like a sad thing, it triggers some relief for the surviving siblings. With one of them now out of the picture, the tussle over the land will be easier to deal with.

9, The Proposition (2005)

For years, law enforcement authorities have manipulated criminals by offering them juicy deals and the same happens in The Proposition. After he and his younger brother are captured, Charlie is informed that they can both walk free if he kills his older brother, Arthur. It’s the kind of family where each sibling is a criminal, only that Arthur has grown to be more successful, hence he ranks much higher in the “most wanted” list than the other two.

Logically, Charlie ought to not even consider such a deal because he is no saint either, and the target is his brother. Interestingly, he chooses to look out for his own interests and accepts the proposal. The final scene, where Arthur looks at Charlie in disgust as he slowly dies from his gunshot wounds is arguably one of the saddest cinema moments of all time.

8, Heaven’s Gate (1980)

Heaven’s Gate feels even more relevant now because of how honest the screenwriters are while tackling the issue of immigration. In it, poor immigrants in Casper, Wyoming, are left with no option but to engage in rustling against the wealthy barons. They steal cattle for food, with some even giving their new animal possessions to a wealthy brothel owner who accepts cows as payment.

Though theft is unacceptable, the manner in which the Wyoming Stock Growers Association chooses to deal with the culprits is unfortunate. A kill list is published, meaning that bounty hunters are free to show up and murder most of the immigrants who have been identified as thieves. As expected, there is some resistance, leading to a deadly battle.

7, Tombstone (1993)

In violent societies, people become conditioned to a certain way of thinking, and in the Old West, dying during battle was seen as more honorable than being killed by any other thing. The last scene of Tombstone — where the protagonist Doc laments about dying with his boots off while succumbing to tuberculosis in a sanatorium — is thus completely heartbreaking.

Before the sad moment, Doc had fought relentlessly against a group of bandits that had raided the town where he and his friends intended to leave peacefully. He had chosen this particular town because it was located in a desert, and a hot climate happens to be ideal for someone with his condition. Sadly, he doesn’t get to enjoy it for long. After winning against the bandits, his condition only gets worse, resulting in his death.

6, The Gunfighter (1950)

Ideally, a skilled gunslinger is supposed to be feared, but in The Gunfighter, the aging Jimmy Ringo frequently gets challenged by younger men who want to prove they are better. Ringo just wants to live a peaceful life, but he is forced to look over his back for these men. In addition to that, he is eager to reunite with his wife, whom he hasn’t seen for eight years, and a son who doesn’t know he exists.

Ringo sure has some guts for wanting his family back after eight years. It’s silly, but the character is likable because he is generally depicted as a well-mannered guy. Interestingly, she agrees to have him back, but she doesn’t make it easy for him. He has to prove, for at least a year, that he is done with his old ways. Well, he gets to it, only to be killed by a local thug.

5, Dead Man (1995)

The desolation is Dead Man is amplified by the monochrome color scheme. Everything looks dark and the protagonist — the accountant William Blake — never catches a break. When he heads to a Cleveland town to take up a job offer, he learns that the position has been filled, and then gets chased away by the company owner at gunpoint. Later, he flirts with a former prostitute who takes him to her place only for her ex-husband to find them.

The jealous man accidentally kills the woman while aiming for Blake. Figuring he might be blamed for the murder, the accountant flees town. From there on, it rains and pours for him. He journeys across the country while trying to avoid several people who are after him but even though he avoids capture, he ends up being subjected to a horrible death.

4, The Searchers (1956)

In The Searchers, Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards is forced to act after Comanche attackers kidnap members of his brother’s family. It takes him a while to gather any meaningful information, but he soon learns where his niece is being held, so he sets out to get her.

Initially, it seems like this is going to be another easy search and rescue mission. After all, John Wayne is the lead actor. Surprisingly, the girl shows no willingness to be rescued. Having been indoctrinated into the Comanche way of life, she has developed Stockholm Syndrome and is now living happily as one of a polygamous chief’s many wives. Because he hates Comanches with her passions, Ethan considers killing her.

3, True Grit (2010)

Ordinarily, 14-year-old girls would prefer to stay away from trouble but when her father gets murdered, Mattie sets out to look for the killer together with the marshal, Rooster Cogburn. The first two acts of True Grit mainly involve gunfights and journeying but the third act features plenty of tear-jerking moments.

The most memorable scene involves Mattie getting injured. At this point, Rooster has bonded with her so much that he considers her a daughter. He thus puts her on a horse and tries to get her to a doctor, who is miles away. Desperate, he pushes the animal so hard that it passes out. He then shoots it before picking Mattie up and running for the remainder of the journey. It’s a powerful scene, especially because Rooster had been the uncaring type up until then.

2, Run for Cover (1955)

There is no worse feeling than finding out that someone you fully trusted is actually. That’s how things play out in Run for Cover, where the cowboys Matt Dow and Davey Bishop try to clear their names after being accused of a robbery. The two happened to be hunting birds just as a train was passing, so the passengers mistook them for robbers and threw everything out.

The best part is that the two go on to be cleared and Dow even gets appointed as the Sheriff, choosing Bishop as his deputy. However, he soon learns that Bishop is an actual robber. Both men thus aim to kill each other, but doing so becomes a lot harder than they both anticipated.