The Essential Watchlist that Capture the Essence of Little Miss Smi...

Dir: John Ford

Cheyenne Harry tries to help his outlaw friend Padden evade arrest after Padden has drunkenly shot another man. In the end, the two mismatched friends fight it out, leaving Padden dead.

Dir: John Ford

A ranch foreman battles a rich stockbroker for the affections of a beautiful young woman.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Bucking Broadway perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: John Ford

A man declined admission to fight in the American Civil War joins a gang of marauders and winds up as a fugitive.

Dir: John Ford

Harry's bride is murdered at their wedding along with Harry's mother and father, and the good-hearted outlaw turns grimly malevolent.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Scarlet Drop perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: John Ford

Cattleman Flint cuts off farmer Sims' water supply. When Sims' son Ted goes for water, one of Flint's men kills him. Cheyenne is sent to finish off Sims, but finding the family at the newly dug grave, he changes sides.

Dir: John Ford

Jim Kyneton, once a member of an outlaw gang, joins the Texas Rangers and is forced to track down his former friends and his half-brother Nick, who have been robbing a gold mine.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Riders of Vengeance perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: John Ford

Convict Cheyenne Harry escapes from prison in a garbage truck and boards a train, where he eludes capture with the help of passenger Henry Beaufort.

Dir: John Ford

Cowboy Lin McLean's restlessness takes him to Denver, where he becomes enamored of a waitress named Katie.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Straight Shooting perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: John Ford

The marshal of a wild Kansas border town is killed in a gunfight in a saloon. His son, Cheyenne Harry, shoots dead two of the killers. Not wanting to lose both her son and her husband to gun violence, Harry's mother gets him to agree never to carry a gun again. However, Harry's rival for the beautiful Conchita, Boone Travis, commits a murder and frames Harry for it. Complications ensue.

Dir: John Ford

The owner of a gambling hall is entrusted with the care of a pretty young girl. He falls in love with her, but he must decide whether to let her go to his best friend, with whom he believes her to be in love, or to try to win her for himself.