1940s Western Movies
The 40 most popular 1940s western movies on Flickfolio, ranked by popularity. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948 · 2h 6m
country: United States
Two jobless Americans convince a prospector to travel to the mountains of Mexico with them in search of gold. But the hostile wilderness, local bandits, and greed all get in the way of their journey.

Red River
1948 · 2h 13m
country: United States
Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.

Zorro's Black Whip
1944 · 3h 31m
country: United States
Pretty Girl Barbara Mededith takes over her murdered brother's crusading newspaper. She also assumes the dead sibling's identity as "The Black Whip," righting the wrongs of Crescent City very much in the manner of her famous ancestor, Zorro.

3 Godfathers
1948 · 1h 42m
country: United States
Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infant to safety across the desert, even at the risk of their own lives.

Fort Apache
1948 · 2h 8m
country: United States
Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.

Duel in the Sun
1946 · 2h 24m
country: United States
Beautiful half-breed Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself torn between her sons, one good and the other bad.

The Silver Bullet
1942 · 58m
country: United States
A cowboy heads for the town where his father was murdered to find out who was responsible.

My Darling Clementine
1946 · 1h 37m
country: United States
Three brothers stop off for a night in the town of Tombstone. The next morning they find one of their brothers dead and their cattle stolen. They decide to take revenge on the culprits.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
1949 · 1h 44m
country: United States
On the eve of retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.

They Died with Their Boots On
1941 · 2h 20m
country: United States
The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.

The Ox-Bow Incident
1943 · 1h 16m
country: United States
A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.

Swing in the Saddle
1944 · 1h 9m
country: United States
In this tuneful western, two curious actresses head West to find out the name of their secret admirer. Songs include: "Amor," (Sunny Skylar, Gabriel Ruiz), "Hey Mabel" (Fred Stryker), "By the River Sainte Marie" (Edgar Leslie, Harry Warren), "She Broke My Heart in Three Places" (Oliver Drake), "When It's Harvest Time in Peaceful Valley" (Robert Martin, Raymond McKee), and "There'll Be a Jubilee" (Phil Moore).

Tall in the Saddle
1944 · 1h 27m
country: United States
When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

The Outlaw
1943 · 1h 56m
country: United States
Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage. Doc is trailing his stolen horse, and it is discovered in the possession of Billy the Kid. In a surprising turnaround, Billy and Doc become friends. This causes the friendship between Doc and Pat to cool. The odd relationship between Doc and Billy grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girl Rio's place after Billy is shot.

Tap Roots
1948 · 1h 49m
country: United States
Set at the beginning of the Civil War, Tap Roots is all about a county in Mississippi which chooses to secede from the state rather than enter the conflict. The county is protected from the Confederacy by an abolitionist and a Native American gentleman. The abolitionist's daughter is courted by a powerful newspaper publisher when her fiance, a confederate officer, elopes with the girl's sister. The daughter at first resists the publisher's attentions, but turns to him for aid when her ex-fiance plans to capture the seceding county on behalf of the South.

Go West
1940 · 1h 20m
country: United States
A con man heading west to search for gold teams up with a pair of scheming brothers along the way. The trio soon find themselves in the middle of a feud between two rival families and two underhanded land developers.

Angel and the Badman
1947 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Notorious shootist and womanizer Quirt Evans' horse collapses as he passes a Quaker family's home. Quirt has been wounded, and the kindly family takes him in to nurse him back to health against the advice of others. The handsome Evans quickly attracts the affections of their beautiful daughter, Penelope. He develops an affection for the family and their faith, but his troubled past follows him.

The Harvey Girls
1946 · 1h 44m
country: United States
On a train trip out west to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop.

Western Union
1941 · 1h 35m
country: United States
When Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in 2000.

Yellow Sky
1948 · 1h 38m
country: United States
In 1867, a gang robs a bank and flees into the desert. Out of water, the outlaws encounter a ghost town called Yellow Sky and its only residents, a hostile young woman and her grandfather.

Alaska
1944 · 1h 16m
country: Unknown
A man who has been framed on a murder charge is placed in the custody of a crooked U.S. marshal, who is secretly running a murderous claim-jumping gang.

Western Mail
1942 · 54m
country: United States
Working undercover, Allen and sidekick Mendoza are out to stop the mail train robberies. Rivers and his gang are the culprits and by joining up with them, they hope to get the evidence they need.

Radio Ranch
1940 · 1h 10m
country: United States
Re-edited feature version of serial The Phantom Empire (1935). Singer Gene Autry discovers a race of advanced humans living beneath the earth.

The Return of Frank James
1940 · 1h 32m
country: United States
Farmer Frank and his ward hunt brother Jesse's killers, the back-shooting Fords.

The Fighting Kentuckian
1949 · 1h 40m
country: United States
John Breen (John Wayne), a Kentucky militiaman falls in love with French exile Fleurette De Marchand (Vera Ralston). He discovers a plot to steal the land that Fleurette's exiles plan to settle on and aims to foil it.

Honky Tonk
1941 · 1h 45m
country: United States
Fast-talking con-man and grifter Candy Johnson rises to be the corrupt boss of Yellow Creek, but his wife's alcoholic father tries to set things right.

The Gal Who Took the West
1949 · 1h 24m
country: United States
In order to gain passage to the West, a woman poses as an opera singer, and causes a feud between two cousins.

Flaming Bullets
1945 · 57m
country: United States
Bullets fly as the Texas rangers fight an outlaw gang.

Fighting Valley
1943 · 53m
country: United States
Someone has been stealing ore from a valuable smelting mine. One of the independent mine-owners victimized by the crooks is pretty Joan Manning, making the Rangers' mission a bit more pleasant.

Satan's Cradle
1949 · 1h
country: United States
Satan's Cradle was the fourth of producer Phil Krasne's "Cisco Kid" programmers for United Artists. This time, Cisco takes on a frontier megalomaniac, shyster lawyer Steve Gentry, who has taken over a mining town. Gentry's confederate is dancehall girl Lil who is as deadly as she is beautiful. When itinerant preacher Henry Lane is beaten to a pulp by Gentry's goons, Cisco and Pancho move in for the kill.

The Virginian
1946 · 1h 27m
country: United States
Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her. To add to his troubles, the Virginian finds that his old pal Steve is mixed up with black-hatted Trampas and his rustlers...then finds himself at the head of a posse after said rustlers; and Molly hates the violent side of frontier life.

The Westerner
1940 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Drifter Cole Harden is accused of stealing a horse and faces hanging by self-appointed Judge Roy Bean, but Harden manages to talk his way out of it by claiming to be a friend of stage star Lillie Langtry, with whom the judge is obsessed, even though he has never met her. Tensions rise when Harden comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders who Judge Bean is trying to drive away.

Santa Fe Trail
1940 · 1h 50m
country: United States
As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.

The Yearling
1946 · 2h 8m
country: United States
Jody convinces his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?

The Spoilers
1942 · 1h 27m
country: United States
When honest ship captain Roy Glennister gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to saloon singer Cherry Malotte for assistance in his battle with no-good town kingpin Alexander McNamara.

Gangster's Den
1945 · 55m
country: United States
Fuzzy purchases a saloon with a large sack of gold from the mine he owns with his partner Billy. When a crooked lawyer uses underhanded methods to try taking over the saloon, Billy works to bring the lawyer and his no-good gang to justice.

Brigham Young
1940 · 1h 54m
country: United States
Based on the story of the famous Mormon leader, it follows Brigham Young and his challenge to transport his people across the Rocky mountains to settle in Salt Lake City. The plot focuses on two fictitious characters, Jonathan Kent and Zina Webb and the hardships they have to face along the way.

Boom Town
1940 · 1h 59m
country: United States
Two buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a twenty year period both love the same woman. McMasters and Sand come to oil towns to get rich. Betsy comes West intending to marry Sand but marries McMasters instead. Getting rich and losing it all teaches McMasters and Sand the value of personal ties.

Trigger Trail
1944 · 59m
country: United States
The tale of Clint Farrell, an aspiring lawyer who must use both his wits and his brawn to save his town from being taken over by a villainous railroad financier.

Blood on the Moon
1948 · 1h 28m
country: United States
Down-and-out cowhand Jim Garry is asked by his old friend Tate Riling to help mediate a cattle dispute. When Garry arrives, however, it soon becomes clear that Riling has not been entirely forthright. Garry uncovers Riling's plot to dupe local rancher John Lufton out of a fortune. When Lufton's firecracker of a daughter, Amy, gets involved, Garry must choose between his old loyalties and what he knows to be right.