MovieChat Forums > The Long Riders (1980) Discussion > WHICH CARRADINE IS BEST IN THIS?

WHICH CARRADINE IS BEST IN THIS?


I thought Keith was the best

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I think i agree with you here. In fact, i just rewatched this movie for the first time in like 5 years the other day, and just reolised how big of a role Jim Younger had. I always remembered it being mostley about Jesse and Cole Younger, but oddly enough i think that they gave Jim Younger the most lines.

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I thought David was tops. Cole Younger was definitely the most charismatic of all the characters in the movie.

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A toss up between David, and Keith.

A man can be no more than what he is.

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i think it was keith though david was cool. i think keith has a broader range then david who can be good too.

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Keith was cool, but it's David that says: "You'll never be respectable, Belle. You're a whore. You'll always be a whore. That's why I like you." No way can Keith compete with a line like that.

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David

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i don't know between the guys who is whom lol but if David was the oldest Younger, COLE that is --- then he was best... i loved his knife fight w/ the guy Belle was with ...



"I'm a Buddhist - In case of accident, call a Lama" (The Ninth Configuration)

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"i don't know between the guys who is whom lol but if David was the oldest Younger, COLE that is --- then he was best... i loved his knife fight w/ the guy Belle was with ..."


That guy would be Sam Starr played by James Remar. The same dude who played tough guy Ajax in The Warriors and escaped convict, Albert Ganz in 48 Hours.

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David

"What do you mean I have to wait 5 days to buy a gun?I'm angry now!"-HOMER SIMPSON

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David!!! But the guy playing Jesse was awful.

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The guy playing Jesse was Stacy Keach, his brother James(played Frank James) is married to Jane Seymour, the English actress. She plays in mostly T.V. movies now. James is a producer and he lives in England. I agree that Stacy Keach didn't play a very good Jesse, but I think the influence of James Keach was already prevelant. I still think David Carradine played a hell of a Cole Younger, he had all the good lines, and he looked the most authentic. Still a good film! The Carradines were the best actors in this film out of all of the real life brothers!

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Actually, James played Jesse and Stacy played Frank.

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The first time I ever watched this was because I had and STILL have a huge crush on Keith, but I have to say, it was DAVID as Cole, who really stood out. This whole movie was terrific, and one of my favorite westerns.

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David, with Keith a close runner-up. One of the best roles ever for David. This film is one of my favorites too; I've been enjoying it from time to time since it first came out in the 80's.

Also the best score by Ry Cooder in a Walter Hill film. The Ry Cooder cameo, where he sang "Good Old Rebel" at gunpoint, was good and funny.

Pamela Reed also did a good job as Belle Starr. That Texas vignette with the knife fight was unforgettable ...

[Cole Younger and Sam Starr are about to fight over Belle]

Cole Younger: What does the winner get?
Belle Starr: Nothin' both of you ain't already had.
Cole Younger: Don't hardly seem worth it.
Belle Starr: It ain't. You're both crazy, but you do keep me amused. I am having a *real* good time.

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All the Carradine brothers have lovely smokey voices but I belive that Keith (Jim Younger) has the most distinctive. I would say that Keith is the best in his delivery of his lines (His phrasing and timing in the scene in which his cousin is shot by the Pinkertons is stellar). He also strikes a more imposing visual due to his height and his neat (Dandy) appearance. So I give him props on that.

Note also that Walter Hill has a very strong connection with "Deadwood" the HBO series (Directed the pilot) and that Keith Carradine had a scene stealing role as Wild Bill Hickcock. The lighting, feel and sepia earth toned visual theme is virtually the same in the "Long Riders" and "Deadwood".

On David Carradine (Cole Younger), he can look dirty, unkempt and sleazy and make it sooooo sexy. I am truly mezmerized by this actor and can't really concentrate on anyone else in the frame when he is on screen. You can't teach that charisma.

On the James Keach who portrayed Jesse James, I think he was perfectly cast (as was everyone else in this masterful film). Very steely gaze and has a mean streak, a man of few words but many actions. James Keach is also the producer of "Walk the Line" and is married to Jane Seymour.

My only complaint and it is minor, is that Stacy Keach (Frank James) seemed sort of reserved and second fiddle in this film. I guess playing against type is the mark of a great actor. In reality Frank James did not surrender until months after Jesse's murder.

This is what all westerns should be like, dirty, violent and spare.

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Just a quick neat little note to me about the Ry Cooder soundtrack. My father was the musician that played the spoons during all the scenes with the band. There is actually a great close up of his hands playing the spoons in the wedding scene. It's a lost art, no one really does it anymore, he still plays every chance he gets. We all tease him about his crotch being on film because it's a closeup of his thighs and hands playing the spoons on his leg.

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That's amazing! I can believe that playing the spoons is difficult.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

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I liked all of the brothers except for the Keach Bros, I think it would have been better with Jeff and Beau Bridges cast as the James Boys, as to the which Carradine was best, hard to choose, I thought all 3 did an excellent job, but for me David and Keith were better, Robert was young and not as experienced an actor at the time as his 2 brothers were, But if i had to pick one of the 3 though I would say Keith, I think he is the best actor of the 3 brothers.

“Do not fear death... only the unlived life.” - Natalie Babbitt

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I thought the Younger brothers were definately the toughest. David Carradine (Cole) was shot 11 times (said in the movie) Robert Carradine (Bob) with his youth was shot at least 5 times or more, but Keith Carradine (Jim) was shot in the face though. That is what shows toughness! I also thought Randy Quaid (Clell) was pretty cool, but Dennis Quaid (Ed) didn't have a really big part though. But I would say David Carradine was my favorite.

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SPOILERS











I'd have to vote for Keith, even though David's performance is excellent, and he is the true main character of the film...I believe w/ more screen time than anybody. Even baby brother Robert was quite solid in this film.

My own opinion is that Keith has most consistently shown the greatest talent and skill as an actor out this talented family (including their talented father), but David is certainly the most famous and has, when he's had his life together, really nailed lots of performances....so it's a hard call, especially if David is the true main character here.

David's problems w/ substance abuse and its impact on his career are well-noted, especially by him which he openly points out, but I think they really affected his roles after this 1980 film, in which he is sharp and lucid.

We have to take these brothers' subtle physical acting into account to answer this unanswerable question. Ridley Scott, in his commentary in "Gladiator", says it's the actor who takes the hit that sells the blow. Honestly, if it's physical, the hitter must be convincing too, but I understand Scott's point, especially when I see Jim/Keith get shot in the Northfield disaster! The way he sells that hit as an actor of being shot through the cheek is one of the key moments in the whole/scene and movie, and just b/c it's a split second shot, we shouldn't discount that difficult acting challenge...if anything, it makes him even more deserving of respect.

So, by a hair, it's Keith Keith Keith.

Here's another subtle physical acting detail that illustrates the talent and skill of all the Carradine brothers. After the failure at Northfield, while Clell is doubled over and coughing up blood, abt to die, the 3 brothers are together, w/ Robert's character nearly passed out, all 3 shot more than half dead, and Robert is framed on either side by Jim/Keith and Cole/David who each have a hand on the poor boy's shoulder....no dialogue, but pure acting talent conveying such tenderness and concern as they're being informed by Jesse that he's abt to abandon them.

Another great Jim/Keith moment is when he wounds that Pinkerton who just killed his cousin, and angrily shouts, "Now I have to take him back to his family--DEAD!" then blows him away. Great performance by all the brothers.
ZeteticZ

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All the Carradines were excellent- David was superior, at least in this film. For their more recent work, I prefer Keith (usually). Like 'em both on Wild West Tech.

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