The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Patience is part of the point.”
Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.
Back to trending 
3 Godfathers
Western · 1948
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.
Movie details
3 Godfathers
“John Ford's Legend of the Southwest!”
1948 Western 1h 42m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.8 / 10
Community rating
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.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over 3 Godfathers?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Big Jake
Western · 1971
An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.
3:10 to Yuma
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In Arizona in the late 1800s, infamous outlaw Ben Wade and his vicious gang of thieves and murderers have plagued the Southern Railroad. When Wade is captured, Civil War veteran Dan Evans, struggling to survive on his drought-plagued ranch, volunteers to deliver him alive to the "3:10 to Yuma", a train that will take the killer to trial.
Valdez Is Coming
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Old Mexican-American sheriff Bob Valdez has always been a haven of sanity in a land of madmen when it came to defending law and order. But the weapon smuggler Frank Tanner is greedy and impulsive. When Tanner provokes a shooting that causes the death of an innocent man and Valdez asks him to financially compensate the widow, Tanner refuses to do so and severely humiliates Valdez, who will do justice and avenge his honor, no matter what it takes.
Appaloosa
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Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
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In 1859, families discover the lure of the Old West as they settle in territories from Wyoming to Kansas. Meanwhile, a gruff cowboy finds himself on the run with a prostitute and a young boy after killing a fellow gunman.
Pale Rider
Western · 1985
A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
El Dorado
Western · 1966
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.
The Last Hard Men
Western · 1976
In 1909 Arizona, retired lawman Sam Burgade's life is thrown upside-down when his old enemy Provo and six other convicts escape a chain-gang in the Yuma Territorial Prison and come gunning for Burgade.
The Hateful Eight
Drama · 2015
Bounty hunters seek shelter from a raging blizzard and get caught up in a plot of betrayal and deception.
Never Grow Old
Western · 2019
An Irish undertaker profits when outlaws take over a peaceful town, but his own family come under threat as the death toll increases dramatically.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
John Ford
Written by
Laurence Stallings · Frank S. Nugent · Peter B. Kyne · Robert Nathan
John Wayne
Robert Marmaduke Sangster Hightower
Pedro Armendáriz
Pedro 'Pete' Roca Fuerte
Harry Carey Jr.
William Kearney ('The Abilene Kid')
Ward Bond
Perley 'Buck' Sweet
Mae Marsh
Mrs. Perley Sweet
Mildred Natwick
The Mother
Jane Darwell
Miss Florie
Court is in session
Put 3 Godfathers on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“A test of endurance, your honour.”
Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.