Formative viewing experiences - A western with my granny

Like a lot of Irish people my first introduction to Westerns was through a grandparent. In my case my Nana. We used to watch Bonanza, Rawhide, The Virginian and The High Chaparral religiously, usually after mass on a Sunday (see what I did there). They were great fun. Ben Cartwright and Big John Cannon taking care of business. Good guys, as pure as the driven snow. They faced problems that were solved in under an hour, usually with a hefty right hook. And when people needed to get shot they fell down dead, bloodlessly, after one bullet. It was all good clean innocent fun.

Then one night as a treat I was let stay up to watch a proper grown up Western. My parents were away. I was staying with me granny. My brother was upstairs conked out and I was up way past my bedtime. I knew me ma wouldn't like what I was about to watch. I was sworn to secrecy. Little did I know this was to be the start of my love for the Wild West.

I was giddy as hell. We broke out the Turkish Delight bars. The film started. The music was amazing. A tune I'd heard whistled in the playground in school but never knew where it came from. Now i did. The multi-coloured credits shot across the screen along with names of foreign actors i'd never recognise. Sound and vision were exotic as hell and matched each other perfectly. There were good guys who did bad things. Bad guys who showed mercy. Men jumping through hotel windows after gunning down bounty hunters. The man who shot that poor fella through his pillow. The man who saved another from being hanged by shooting a bullet through the rope tied around his neck. My jaw dropped. This was amazing. "That fella with the gun is Clint Eastwood" my granny said. "He's Rowdy from Rawhide."

30+ years later i remember one moment vividly. Tuco with a noose around his neck once again. Trying to balance on a gravestone knowing he'll hang if he falls. Blondie on a hill in the distance showing him mercy one last time by shooting him down. Even at a young age I knew i was seeing something special. Something I'd never seen before. And to be quite honest I've rarely seen anything like it since.

Big props to my Nana for letting me stay up that night. Now I'm going to remember her while watching this again.