THE FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF THE WESTERN CINEMA

In chapter two of The Cultures of American Film, the main focus is the establishment of studios. As demand for films rose in the early 1900’s, production companies needed to expand; this lead to the creation of large scale studios.

The most serious Native American stereotypes are clearly visible in films of the early twentieth century in Hollywood westerns. The big screen stories about western cowboys defeating Native tribes proved to be extremely popular and lucrative. Hollywood then started producing western tales in incredible quantities . In most Westerns, white cowboys represent courageous, brave, and quick witted men while the Indians are the dimming past. Cowboys are logical. “Indians” are irrational. Together, cowboys and Indians are the ego and the heart of the Anglo-Saxon identity. Native American characters in twentieth century films have ranged from stereotypes including the bloodthirsty, raging beast to the noble savage. Still other Indian characters, whether they are heroes, bad guys, or neutral, were the characters with little to no character development or range in their personalities. These stereotypes have their origins in popular American literature dating as far back as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, author of Celluloid Indians, notes that popular stories “centered on Native American savagery served as outlets for violence and pent up aggression in an early American society that prided manners and respectability.” (Kilpatrick 2) In these stories, the Native American population was seen as bad, though individual members could be represented as good. These stereotypes continued for years. One author, James Fenimore Cooper, began publishing a series of stories titled The Leatherstocking Tales in 1841. Kilpatrick emphasizes that Cooper

During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that,

In the 1953 film Shane directed by George Stevens, mysterious hero Shane helps settlers in the west claim their property against land owners who are greedy for land. The film follows Shane as he meets the Starrett family who are fighting to keep their land. This film is an example of a classic Western film, with elements that reflect a uniqueness about the film in comparison to other Westerns, both cinematically and thematically.

John Ford built a standard that many future directors would follow with his classic 1939 film “Stagecoach”. Although there were a plethora of western films made before 1939, the film “Stagecoach” revolutionized the western genre by elevating the genre from a “B” film into a more serious genre. The film challenged not only western stereotypes but also class divisions in society. Utilizing specific aspects of mise-en-scène and cinematography, John Ford displays his views of society.

The American western frontier, still arguably existent today, has presented a standard of living and characteristics which, for a time, where all its own. Several authors of various works regarding these characteristics and the obvious border set up along the western and eastern sections have discussed their opinions of the west. In addition to these literary works by renowned authors, one rather convenient cinematic reference has also been influenced by these well-known, well-discussed practices of this American frontier. “True Grit”, a film recently remade in 2010 by the Cohen Brothers, crosses the boundaries of the west allowing all movie-goers to capture one idea of the western world. The movie, along with a few scholarly sources

Wild West Shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe. The first and prototypical wild west show was Buffalo Bill's, formed in 1883 and lasting until 1913. The shows introduced many western performers and personalities, and a

Movies were becoming one of the biggest businesses during the 1920s and most people would spend their leisure time going to the theatre to watch the silent films. They were becoming huge in the popular culture and Hollywood was the place to be. Roughly by 1922, 40 million people a year in attendance over the entire country for the movie theatres and in 1930 over 100 million people would attend the movies every year. By 1927, the movie industry became the fourth largest industry in the country. “The Great Train Robbery” which was released in 1903 was the beginning of the film industry and would eventually change everything. “Jazz Singer” was the first movie that had synchronized sounds throughout the entire film. The popular genres during this decade were western,

The southwest is a region of the United States that makes our country unique. Without the southwest, we would undoubtedly lack the spirit, hope, beauty, and truth that this vast region brings to the rest of the United States as a whole. The southwest represents many things, such as journeying, racism, violence, the clashing and cooperation of cultures, and spirituality, as well as primitivism and pastoralism. All of these elements that the Southwest is comprised of is perhaps the reason why the rest of the country feels so captivated by it; why the southwest is considered a place to “find yourself” or to “regenerate”; and why literature and film regarding the Southwest has been and continues to be of the most popular genres. The western film was one of the most popular during the first half of the twentieth century. Audiences far and wide were mesmerized by actors such as John Wayne and Roy Rogers, and their roles as heroes who fought to tame the American frontier. This very concept, ‘taming the frontier’, gives way to a larger theme that was prevalent in many western films and literature of the southwest: ubi sunt, or rather “where are those who came before us?”. Director Sam Peckinpah’s The Ballad of Cable Hogue portrays this idea better than any other western film; the concept of ubi sunt is undeniably the film’s overarching theme, clearly seen through its components.

I examined the top 500 most popular western movie titles and the summaries of the top 200 most popular western movie summaries. The most prominent phrase on the mythic side is the words, “the wild west.” This was tied for the most common 3-word phrase in the top 200 most popular western movie summaries on IMDB (“Genre: Western”).

He was the academy winning Western legend, recognized as one of the best filmmakers of all time, his name was John Ford. He started out his career in film in July 1914 as an assistant, labourman and actor for his brother Francis Ford. It was not until 1917 where he made his debut as a director with the lost film, The Tornado and ended his career in the early 1970s with his last film Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend. During his early years, he was making silent films where Westerns were very popular during the time. When the introduction of sound came and the birth of Talkies came, however, the genre started losing its popularity. Yet, that did not stop the director from working on the genre, eventually to the point where he is now credited today as the man who played a huge role in bringing the westerns back to popularity. So, in this video essay, I will be talking about John Ford’s take on Westerns and how he revolutionized the genre.

Guns, kidnappings, and vigilantes flooded the streets of the small developing boomtowns in the west. Yet as time went on and the public interest for wild west continued certain directors made an effort to bring historical

Picture a hot, barren desert. Nothing around but a cowboy and his trusty steed. He is majestic as he rides across the dust trails, herding his cattle and trying to make a living. Before Clint Eastwood became a famous western actor, this could have been the typical stereotype for a cowboy. With over 40 movies under his belt, Eastwood has completely changed the common “western” movie (Columbia 1).

The plot takes on a very western ideal and similar other western films. Where a rich corrupt bad guy uses his lawmen to oppress the people of the town, and a band of heroes must rescue them and defeat the so-called villain in the movie Silverado. The movie also embodies the idea of coming together to repress the bandits that are harm loved ones and the town. The scene occurred when two of the heros were riding on the way to deal with the bandit problem and then the last two hero join in riding on the side to help. This is very American back then it was about standing against Britain’s right to tax the colonies. It was dealt with a group of colonist disguised as Indians boarded three ships in Boston and threw over 300 chest of tea into the

Despite the Western genre's downfall in the 1970s, it did not stop Hollywood from creating new Western theme movies. While the number of the Western films were few, the movies continued to produce and loved by the audiences. For example, about seven Western movies came out including The Magnificent Seven in 2016. Moreover, I think the Western is one of the movie genres that represent America and it will continue to represent