Description
Book Synopsis The great American Westerns can be profoundly meaningful when read metaphorically. More than mere shoot ''em up entertainment, they are an essential part of a vibrant, evolving national mythology. Like other versions of the archetypal Hero''s Journey, these films are filled with insights about life, love, nature, society, ethics, beauty and what it means to be human, and are key to understanding American culture.
Part film guide, part historical survey, this book explores the mythic and artistic elements in 52 great Westerns--some orthodox, some subversive--from the genre''s first half-century. Each film is given detailed critical analysis, from the earliest silent movies to Golden Age classics like Red River (1948), High Noon (1952) and Shane (1953).
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vi
Preface: On the Ethics of Writing a Book About Westerns 1
Notes on Language and Cast/Credit Charts 3
Introduction 7
Part One: The Silents
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
The Battle of Elderbush Gulch (1913)
The Squaw Man (1914)
The Bargain (1914)
Knight of the Trail (1915)
Keno Bates, Liar (1915)
Hell's Hinges (1916)
The Heart of Texas Ryan (1917)
The Covered Wagon (1923)
The Iron Horse (1924)
The Vanishing American (1925)
Tumbleweeds (1925)
3 Bad Men (1926)
Part Two: The Talkies
In Old Arizona (1928)
The Virginian (1929)
Hell's Heroes (1929)
The Big Trail (1930)
Billy the Kid (1930)
Cimarron (1931)
Viva Villa! (1934)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
The Plainsman (1936)
Jesse James (1939)
Part Three: The Golden
Stagecoach (1939)
Dodge City (1939)
Union Pacific (1939)
Frontier Marshal (1939)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
Melody Ranch (1940)
They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
Angel and the Badman (1947)
Pursued (1947)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Fort Apache (1948)
Red River (1948)
Yellow Sky (1948)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Wagon Master (1950)
The Gunfighter (1950)
Winchester '73 (1950)
Broken Arrow (1950)
Devil's Doorway (1950)
Rawhide (1951)
Along the Great Divide (1951)
Bend of the River (1952)
High Noon (1952)
The Naked Spur (1953)
Shane (1953)
Conclusion 366
Appendix: A Western Viewing List, 1903–1953 369
Notes 373
Bibliography 377
Index 381
