preview

Hollywood Westerns Essay

analytical Essay
1320 words
1320 words
bookmark

Hollywood Westerns essentially focus on the concept of bringing the law to the lawless and for movie goers, it has been said, that the best Westerns were the movies that moved, not only from a physical action standpoint, but also in terms of moving an audience emotionally. It was this engaging combination that garnered the most satisfaction and praise from movie-going audiences.
Most film scholars believe the first Western to be ‘Cripple Creek Bar Room’ (W. Dickson’s 1898 tableau). To understand the origin of the Western, one must realise that the genre did not spring to life in full maturity. Its growth stemmed from various roots including Arthurian legends, oral tradition shared through generations, and frontier tales that essentially developed into folk-lore. The dime novels of the 1860s and onwards, pre-dated the advent of movies by one generation.
It seems as if Americans in the late 20th century were only slightly aware of how influential the Wild West Shows actually were. They were, after all, the most spectacular arena entertainment, probably since the era of the Roman circuses. Indeed, one could possibly compare the 19th century attendance at such festivals as the forerunner of the popular music rock concerts – they were smash hits not only in America but throughout Europe as well. With time, the Wild West Shows were naturally surpassed by the novelty and shorter duration of motion pictures. Mention ‘Cowboys and Injuns’ and, almost automatically, one thinks of actors like John Wayne, Gary Cooper, WS Hart, Roy Rogers and Tom Mix.
One of the most successful directors of this genre was John Ford. He once introduced himself saying, ‘I am John Ford, and I make Westerns’. The somewhat minimizing nature of this rem...

... middle of paper ...

...with approximate takings of US$70-million. Second is ‘Butch Cassidy’ on US$58.4-million, and ‘Blazing Saddles’ comes in, surprisingly, at third place on US$49.2-milllion.
The Traditional Western has often been overlooked at awards time; only three have been successful at the Academy Awards, winning Oscars for Best Picture. These include ‘Cimarron’ (1933), Dances with Wolves (1990) and ‘The Unforgiven’ (1992.)
To all intents and purposes, the directors did not make the Westerns; it was the Westerns that made the directors. Only John Ford and Sam Peckinpah had the excellence to rise above this material, and make something new of it.
Clearly, when one talks about a Western, such discussion is based in the past. The genre, however, remains alive in our memories ………. so get out the popcorn and a cool-drink, and settle back with your favourite dvd or usb stick movie!!

In this essay, the author

  • Explains that hollywood westerns focus on the concept of bringing the law to lawless, and that the movies that moved were the ones that garnered the most satisfaction and praise from movie-going audiences.
  • Explains the origin of the western, stating that the genre's growth stemmed from various roots including arthurian legends, oral tradition, and frontier tales that essentially developed into folk-lore.
  • Explains that the wild west shows were the most spectacular arena entertainment, probably since the era of the roman circuses. they were smash hits not only in america but throughout europe.
  • Explains that no director nowadays is automatically classified as a western film director, rather they dabble across genres sometimes favouring one over another.
  • Opines that westerns consisted of the good guys versus the bad guys. this clearly-demarcated distinction between good and evil changed as the western movie evolved and evolved.
  • Explains that the idea of heroes and villains was not the only raw material of the west, but the westward expansion of america in the second half of 19th century also featured in this genre.
  • Describes the most successful westerns of the 1930s and 1940s, including ‘stagecoach’, ‘my darling clementine’ and ‘duel in the sun’.
  • Analyzes how the ending of howard hawk's 'red river' (1948) which saw john wayne and film debutante, montgomery clift, not shooting it out, was criticized for not being true to the genre.
  • Opines that westerns are not to be appreciated purely in terms of their historical accuracy, but that the frontier between the civil war and the turn of the century would form the backdrop to most western films.
  • Analyzes how john ford's 'the man who shot liberty valance' in 1962 infiltrated the genre with a darkening mood, which led to the veneration of film-makers.
  • Explains that ‘how the west was won’ (1962) was the first western released in cinerama and featured a veritable ‘who’s who’ cast.
  • Analyzes how akira kurosawa's 'the seven samurai' (1952) was re-worked into a film called the magnificent seven (1960) in hollywood.
  • Explains that clint eastwood sang the lerner and loewe tune, ‘i talk to the trees’ in ‘paint your wagon’ and lee marvin’s version of ‘wandering star’ hit no. 1 on the british music charts.
  • Explains that western movies enjoyed some sort of resurgence in the 1970’s, with releases such as mel books’ satirical ‘blazing saddles’ and ‘butch cassidy and the sundance kid’.
  • Analyzes how we saw self-personification of the genre itself (john wayne in ‘the shootist’ in 1976), men at the end of their tether (william holden in sam peckinpah’s gruesome, ‘wild bunch’ (1969), or even those unaware that their time had come and gone.
  • Explains that the westerns' position vis-à-vis hollywood was radically different from what it had been before the second world war. hollywood and audiences no longer seem interested in the last days of the frontier.
  • Explains that with a new awakening among minority groups in america, spokesmen for the american indian movements began to complain that hollywood had maligned and degraded the native american on the screen.
  • Analyzes how marlon brando's refusal to accept his second oscar for best actor in 'the godfather' sent sacheen littlefeather (a young indian girl) to read out his objections at the film industry’s treatment of indians.
  • Analyzes how the complaint against gratuitous violence found its nadir in the spaghetti westerns under the leadership of films by sergio leone.
  • Opines that the most successful western at the box-office with an inflation-adjusted revenue is still ‘duel in the sun’ with approximate takings of us$70-million.
  • Explains that the traditional western has often been overlooked at awards time; only three have won oscars for best picture, including ‘cimarron’ (1933), dances with wolves (1990) and ‘the unforgiven.
  • Opines that only john ford and sam peckinpah had the excellence to rise above this material, and make something new of it.
  • Opines that when one talks about a western, such discussion is based in the past, but the genre remains alive in our memories.
Get Access