An introduction to The Western

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Presentation by Robert MartinezImages as cited.

BELLWORK: 9/27

Please describe the word: COWBOY. How do you view them?

The mythic western theme is persistent in American culture, thanks in large part to

the movies. It was, for a long time, how the rest of the world saw us.

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The Great Train Robbery• 12-minute silent film in 1903 considered

the first modern film.

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The Lone Ranger The masked lawman & his trusted

Indian companion Tonto were as popular to kids as Superman & Batman.

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Television programming in the 50s & 60s consisted of many western shows, such as

Bonanza, Wagon Train, High Chaparral, The Rifleman, and Gunsmoke…but movies

were the best.

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American westerns were the things of dreams and adventure for young men growing up in the U.S.A. But were the

westerns really All-American?

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In truth, our filmmakers have often taken their leads from artists working in other

countries. Japan’s Akira Kurosawa’s classis Samurai pictures became box office successes in America, remade as westerns.

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A Fistful of Dollars director was Sergio Leone, the Italian responsible for Eastwood’s “spaghetti western”

phenomenon.

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So you could say that American westerns aren’t really so “American.” Or maybe it is, after all, America is a melting pot from all

over the world.

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John Wayne John Wayne was the ultimate western

star. But why? No one seems to be able to sum up why, except for maybe one film director, Raoul Walsh, when he said, “Dammit, the S.O.B. looked like a cowboy.”

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The Duke John Wayne, nicknamed the Duke, won his

only Academy Award performance as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969), of course, playing an old, cussing, shooting, U.S. Marshall.

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Western pictures had a way of influencing morals of right and wrong in American

society. There was no doubt between good and evil. The bad guy almost always wore

black.

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It’s probably no accident that the Westerns lost their popularity during the

Counterculture of the 60s & 70s (Vietnam War and Watergate Scandal). Good guys weren’t always following the rules. That

just wasn’t very American.

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Cowboys were the hero’s of the Conformist generation. Even John Wayne received a

large amount of criticism for his role in the Vietnam propaganda film, The Green

Berets.

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Heck, America even elected one of the Western’s most recognized stars as

President of the United States – Ronald Reagan.

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Don’t you think that frightened a few Cold War adversaries, after all, a pistol-packing cowboy with control of a nuclear arsenal?

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American film audiences have lost interest. People being killed slowly, just one at a time, is a plot line that won’t hold our

attention. America wants machine guns firing with lots of explosions.

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Only two westerns have been Academy Award recipients: Cimarron (1931), then six decades later, Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992.) Dances with Wolves is almost a western, winning Best Picture honors in 1990.

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The Unforgiven In The Unforgiven, Eastwood, who also

directed, makes use of a popular western movie theme, the lone man. The lone man, isolated, trying to scratch a living from the unyielding soil. A former gunfighter, he is unfit for farming.

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The Unforgiven The opportunity presents itself, to pick up

his gun again and make some money, the only way he knows how, money he

wouldn’t care about if he didn’t need it to take care of his two motherless children.

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The Unforgiven Eastwood moves comfortably on to

another western movie tradition, and takes on a sidekick, Morgan Freeman. The bonds that tie men together in the Western are unbreakable. Death is the only separation.

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The Magnificent Seven Mexican villagers scrape up enough money to hire seven gunmen to protect

their homes and families from evil bandits.

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Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

Greatest adventure of western outlaws, there is no better sidekick movie ever (plus lots of laughs). These bank & trains robbers are chased by U.S. lawmen all the way to South America.

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Silverado The ultimate western containing every western

theme ever devised. A group of brothers journey west to settle down, but first they have to take on the corrupt land barons and lawmen.

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High Noon Mega film star Gary Cooper plays the quiet,

mild-mannered, but good-natured sheriff of a small town, left alone, to ward off a band of thugs. He knows he’s outnumbered, none of the townspeople will help him, they’re all afraid.

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High Noon Cooper faces certain death, but he has a

duty, and he’s not running from it. Clocks are ticking on walls everywhere in the movie, moving slowly toward 12 o’clock, when the train is due to arrive with the outlaws.

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The Searchers

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The Searchers Best Western director, John Ford’s

stories, are simply about the individual as the last line of defense, a man willing to take a stand, no matter how high the price. A good example is The Searchers, starring John Wayne.

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The Searchers Disillusioned loner Ethan Edwards (John

Wayne), goes alone to search for Natalie Woods, kidnapped as a little girl by the Indians. This tough man brings her back to civilization, to her family, and then, alone, turns and walks away (the John Wayne walk) into the sunset.

True Grit

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John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn

True Grit U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn is recruited to

hunt down the killers of a young girl’s father. Unfortunately for him, she insists on going along on the difficult journey into the wild Indian territory. John Wayne wins his only academy award for Best Actor.

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The Cowboys The only western when its alright for a grown

man to cry, because it can’t be helped. John Wayne leads a group of youngsters in a long trail cattle drive battling the harsh elements

and evil cattle rustlers.

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Homework for Extra Credit Watch one of the movies discussed in

this powerpoint, and then write a one-page summary (typed) of why the

movie made a “good” western, what kind of western themes were present.

The summary must also include a short summary of the plot and characters. Lastly, what did you enjoy about the

film.