by Conan Simmons – November 22, 2020 – 11:16 pm
Welcome to a new series here at On Genre where we examine what makes a film genre.
In this first installment we look at that predominantly American film genre known as the western.
The western is a genre that primarily focuses on the never ending battle between good and evil often depicted in storylines of lawmen vs. outlaws roaming the range. Another major theme of the genre is the encroachment of civilization and the taming of wild land. The major themes are mostly showcased as stark contrasts of opposites.
The western film genre began in 1903 with the release of director Edwin S. Porter’s ‘The Great Train Robbery’, which became the first American film classic. Featuring the famous closing shot of the cowboy firing his gun directly at the camera, it set the standard not only for the western but for narrative films across all cinema moving forward.
Soon after, as the silent era of film was gaining full steam, movie stars began emerging from the western films. William S. Hart, a.k.a. “the good bad man”, became the genre’s first big star in the 1910’s with films like ‘His Hour of Manhood’ (1915) and ‘The Square Deal Man’ (1917).
By the height of the silent era in the 1920’s a new western star had eclipsed Hart. Tom Mix, along with his horse Tony, was more flamboyant and action oriented than his predecessor making a name for himself in several films like ‘Riders of the Purple Sage’ (1925) and ‘Flaming Guns’ (1932).
The 1930’s took their cue from the popularity of Tom Mix and a whole slew of countless b-movie westerns were made from lesser known studios, Lone Star, Monogram, and Republic among many others. Many featured western stars Bob Steele (‘Hidden Valley’) or Ken Maynard (‘Tombstone Canyon’). Several more featured popular character actor and staple of the genre, Hoot Gibson (‘The Dude Bandit’).
One popular trend in western films during the 1930’s was the singing cowboy, the best known being Gene Autry (‘Ridin’ on a Rainbow’) and his horse Champion. He was followed by founder of famed western music group Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers (‘King of the Cowboys’) and his pal Trigger.
The b-movie westerns weren’t content to keeping strictly in the genre. Masked heroes from pulp novels and radio shows like Zorro and The Lone Ranger started their long runs on film during the decade. The western genre also blended well with science fiction, as in the famous movie serial ‘Phantom Empire’ starring Gene Autry, the fantasy-western ‘Hidden Valley’, and the enjoyable sub-genre of horror-westerns such as ‘Rawhide Terror’ and the notable cult movie western ‘Terror of Tiny Town’, the only Hollywood movie with a cast exclusively of midgets.
The first decade of sound pictures wasn’t relegated to only b-movie westerns. In 1931 the first western to win the Oscar for Best Picture, ‘Cimarron’ starred action film hero Richard Dix and featured a classic sequence depicting the Oklahoma Land Rush. In 1939 ‘Stagecoach’, starring b-movie stalwart John Wayne and directed by John Ford, established the western genre as “A” picture material and established John Wayne as one of Hollywood’s all-time stars.
In the 1940’s new western stars emerged. “Lash” LaRue (‘King of the Bullwhip’) started the transition away from the singing cowboy. After the war, western films were given bigger budgets and bigger name stars. Henry Fonda made an impression in John Ford’s 1946 film ‘My Darling Clementine’ and again, opposite John Wayne, in ‘Fort Apache’. ‘Fort Apache’ was the first in John Ford’s famous cavalry trilogy followed by ‘She Wore a Yellow Ribbon’ and ‘Rio Grande’.
As the more cynical tone of post-war America took hold of Hollywood it was reflected in westerns starting with 1950’s ‘Winchester ’73’, starring James Stewart. More films followed the trend, ‘High Noon’ starring Gary Cooper, ‘Shane’ starring Alan Ladd, and ‘3:10 to Yuma’ starring Glen Ford.
The 1950’s was the height of the western genre’s popularity as it dominated the early days of television and comic books. Movie theaters were filled with so-called “oaters”, westerns that followed an often cliched formula. The standout star of many of these “oaters” was Randolph Scott whose best include ‘The Tall T’ and ‘Seven Men from Now’.
The radical changes of the 1960’s brought about new influences into the genre starting with the American remake of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s samurai classic ‘Seven Samurai’ as an ensemble western, ‘The Magnificent Seven’ starring Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen. As popularity in the genre declined it still had enough to finish out the decade with the satirical ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and the highly influential and violent ‘The Wild Bunch’ directed by Sam Peckinpah.
Filmmakers outside of the United States began making their own variations of the western movies they had seen for years. Italy became most famous for the sub-genre of spaghetti westerns beginning with director Sergio Leone’s ‘Fistful of Dollars’, itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Yojimbo’. Leone followed his classic spaghetti western with two sequels, ‘For a Few Dollars More’ and ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’ all starring Clint Eastwood and featuring music scores by Ennio Morricone.
Spaghetti westerns refer strictly to westerns produced and made by Italian filmmakers. For the rest of European made westerns they are referred to as euro-westerns. One of the top euro-westerns is ‘Hannie Caulder’ starring Raquel Welch. The popularity of spaghetti and euro-westerns lasted into the late 1970’s until falling out of favor along with the rest of the genre.
Europe wasn’t the only place internationally that made westerns during this time. In Brazil filmmaker Glauber Rocha began making films in the genre focusing on the experience in South America. In 1964 he made the most notable in the genre from the south, ‘Black God, White Devil’ starring Othon Bastos.
In the 1970’s Australia, having their own unique history paralleling the old west of America, created their variations on the genre with ‘Ned Kelly’ starring Rolling Stones front-man Mick Jagger and ‘The Man from Snowy River’ (1982) starring Kirk Douglas.
Westerns fell heavily out of favor by the time the 1980’s rolled around. Still, Hollywood made attempts to revive it, notably ‘Silverado’ (1985) and ‘Young Guns’ (1988). The 1990’s saw the western in paradox. The genre returned to win the Oscar for Best Picture twice in that decade with 1990’s ‘Dances with Wolves’ and 1992’s ‘Unforgiven’. Aside from thses two films the western quickly died out again in 1994 after ‘Tombstone’ and ‘Wyatt Earp’.
It was during the 1980’s and 90’s that historical revisionism started to reshape how the western genre was portrayed. As new generations grew up in a post-Jim Crow America the previously established viewpoints on American history were challenged and re-interpreted to portray the Native Americans as more complex humans instead of the barbaric savages they had long been portrayed as since the beginning of film.
The 2000’s continued the mostly dormant popularity of westerns with the most notable film being Kevin Costner’s 2003 opus ‘Open Range’ which features the absolute best gunfight in film history.
Popular director Quentin Tarantino began a resurgence of interest in the genre with his action packed 2012 film ‘Django Unchained’, a riff on the countless spaghetti westerns that used the name Django, this time starring Jamie Foxx with a small role for the original Django, Franco Nero. Tarantino followed this up with the Ennio Morricone scored ‘The Hateful Eight’ in 2015.
The decade saw westerns bubbling back to the surface of popularity riding on Tarantino’s two hits. The Coen brothers made the western anthology ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ for the streaming service Netflix. Blumhouse, a studio most famous for its horror films, made the spaghetti western homage ‘In a Valley of Violence’ starring Ethan Hawke and John Travolta. The genre also began blending with other genres again. The horror inspired comic book adaptation ‘Jonah Hex’ starring Josh Brolin, the sci-fi action of Jon Favreau’s ‘Cowboys & Aliens’, and the Kurt Russell starring horror western ‘Bone Tomahawk’.
As the western genre rises again in popularity it finds itself in new media such as the hit video game ‘Red Dead Redemption’ and its sequel. Music producer Jay-Z is currently producing a western for Netflix, ‘The Harder They Fall’ starring Idris Elba. The genre of westerns still has a long trail ahead.
TOP 5 WESTERNS TO SEE
- ‘The Great Train Robbery’ (1903)
- ‘Stagecoach’ (1939)
- ‘Winchester ’73’ (1950)
- ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’ (1966)
- ‘Django Unchained’ (2012)
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