A wide-ranging and stimulating appreciation of every film buff’s favourite genre, The Movie Book of the Western concentrates on the period since 1939, when the Western established itself in the mainstream of the American cinema. The films covered in depth run from Drum along the Mohawk and Dodge City, both made in that year, to Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992) and other films of the recent Western revival. Among the major figures in the history of the Western whose work is discussed are John Wayne, John Ford, Anthony Mann and Delmer Daves. The text, mainly written by film critics associated with MOVIE magazine, is aimed at the informed filmgoer as well as the film student and is illustrated throughout with stills that capture the flavour of the Western.

 

Full chapter list

CRITICISM AND THE WESTERN Douglas Pye

COUNTRY MUSIC AND THE 1939 WESTERN: From Hillbillies to Cowboys Peter Stanfield

A BETTER SENSE OF HISTORY: John Ford and the Indians Richard Maltby

WHY DO COWBOYS WEAR HATS IN THE BATH?: Style Politics for the Older Man Martin Pumphrey

SOCIAL CLASS AND THE WESTERN AS MALE MELODRAMA David Lusted

JOHN WAYNE’S BODY Deborah Thomas

THE DIETRICH WESTERNS: Destry Rides Again and Rancho Notorious Florence Jacobowitz

METHOD WESTERNS: The Left-Handed Gun and One-Eye Jacks Jonathan Bignell

GENRE AND HISTORY: Fort Apache and the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Douglas Pye

THE WESTERNS OF DELMER DAVES Michael Walker

A TIME AND A PLACE: Budd Boetticher and the Western Mike Dibb

THE COLLAPSE OF FANTASY: Masculinity in the Westerns of Anthony Mann Douglas Pye

DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK Robin Wood

DODGE CITY Charles Barr

DUEL IN THE SUN Robin Wood

NOTES ON PURSUED Andrew Britton

WESTWARD THE WOMEN: Feminising the Wilderness Peter William Evans

SHANE THROUGH FIVE DECADES Bob Baker

JOHNNY GUITAR V.F. Perkins

DOUBLE VISION: Miscegenation and Point of View in The Searchers Douglas Pye

HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS Richard Lippe

NOT WITH A BANG: The End of the West in Lonely Are the Brave, The Misfits and Hud Edward Gallafent

HOW THE WEST WAS WON: History, Spectacle and the American Mountains Sheldon Hall

ULZANA’S RAID Douglas Pye

PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID Brad Stevens

CLASS FRONTIERS: The View from Heaven’s Gate Brian Woolland

DANCES WITH WOLVES Michael Walker

UNFORGIVEN Leighton Grist

FOUR TOMBSTONES 1946-1994 Edward Gallafent