In the 1920s, American stardom was on the rise. With the birth of the movie “star”, the public was more focused than ever on Hollywood. The crowds rejoiced when actors and actresses made blockbuster movies, but came down with harsh criticism if this perfect image was shattered. This is evident in the case of Virginia Rappe, a popular silent film actress who died in the days following a party with the biggest star at the time, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. The case was based on the assumption that her death, caused by a ruptured bladder, was due to being raped by Arbuckle. This case was filled with many conflicting testimonies along with the influence of the press making the persecution of Arbuckle impossible.…
Klaxon horns, Thomas Flyers, and 4-stroke engines doesn’t seem to be the something you would have heard in Cheyenne in 1909. Many may assume of a growing Western town part of the developing West there would be terms related to cattle, rodeos and continuing to tame the Wild West. However, the Industrial Age was in full swing and many in Cheyenne wanted to be a part of this flourishing new revolution.…
From cowboys and Indians to the United States Cavalry. That’s right I’m talking about western movies, these movies have it all. Out of all the famous westerns that just about everybody knows of, the one that stands out has John Wayne and Montgomery Clift as the two main characters. These two actors make quite a pair when they work together, in…
There was these five cowboys (Charlie, Koby, Luke, Reggie, Bryan) that never had a girlfriends, they were all sad that couldn’t find a lady. They weren't nerds, they were popular. Charlie was the one crying, while the others never gave up. Luke didn’t know why. Was it, just about that they were too shy? No, they didn’t smile at anyone, they wanted to do their own things in high-school. Now, they know how lonely it is and all of them have been cowboy buddies as long as they can remember. So, all their life it was hard for all of them, they couldn’t get someone to do anything. Bryan lost both his parents in a car accident, along with Reggie’s parents in the same night. It was one of the hardest nights for Bryan…
From cowboys and Indians to cowboys and aliens, the Western genre has changed remarkably over the decades and what better way to show this than to compare the classic Western, The Searchers (directed by John Ford in 1956) with the Revisionist Western, Cowboys and Aliens (Jon Favreau, 2011). Earlier films saw Native Americans portrayed as animalistic savages with many films including The Searchers centred on the fear of miscegenation. Furthermore, gender roles were limited and characters were mostly two-dimensional. In Cowboys and Aliens, Native Americans are depicted not as savages, but as allies with the White Americans and the heroic role is taken on by a female. This goes to show how representations of race and gender have changed over the years.…
“Robert Mitchum was a one-of-a-kinder, he was a legend, bigger than life.” Bruce Dern, a former Co-star, said in an interview (“Robert Mitchum”). To be honest, he is the most legendary, but an exceptional actor in the whole film industry. He was a hobo before he started his acting career, and kept a hobo’s heart till he died (Clarke). He was an actor who was famous of acting as a “western” over 100 movies as well (“Robert Mitchum”). He was so special that until 1970s, a new generation of critics placed him in the first rank of screen actors, before that, he didn’t get any Oscar. Robert Mitchum, the most all-powerful actor in the movie stars’ history ever.…
After a decade of inactivity during the 1960s, the British Western subgenre reached its creative peak in the early 1970s, beginning with the release of Captain Apache (1971), produced and distributed by Benmar Productions of England and featuring Lee Van Cleef (High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) as the eponymous protagonist. While the decision to cast a white actor in the film’s lead role and have him apply red makeup to increase his authenticity would be considered exploitative and harmful by contemporary standards, Captain Apache is an incredibly atypical character for a western and affirms few of the cultural stereotypes associated with the Native race. For example, he is neither a ferocious white-hating warrior nor a noble savage…
There are many outlaws that have gone throughout world history. Doc Holliday, Diamond Field Jack, and Black Jack Ketchum are three well known outlaws that have shaped American History. All three outlaws came from different backgrounds but all leading to a life of fighting and thievery. They all lived to a moderate age for the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s, they either died by being taken to the law and being hung, or by being shot.…
The legend of Billy the kid has been told in novels, books, plays, songs, poems and most of all, in film. Billy has taken the record for most movies made about any single person. Starting in 1911 with “Billy the Kid” directed by Laurence Trimble. His life made for a perfect plot filled with conspiracy, romance, corruption and lots of gun shots. Billy’s fan base grew larger and larger as the years went by and more films and books were written. Even when not in the movie Billy always played a role in the making of any western, as he did play such an important role in the shaping of the Wild West.…
Throughout the novel many references are made to John Wayne, a famous american actor who often played a heroic cowboy in films. Throughout the text John Wayne is idolized in…
To think of the American western or traditional western, brings visions of the good guy the cowboy who saves the day and the rides away or the sheriff who protects the town and gets the lady. Those were the simpler scenes when it is easy to differentiate between the good and bad guys. The motives and morals were clear as was the setting, the mood or tone and format of the filming. Those were movies that represented a different and simpler time in America and the movies romanticized those times. ?The…
This issue of Living in the West explores the love affair we have with the great American Cowboy. Call them cowhands, cowpoke, cowpuncher or buckaroos, billions of dollars have been spent chronicling their storied history. With his Stetson hat, sunburned face, weathered dungarees and boots of leather, the cowboy has gone from a ranch hand to a blue color icon. In fact, America’s love affair with the cowboy has been around longer than the name “cowboy” itself. But I’m taking a left turn here because when talking about the old west, the only thing America loves more than a Cowboy…is an OUTLAW. I’m not referring to some 13th century, tight wearing, black-death carrying, tunic sporting, pan-pipe playing aristocratic…
John Ford built a standard that many future directors would follow with his classic 1939 film “Stagecoach”. Although there were a plethora of western films made before 1939, the film “Stagecoach” revolutionized the western genre by elevating the genre from a “B” film into a more serious genre. The film challenged not only western stereotypes but also class divisions in society. Utilizing specific aspects of mise-en-scène and cinematography, John Ford displays his views of society.…
Compared to Hollywood films, independent films usually don’t achieve a high amount of success (except for maybe one or two like The King’s Speech). They usually have a low budget and can sometimes not be as profitable as mainstream cinema because they are usually independently funded. However, because of the slow introduction of platforms like ‘Kickstarter’ and ‘IndieGoGo’ (which offer the public to be able to fund different ideas such as films), independent films are slowly starting to achieve the success they want once more (such as the Veronica Mars movie that was recently funded).…
The mixture of compassion, honesty, integrity, and bluntness that they displayed cause people to view them with honor which in turn is most likely responsible for their popularity. The qualities of a cowboy (however real they might actually be) are important to America as a nation because they symbolize what most people believe are the traits of the true American spirit—strength, independence, and self-reliance. In essence, it tells us that ideally we want to possess these qualities just like a cowboy since they were sort of the fundamental principals that the country was founded on. The days of the Wild West are over, however the spirit does live on through the legend of the cowboy who can be viewed as the great American…