The Invention of the Western Film
A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half Century

An in-depth exploration of the early Western, from short kinetoscopes of the 1890s through the 'classic' features of the 1940s.

Scott Simmon (Author)

9780521555814, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 June 2003

412 pages, 112 b/w illus.
22.5 x 15.4 x 2.6 cm, 0.558 kg

"One of the many strengths of this book is Simmon's narrow focus and his attention to the lesser-known nooks and crannies of the Western. His writing is never less than engaging and accessible, his insights often beautifully stated and eminently quotable" - Journal of Film and Video Stephanie Harrison

The Invention of the Western Film ranges across literature, visual arts, social history, ideology, and legend to provide, for the first time, an in-depth exploration of the early Western, from short kinetoscopes of the 1890s through 'classic' features of the 1940s. By examining the American Indian's rise and demise during the silent era, B-Westerns of the 1930s, and film noir-influenced Westerns of the 1940s, Scott Simmon's pioneering study silhouettes the genre's evolution against a myriad of cultural forces. This lively, encyclopedic book revitalizes familiar Western icons John Wayne and John Ford, and recovers forgotten masterworks from the Western film's formative years.

Part I. 'My Friend, the Indian': Landscape and the Extermination of the Native American in the Silent Western: 1. Indians to the rescue
2. The eastern Western
3. Our friends, the Indians
4. The death of the Western, 1911
5. The far-Western
6. Wars on the plains
7. The politics of landscape
8. Pocahontas meets Custer: The Invaders
9. 'No Indians wanted'
10. The west of the Mohicans
11. Desert places
Part II. 'It's Time for Your History Lesson, Dear': John Wayne and the Problem of History in the Hollywood Western of the 1930s: 12. The Big Trail and the weight of history
13. What's the big idea?
14. Manifestations of destiny
15. Rambling into Surrealism: the B-Western
16. 'Don't cry, Pat, it's only a Western': A note on acting
17. Time, space, and the Western
Part III. 'That Sleep of Death': John Ford and the Darkness of the Classic Western in the 1940s: 18. My Darling Clementine and the fight with Film Noir
19. Out of the past
20. 'Shakespeare? In Tombstone?'
21. 'Get outa town and stay out'
22. 'A lot of nice people around here'
23. 'Who do we shoot?'
24. The revenge of Film Noir
25. The return of the Earps
26. Ford, Fonda, and the death of the classic Western.

Subject Areas: Film theory & criticism [APFA]