Yes, You Should Watch A Western (Dammit)! Part I
This is my blatant attempt to persuade you. No more, no less.
For those of you who have never delved into this genre, now is the time. The season for the big tent block-bluster sci-fi and superhero franchises ended in December of 2019. The Marvel movies ended a huge chapter, and perhaps you share my opinion that we have become oversaturated with the superhero genre. Meanwhile, the Star Wars franchise degraded with each new entry (they still made heaps of money). The normal avenues of entertainment began to decline, and people began looking elsewhere for new content. Then, there is also the present climate we are in. Collectively, we are in a state of uncertainty, of transition and unrest. Many of us wonder what the outcome of all of our problems and what new era we will saunter into.
Why Westerns?
The Western genre in cinema grew in popularity right alongside the medium of film. They were America’s native myth and its modern day epics (long before superhero comics). Knights and warriors became cowboys and gunslingers in these tales. Westerns were morality plays, much like the Greek operas of old. In fact, the genre affectionally took on the nickname of Horse Operas. The westerns were adventures, frontier folktales.
Westerns were deep thematic. Set largely in the Reconstruction Era, a multitude of changes occurred leading into America’s 20th Century. Aside from combating wilderness, other common themes in Westerns surrounded lawlessness and justice, industrialization, and change in ways of life or social order, and the romance of the old days. The west was wild, but it was in the process of being tamed. What lifestyles and people would then fade into history?
Chiefly, as I grew to appreciate them, I noticed the rugged and arid landscapes also revealed psychological landscapes. The Western dramatized the human psyche. And in the hands of good filmmakers, these tales of an older time became timeless as they dealt with the eternal subconscious desires and behaviors.
The Golden Age Hollywood Era
If you find yourself intrigued, take the next step. Starting with the Golden Age Era of Westerns, I have suggested a few flicks to pique your interest. I picked largely post-WWII movies. These encapsulate the mythical westerns. Here things are either vibrant, larger than life, or straightforward. They are morality plays and melodramatic to a degree, but psychological characterization is there to be analyzed. The Hollywood studio system was still in place and the U.S was riding high off “American Exceptionalism“.
High Noon (1952): I consider this one of the finest. As the tale goes, this film started as an allegorical response to the McCarthy Era investigation in Hollywood, but the movie is too well scripted and executed for a mere allegory. It transcends that and has sharp universal themes. Standing Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) has cleaned up his town of crime and life is peaceful and prosperous. But on his wedding day, the news hit that the violent criminal he put in jail has been pardoned and that he is heading straight for his town. Told to run, Kane decides to stay knowing the foreseeable danger both he and the town will be in. He searches all morning to find deputies, but one by one people abandon their beloved marshal and treat the situation apathetically. Full of wonderful character actors and edited tensely (the plot of the movie lapses around 2hrs, the same as the films running time) and shot in a crisp black and white.
Shane (1953): America’s myths, and then the Western, often centered around taming the wilderness; controlling the chaos that Nature represented to people. In the mythicized West, characters inhabit lawless spaces as well, and those who had to forge civilizations also had to make their own systems of justice. The archetype of the gunfighter emerged as a central figure in these stories because they were justice bringers and peacemakers. But by their very nature, they could not fit into the society they helped make possible. This is the drama to Shane. Starring Alan Ladd as the title character, a drifter comes into a growing settlement and gets caught between a greedy baron and settlers. Shane is a man that draws admiration and is skilled, but his greatest skill is not one of peace and tranquility.
The Searchers (1956): John Ford’s western films played a big hand in immortalized the Western genre. Having never found John Wayne a great heroic figure, his tenants playing the anti-hero or the unheroic man were more compelling to me. Here, Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, an ex-Confederate soldier returning to his brother’s home after years of absence. Comanche’s attack the homestead and abduct some of his family, including his beloved niece. Edwards is a man cursed by hatred and prone to violence. There is a great interview with Martin Scorsese where he points out that Edwardsis almost poetic about his racism, signifying how exceptionally dangerous he is. Edwards is determined to go find his niece and sets out, not to bring her back, but to kill her. The film is antiquated, but it still has relevance and tremendous tension as you follow Edwards on his hellish and lonely mission.
Other Worthy Picks: Johnny Guitar, Gunfight at 0K Corral, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 3:10 to Yuma, Stagecoach
Check back next week for part 2 — Revisionist and Spaghetti Westerns.
