A perfect blend of characterization, action and poetic images, John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) made “A” Westerns a viable product for Hollywood in the sound era. By 1990, the Western had again been on a downswing when Dances with Wolves became both a critical and commercial success.
This work examines these two films and twelve others—Red River, High Noon, Shane, The Searchers, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Alamo, The Magnificent Seven, Ride the High Country, How the West Was Won, The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Unforgiven—that hold unique spots in the genre’s history. Full filmographic data are provided for each, along with an essay that blends plot synopsis, historical perspectives and the movie’s place in the Western genre.

Longtime Western film buff Ed Andreychuk is the author of several film books. He lives in Baltimore.

Ed Andreychuk
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 192
Bibliographic Info: 113 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 1997
pISBN: 978-0-7864-0393-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0546-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      viii

Introduction      1

Stagecoach (1939)nbsp;     3

Red River (1948)      15

High Noon (1952)      27

Shane (1953)      39

The Searchers (1956)      49

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)      61

The Alamo (1960)      73

The Magnificent Seven (1960)      87

Ride the High Country (1962)      99

How the West Was Won (1962)      109

The Wild Bunch (1969)      123

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)      135

Dances with Wolves (1990)      145

Unforgiven (1992)      157

Bibliography      169

Index      173

“indispensable fact-checking…extensive…enlightening”—Classic Images; “a fine job…much interesting background on each film’s production and also provides historical information about events in the film”—Past Times.