From silent movies to the serials of the thirties and forties to the present, a chronicle of the Western traces the careers of John Ford, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, and others and features original photographs and interviews.

Product Description: This book contains detailed bios, photos, and filmographies on 315 men who played outlaws, bandits, and polecats on the movie and TV western screen from 1930 to the 1960s. Written and exclusively researched by three noted western movie historians -- Boyd Magers, author of "Western Clippings" Magazine, "So You Wanna See Cowboy Stuff," "The Films of Audie Murphy," "Westerns Women," and others; Bobby Copeland, author of "B-Western Boot Hill," "Trail Talk," "Johnny Mack Brown: Up Close and Personal," "Roy Barcroft: King of the Badmen," and others; and Bob Nareau, author of five books on Bob Steele, "Bits and Spurs," and "Kid Kowboys...read more

Product Description: A social history of the Western which looks at three hundred Westerns, with entries on television, Western series, actors, directors and cameramen. Originally published in 1988.

Product Description:  This revised and updated edition provides film buffs and casual movie goers alike with the first comprehensive guide to filmmaking in the American Southwest. Cinema Southwest, an invaluable reference book and trip planner, is packed with interesting facts and gives directions to the film sites...read more

Product Description: Code of Honor: The Making of High Noon, Shane and The Searchers is the first book to provide a detailed history of the struggles and triumphs in the production of these three classic Amerian Western films. With access to the collections of directors Fred Zinnemann George Stevens and John Ford, author Michael F...read more

Product Description: Code of Honor: The Making of High Noon, Shane and The Searchers is the first book to provide a detailed history of the struggles and triumphs in the production of these three classic Amerian Western films. With access to the collections of directors Fred Zinnemann George Stevens and John Ford, author Michael F...read more

Product Description: Though one of the most popular genres for decades, the western started to lose its relevance in the 1960s and 1970s, and by the early 1980s it had ridden into the sunset on screens both big and small. The genre has enjoyed a resurgence, however, and in the past few decades some remarkable westerns have appeared on television and in movie theaters...read more

A richly illustrated history of the American West combines period photographs and historical accounts in a study that assesses the discrepancies between Hollywood's portrayal of the West and the real-life world of frontier pioneers. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Cowboy Imperialism and Hollywood Film explores how Hollywood has employed the frontier myth to sanction imperial behavior. This cultural project integrates the myth, America’s secular creation story, with Manifest Destiny, the sugar-coated impetus to conquer without compunction...read more

Product Description: Emerging from World War Two with superpower status, the United States entered a period of economic prosperity, but the stresses and contradictions of the Cold War cast a shadow over American life. Not coincidentally the same period marked the heyday of the western film...read more

From Shane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western is an original and compelling critical history of the American Western film. Provides an insightful overview of the American Western genre Covers the entire history of the Western, from 1939 to the present Analyses Westerns as products of a genre, as well as expressions of political and social desires Deepens an audience’s understanding of the genre’s most important works, including Shane, Stagecoach, The Searchers, Unforgiven, and Kill Bill Contains numerous illustrations of the films and issues discussed.

Hundreds of illustrations record the look and feel of the great Hollywood Westerns, from the wizened face of John Wayne to a wagon train crawling slowly along in the dust, while an informative text describes their production.

Product Description: For more than a century the Western film has proven to be an enduring genre. At the dawn of the 20th century, in the same years that The Great Train Robbery begat a film genre, Owen Wister wrote The Virginian, which began a new literary genre...read more

'This volume examines eight movies of the legendary gunfight, produced from 1939 to 1994, and each use Wyatt Earp and other real-life characters as their sources. The work focuses on the filmmakers' treatment of the history and the skill with which each balances fact with the necessity of entertainment. Period photographs are also included'--Provided by publisher.

Product Description: The horses that captured the moviegoers’ hearts are the common denominator in Hollywood Hoofbeats. As author Petrine Day Mitchum writes, “the movies as we know them would be vastly different without horses. There would be no Westerns—no cowboy named John Wayne—no Gone with the Wind, no Ben Hur, no Dances with Wolves…” no War Horse, no True Grit, no Avatar! Those last three 21st-century Hollywood creations are among the new films covered in this expanded second edition of Hollywood Hoofbeats written by the daughter of movie star Robert Mitchum, who himself appeared on the silver screen atop a handsome chestnut gelding...read more

Product Description: Petrine Day Mitchum tells stories in page-turning detail, covering topics such as behind-the-scenes portraits of both famous movie horses and those virtually unknown; personal accounts from their trainers, owners, and co-stars; simple and complex horse stunts, from a fall in mid-gallop to a race across a bridge during a live explosion; and historic black-and-white photographs and richly coloured contemporary stills...read more

American historians such as Frederick Jackson Turner have argued that the West has been the region that most clearly defines American democracy and the national ethos. Throughout the twentieth century, the "frontier thesis" influenced film and television producers who used the West as a backdrop for an array of dramatic explorations of America's history and the evolution of its culture and values. The common themes found in Westerns distinguish the genre as a quintessentially American form of dramatic art. In Hollywood's West, Peter C. Rollins, John E. O'Connor, and the nation's leading film scholars analyze popular conceptions of the frontier as a fundamental element of American history and culture. This volume examines classic Western films and programs that span nearly a century, from Cimarron (1931) to Turner Network Television's recent made-for-TV movies. Many of the films discussed here are considered among the greatest cinematic landmarks of all time. The essays highlight the ways in which Westerns have both shaped and reflected the dominant social and political concerns of their respective eras. While Cimarron challenged audiences with an innovative, complex narrative, other Westerns of the early sound era such as The Great Meadow (1931) frequently presented nostalgic visions of a simpler frontier era as a temporary diversion from the hardships of the Great Depression. Westerns of the 1950s reveal the profound uncertainty cast by the cold war, whereas later Westerns display heightened violence and cynicism, products of a society marred by wars, assassinations, riots, and political scandals. The volume concludes with a comprehensive filmography and an informative bibliography of scholarly writings on the Western genre. This collection will prove useful to film scholars, historians, and both devoted and casual fans of the Western genre. Hollywood's West makes a significant contribution to the understanding of both the historic American frontier and its innumerable popular representations.

Product Description: In this innovative take on a neglected chapter of film history, Peter Stanfield challenges the commonly held view of the singing cowboy as an ephemeral figure of fun and argues instead that he was one of the most important cultural figures to emerge out of the Great Depression...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: The West is one of the strongest and most enduring place images in the world and its myth is firmly rooted in popular culture – whether novels, film, television, music, clothing and even video games. The West combines myth and history, rugged natural scenery and wide open spaces, popular culture and promises of transformation...read more

(view table of contents)