I've been straightening up my room recently, and I found another report I made for a college writing course. I've gotten an A for this report, and my teacher, who also teaches American Film history, was very interested in reading this, and I pretty much have him to thank for getting me interested in film history in general. So here's the report I did.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis report may contain spoilers on different movies and cartoon shorts that I bring up herein, so if you haven't seen a particular western film or western-themed cartoon I talk about, you might as well stop reading. Otherwise, if you don't care about all that, go right on ahead. Just don't bitch and moan to me if a certain movie moment is ruined for you.
Motion pictures have been hailed as a celebrated art form for generations, and it served as a new form of storytelling that allows experienced filmmakers, and even newcomers, to create movies based on their imaginations dating back to the 1890s and the invention of the motion picture camera. More and more people have made it to the big Hollywood studios like Warner Brothers or Universal, or just made it to independent studios to create many different movies and shorts in different genres, from slapstick comedy to the gripping drama. One of the earliest genres of film is the good ol' fashioned western.
What is a western?
A western is a genre of film that usually takes place in the late 1800s in a small suburban town or a farm in the middle of the desert where anyone would carry a revolver pistol, bandits and thugs were commonplace, and the only forms of transportation were horseback, wagon train, or one of the first locomotives ever invented. The invention of the western dates back to 1910, when films were starting to become recognized as a true art form. The formula of a traditional western goes like this: A bad guy appears terrorizing people, and a hero, usually a sheriff-like figure or bounty hunter, steps in to save the day, they duel in the middle of the town by drawing their guns at high noon (12:00 PM), and the hero claims victory and rides off into the sunset, all while facing conflicts and following a storyline audiences can follow. Three examples I can think of that follow this formula include Robert Bradbury's Rainbow Valley (1935/Monogram), John Farrow's Hondo (1953/Warner Brothers), and George Stevens' Shane (1953/Paramount). However, western movies tend to change in terms of formula, such as inserting more romance, action, or suspense if the story calls for it. Westerns would normally be filmed in the Southern United States, Mexico, or with Spaghetti Westerns (next section), Italy or Spain. Westerns of any kind have depicted heroes we as a na audience we can relate to and villains we just love to hate time and time again, and even to this day, audiences continue to watch the classic all-American hero fighting for the rights of others and for justice whether it was in the middle of the town or in the middle of a New Mexico desert, to name some examples.
In the 1950s, filmmakers, critics, and audiences alike would debate on what really makes a western and what makes it qualify as one. To the average viewer, a western involves the hero battling against thieves and scoundrels in order to save a town or a farmer's land. Paramount's 1953 classic Shane would be an example of the all-true American western since it follows these qualities to a T, because it follows a storyline in the old west that involves a farmer being extorted for his land, and the main character, Shane (What'd you think his name was? Gerald?), sticks with the farmer and his family and plans to fight off the men who are trying to get their land through mortgage loopholes. This would further the debate on what makes a western and what makes it a take-off of one.
Take Fred Zimmerman's High Noon (1952/United Artists) for instance. What makes it different from other western films is that the only gunfight in the entire picture happens at the near end of the movie, while the rest of the film involves a sheriff questioning himself whether he should leave the town to the newly-appointed sheriff and go on a honeymoon with his newlywed wife, or stay and fight off the bad guy at...well...high noon. At the time the movie was released, John "The Duke" Wayne himself stated that the film was not a true western like Shane or his movie The Searchers (1956/Warner Brothers), but more of a romantic drama that takes place in a western setting to hide its true colors. As a response, he and director Howard Hawks made the film Rio Bravo (1959/Warner Brothers). Even with all that, I personally feel the late John Wayne has missed the point of a western when he made that statement. The reason why I say that is that a western (and pretty much any movie in general) must have one main ingredient: CONFLICT. In Shane, the main character comes across the antagonists, who are several men who want to take over a homesteader's land. In The Wild Bunch (1969/Warner Brothers), a group of bandits are being chased by a posse arranged by a railroad company. Finally, in High Noon, a retired sheriff learns that a notorious bandit thirsty for blood is arriving in his town and he has to decide whether to stay or not. These three films illustrate conflicts that westerns are known for. Not every western had to have several gunfights in it to qualify, and that's what gave the genre variety. To this day, High Noon has been hailed as one of the greatest films of the genre for this reason. However, westerns really began to change in content later in the 20th century. Newcomers came into the helm, stars of classic westerns would eventually become film directors, and westerns started to become more gritty and violent, and in this case, it all started with the spaghetti western.
The Spaghetti Western
The spaghetti western is a sub-genre of the western genre where the films are made by Italian directors. They would mainly be filmed in Italy or Mexico, though the stories themselves would most of the time take place in the southern United States, with some taking place during place during the Civil War or Mexican Revolution. A spaghetti western would follow similar traits to a standard western; however, the director would attempt to try something different with the formula that American filmmakers haven't tried yet (keep in mind the Hays code was still active throughout the 30s, 40s, 50s, and the early 60s). Spaghetti westerns would often depict the main character as a bounty hunter, a gang of ruffians, or a professional gunfighter hell-bent on revenge against his enemies, or hunting down a bandit with a hefty reward on his head. A most common change in a spaghetti western is how the gunfights and duels are played out on-screen. A duel in a spaghetti western would be slow and/or highly suspenseful, a la Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966/United Artists)., while a gun duel in a standard would be quick and no holds barred a la Zimmerman's High Noon. While gunfights in both types of westerns look similar when seen on screen, the difference is that spaghetti westerns are more gritty and graphic, such as more blood being shed or seeing the killing shot on a newly-made corpse. However, in an American-made western picture, thanks to the Hays code, we see little to no blood. We just see the bad guy (or bad guys) fall straight to the ground. Eventually, after the abolition of the Hays code, the American western would become just as graphic and gritty, starting with Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, which had more bullets fired in it than Ronald F. Maxwell's Civil War epic Gettysburg (1993/Warner Brothers). The movie was notorious for its violent content and massive amounts of bloodshed throughout the picture. In fact, at the time of release, when the MPAA film rating system was just implemented, the film was considered for an X rating, but was toned down to an R rating. But even in the 1990s on its re-release, it was threatened with an NC-17 rating (the highest you can go, and one over an R rating), but filmmakers like Martin Scorsese prevented that from being carried out. But that's another story.
Spaghetti westerns gave the genre some variety and unique examples in pacing, and it had audiences question whether these were classified as classic westerns or just blatant examples of violent cinema, despite the fact that a good amount of these films were released under American studios such as United Artists or Paramount Pictures for U.S. distribution and star American actors like Clint Eastwood (the Dollars trilogy) or Charles Bronson (Once Upon a Time in the West [1968/Paramount]) in the leading roles. Today, they serve as some prime examples of their respective genre.
The Prize or Goal of a Western
In any western, there are normally several goals that the main character has to accomplish depending on how the story is played out. These goals include bringing a bandit to justice, saving the town or farmland from a group of vandals, and claiming a fortune, just to name a few examples. The films would usually end with the hero getting the girl, celebrate with the town's residents on justice being finally served, or riding into the sunset. Even an homage to movie westerns like Gore Verbinski's Rango (2011/Paramount) would usually bring these elements to the table. The goal of any movie, western or not, is to attract and entertain an audience, while at the same time, tell a story that keeps the audience's attention. If a movie doesn't do any of these, the film is not doing its job and the director may not know a damn thing about what it is he's supposed to be doing. Thankfully, with most westerns, directors know how to bring suspense and tension to an audience through careful camerawork, executing an emotional storyline through planning and organization, and expertly choreographed gunfights that gets one's adrenaline pumping as they sit in the movie theatre or living room. Not to mention, the excellent cinematography when you see panning shots of deserts, canyons, and mountain ranges.
The Music
If there's one thing a moviegoer would automatically know about westerns, it's that one can tell a film is one by just listening to the musical score. Whether it'd be renditions of old western folk tunes like "Bury Me Not On the Old Prairie" or "Red River Valley" (with the exception of The Grapes of Wrath [1940/Fox]), one could identify a western by listening to the notable musical cues in the overture at the beginning of the picture or by identifying the instruments that are emphasized more in the musical score (i.e. harmonica/accordion, solo trumpet, etc.). Composers like Ennio Morricone have been well known of defining what types of music fits a certain scene. If it was an epic gunfight, a composer would incorporate more trumpets, guitars, and a vocal chorus into the score. If it was romantic, a composer would throw in more violins and pianos into the mix. Or in the case with the opening credits or epic hero moments, the emphasis of an upbeat tempo and energy. Numerous tracks have become famous using this concept. In the case of Ennio Morricone, the heavy metal group Metallica would perform certain excerpts from his music in concert performances, such as the tune entitled "The Ecstasy of Gold" from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. An audience would know that a movie's musical score is mind-blowing if the music comes at them at full force. What I mean by that is that the music is so triumphant that it feels like you're watching an epic movie like Quo Vadis (1953/MGM) or Ben-Hur (1959/MGM).
Spoofs and Tributes
From the 1930s to the 1970s, westerns became popular enough to garner a huge following, and each successful western made the studios more money in the box office more than an MGM musical or a 3-4 hour epic. To this day, filmmakers pay homage or spoof the classics by making a feature-length spoof/tribute film, most notably Blazing Saddles (1972/Warner Brothers), Rango, which I just mentioned earlier, and, in the case with kids movies, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991/Universal). They would also take the music of a western and apply it to a dramatic scene in another movie, such as Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004/Miramax), or make a cartoon short that takes place in a western setting and mimics numerous moments found in western films such as gun duels and saloon fights. For example, the Warner Brothers shorts featuring the character Yosemite Sam is mostly seen as a classic stereotype of the tough western outlaw with a big mouth and itchy trigger fingers. Some other examples include Homesteader Droopy (1954/MGM), which parody the constant attacks on settling homesteaders or claimers, and Hot Noon (or 12 O'Clock for Sure) (1953/Universal), which parodies the idea of a sheriff and a notorious bandit dueling at noon in the middle of town.
Conclusion
The western genre has evolved as time went on, and has since been more gritty, violent, and epic altogether. This could be the reason why films like Shane, The Wild Bunch, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, among others are regarded as classics in the movie industry. Many a director has taken inspiration from these films at least once and applying one of the key aspects of a western into their own films, such as Quentin Tarantino, George Lucas, Sam Raimi, or even the great Akira Kurosawa. The western is a key genre in the movie industry, and to this day, it continues to grow with new titles and storylines, and it also continues to garner new generations through re-releases and broadcasts on channels like Turner Classic Movies. As a filmmaker, you can learn a lot from these films, such as pacing, suspense, tension, and character development. With that in mind, pop in a classic western and see what makes most of these films memorable.
So that's my report. Feel free to share your thoughts.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis report may contain spoilers on different movies and cartoon shorts that I bring up herein, so if you haven't seen a particular western film or western-themed cartoon I talk about, you might as well stop reading. Otherwise, if you don't care about all that, go right on ahead. Just don't bitch and moan to me if a certain movie moment is ruined for you.
An Analysis on the Western
by Tom Newton
Motion pictures have been hailed as a celebrated art form for generations, and it served as a new form of storytelling that allows experienced filmmakers, and even newcomers, to create movies based on their imaginations dating back to the 1890s and the invention of the motion picture camera. More and more people have made it to the big Hollywood studios like Warner Brothers or Universal, or just made it to independent studios to create many different movies and shorts in different genres, from slapstick comedy to the gripping drama. One of the earliest genres of film is the good ol' fashioned western.
What is a western?
A western is a genre of film that usually takes place in the late 1800s in a small suburban town or a farm in the middle of the desert where anyone would carry a revolver pistol, bandits and thugs were commonplace, and the only forms of transportation were horseback, wagon train, or one of the first locomotives ever invented. The invention of the western dates back to 1910, when films were starting to become recognized as a true art form. The formula of a traditional western goes like this: A bad guy appears terrorizing people, and a hero, usually a sheriff-like figure or bounty hunter, steps in to save the day, they duel in the middle of the town by drawing their guns at high noon (12:00 PM), and the hero claims victory and rides off into the sunset, all while facing conflicts and following a storyline audiences can follow. Three examples I can think of that follow this formula include Robert Bradbury's Rainbow Valley (1935/Monogram), John Farrow's Hondo (1953/Warner Brothers), and George Stevens' Shane (1953/Paramount). However, western movies tend to change in terms of formula, such as inserting more romance, action, or suspense if the story calls for it. Westerns would normally be filmed in the Southern United States, Mexico, or with Spaghetti Westerns (next section), Italy or Spain. Westerns of any kind have depicted heroes we as a na audience we can relate to and villains we just love to hate time and time again, and even to this day, audiences continue to watch the classic all-American hero fighting for the rights of others and for justice whether it was in the middle of the town or in the middle of a New Mexico desert, to name some examples.
In the 1950s, filmmakers, critics, and audiences alike would debate on what really makes a western and what makes it qualify as one. To the average viewer, a western involves the hero battling against thieves and scoundrels in order to save a town or a farmer's land. Paramount's 1953 classic Shane would be an example of the all-true American western since it follows these qualities to a T, because it follows a storyline in the old west that involves a farmer being extorted for his land, and the main character, Shane (What'd you think his name was? Gerald?), sticks with the farmer and his family and plans to fight off the men who are trying to get their land through mortgage loopholes. This would further the debate on what makes a western and what makes it a take-off of one.
Take Fred Zimmerman's High Noon (1952/United Artists) for instance. What makes it different from other western films is that the only gunfight in the entire picture happens at the near end of the movie, while the rest of the film involves a sheriff questioning himself whether he should leave the town to the newly-appointed sheriff and go on a honeymoon with his newlywed wife, or stay and fight off the bad guy at...well...high noon. At the time the movie was released, John "The Duke" Wayne himself stated that the film was not a true western like Shane or his movie The Searchers (1956/Warner Brothers), but more of a romantic drama that takes place in a western setting to hide its true colors. As a response, he and director Howard Hawks made the film Rio Bravo (1959/Warner Brothers). Even with all that, I personally feel the late John Wayne has missed the point of a western when he made that statement. The reason why I say that is that a western (and pretty much any movie in general) must have one main ingredient: CONFLICT. In Shane, the main character comes across the antagonists, who are several men who want to take over a homesteader's land. In The Wild Bunch (1969/Warner Brothers), a group of bandits are being chased by a posse arranged by a railroad company. Finally, in High Noon, a retired sheriff learns that a notorious bandit thirsty for blood is arriving in his town and he has to decide whether to stay or not. These three films illustrate conflicts that westerns are known for. Not every western had to have several gunfights in it to qualify, and that's what gave the genre variety. To this day, High Noon has been hailed as one of the greatest films of the genre for this reason. However, westerns really began to change in content later in the 20th century. Newcomers came into the helm, stars of classic westerns would eventually become film directors, and westerns started to become more gritty and violent, and in this case, it all started with the spaghetti western.
The Spaghetti Western
The spaghetti western is a sub-genre of the western genre where the films are made by Italian directors. They would mainly be filmed in Italy or Mexico, though the stories themselves would most of the time take place in the southern United States, with some taking place during place during the Civil War or Mexican Revolution. A spaghetti western would follow similar traits to a standard western; however, the director would attempt to try something different with the formula that American filmmakers haven't tried yet (keep in mind the Hays code was still active throughout the 30s, 40s, 50s, and the early 60s). Spaghetti westerns would often depict the main character as a bounty hunter, a gang of ruffians, or a professional gunfighter hell-bent on revenge against his enemies, or hunting down a bandit with a hefty reward on his head. A most common change in a spaghetti western is how the gunfights and duels are played out on-screen. A duel in a spaghetti western would be slow and/or highly suspenseful, a la Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966/United Artists)., while a gun duel in a standard would be quick and no holds barred a la Zimmerman's High Noon. While gunfights in both types of westerns look similar when seen on screen, the difference is that spaghetti westerns are more gritty and graphic, such as more blood being shed or seeing the killing shot on a newly-made corpse. However, in an American-made western picture, thanks to the Hays code, we see little to no blood. We just see the bad guy (or bad guys) fall straight to the ground. Eventually, after the abolition of the Hays code, the American western would become just as graphic and gritty, starting with Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, which had more bullets fired in it than Ronald F. Maxwell's Civil War epic Gettysburg (1993/Warner Brothers). The movie was notorious for its violent content and massive amounts of bloodshed throughout the picture. In fact, at the time of release, when the MPAA film rating system was just implemented, the film was considered for an X rating, but was toned down to an R rating. But even in the 1990s on its re-release, it was threatened with an NC-17 rating (the highest you can go, and one over an R rating), but filmmakers like Martin Scorsese prevented that from being carried out. But that's another story.
Spaghetti westerns gave the genre some variety and unique examples in pacing, and it had audiences question whether these were classified as classic westerns or just blatant examples of violent cinema, despite the fact that a good amount of these films were released under American studios such as United Artists or Paramount Pictures for U.S. distribution and star American actors like Clint Eastwood (the Dollars trilogy) or Charles Bronson (Once Upon a Time in the West [1968/Paramount]) in the leading roles. Today, they serve as some prime examples of their respective genre.
The Prize or Goal of a Western
In any western, there are normally several goals that the main character has to accomplish depending on how the story is played out. These goals include bringing a bandit to justice, saving the town or farmland from a group of vandals, and claiming a fortune, just to name a few examples. The films would usually end with the hero getting the girl, celebrate with the town's residents on justice being finally served, or riding into the sunset. Even an homage to movie westerns like Gore Verbinski's Rango (2011/Paramount) would usually bring these elements to the table. The goal of any movie, western or not, is to attract and entertain an audience, while at the same time, tell a story that keeps the audience's attention. If a movie doesn't do any of these, the film is not doing its job and the director may not know a damn thing about what it is he's supposed to be doing. Thankfully, with most westerns, directors know how to bring suspense and tension to an audience through careful camerawork, executing an emotional storyline through planning and organization, and expertly choreographed gunfights that gets one's adrenaline pumping as they sit in the movie theatre or living room. Not to mention, the excellent cinematography when you see panning shots of deserts, canyons, and mountain ranges.
The Music
If there's one thing a moviegoer would automatically know about westerns, it's that one can tell a film is one by just listening to the musical score. Whether it'd be renditions of old western folk tunes like "Bury Me Not On the Old Prairie" or "Red River Valley" (with the exception of The Grapes of Wrath [1940/Fox]), one could identify a western by listening to the notable musical cues in the overture at the beginning of the picture or by identifying the instruments that are emphasized more in the musical score (i.e. harmonica/accordion, solo trumpet, etc.). Composers like Ennio Morricone have been well known of defining what types of music fits a certain scene. If it was an epic gunfight, a composer would incorporate more trumpets, guitars, and a vocal chorus into the score. If it was romantic, a composer would throw in more violins and pianos into the mix. Or in the case with the opening credits or epic hero moments, the emphasis of an upbeat tempo and energy. Numerous tracks have become famous using this concept. In the case of Ennio Morricone, the heavy metal group Metallica would perform certain excerpts from his music in concert performances, such as the tune entitled "The Ecstasy of Gold" from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. An audience would know that a movie's musical score is mind-blowing if the music comes at them at full force. What I mean by that is that the music is so triumphant that it feels like you're watching an epic movie like Quo Vadis (1953/MGM) or Ben-Hur (1959/MGM).
Spoofs and Tributes
From the 1930s to the 1970s, westerns became popular enough to garner a huge following, and each successful western made the studios more money in the box office more than an MGM musical or a 3-4 hour epic. To this day, filmmakers pay homage or spoof the classics by making a feature-length spoof/tribute film, most notably Blazing Saddles (1972/Warner Brothers), Rango, which I just mentioned earlier, and, in the case with kids movies, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991/Universal). They would also take the music of a western and apply it to a dramatic scene in another movie, such as Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004/Miramax), or make a cartoon short that takes place in a western setting and mimics numerous moments found in western films such as gun duels and saloon fights. For example, the Warner Brothers shorts featuring the character Yosemite Sam is mostly seen as a classic stereotype of the tough western outlaw with a big mouth and itchy trigger fingers. Some other examples include Homesteader Droopy (1954/MGM), which parody the constant attacks on settling homesteaders or claimers, and Hot Noon (or 12 O'Clock for Sure) (1953/Universal), which parodies the idea of a sheriff and a notorious bandit dueling at noon in the middle of town.
Conclusion
The western genre has evolved as time went on, and has since been more gritty, violent, and epic altogether. This could be the reason why films like Shane, The Wild Bunch, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, among others are regarded as classics in the movie industry. Many a director has taken inspiration from these films at least once and applying one of the key aspects of a western into their own films, such as Quentin Tarantino, George Lucas, Sam Raimi, or even the great Akira Kurosawa. The western is a key genre in the movie industry, and to this day, it continues to grow with new titles and storylines, and it also continues to garner new generations through re-releases and broadcasts on channels like Turner Classic Movies. As a filmmaker, you can learn a lot from these films, such as pacing, suspense, tension, and character development. With that in mind, pop in a classic western and see what makes most of these films memorable.
So that's my report. Feel free to share your thoughts.