West of Everything

West of Everything PDF Author: Jane Tompkins
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198023715
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book Here

Book Description
A leading figure in the debate over the literary canon, Jane Tompkins was one of the first to point to the ongoing relevance of popular women's fiction in the 19th century, long overlooked or scorned by literary critics. Now, in West of Everything, Tompkins shows how popular novels and films of the American west have shaped the emotional lives of people in our time. Into this world full of violence and manly courage, the world of John Wayne and Louis L'Amour, Tompkins takes her readers, letting them feel what the hero feels, endure what he endures. Writing with sympathy, insight, and respect, she probes the main elements of the Western--its preoccupation with death, its barren landscapes, galloping horses, hard-bitten men and marginalized women--revealing the view of reality and code of behavior these features contain. She considers the Western hero's attraction to pain, his fear of women and language, his desire to dominate the environment--and to merge with it. In fact, Tompkins argues, for better or worse Westerns have taught us all--men especially--how to behave. It was as a reaction against popular women's novels and women's invasion of the public sphere that Westerns originated, Tompkins maintains. With Westerns, men were reclaiming cultural territory, countering the inwardness, spirituality, and domesticity of the sentimental writers, with a rough and tumble, secular, man-centered world. Tompkins brings these insights to bear in considering film classics such as Red River and Lonely Are the Brave, and novels such as Louis L'Amour's Last of the Breed and Owen Wister's The Virginian. In one of the most moving chapters (chosen for Best American Essays of 1991), Ttompkins shows how the life of Buffalo Bill Cody, killer of Native Americans and charismatic star of the Wild West show, evokes the contradictory feelings which the Western typically elicits--horror and fascination with violence, but also love and respect for the romantic ideal of the cowboy. Whether interpreting a photograph of John Wayne of meditating on the slaughter of cattle, Jane Tompkins writes with humor, compassion, and a provocative intellect. Her book will appeak to many Americans who read or watch Westerns, and to all those interested in a serious approach to popular culture.

West of Everything

West of Everything PDF Author: Jane Tompkins
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198023715
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book Here

Book Description
A leading figure in the debate over the literary canon, Jane Tompkins was one of the first to point to the ongoing relevance of popular women's fiction in the 19th century, long overlooked or scorned by literary critics. Now, in West of Everything, Tompkins shows how popular novels and films of the American west have shaped the emotional lives of people in our time. Into this world full of violence and manly courage, the world of John Wayne and Louis L'Amour, Tompkins takes her readers, letting them feel what the hero feels, endure what he endures. Writing with sympathy, insight, and respect, she probes the main elements of the Western--its preoccupation with death, its barren landscapes, galloping horses, hard-bitten men and marginalized women--revealing the view of reality and code of behavior these features contain. She considers the Western hero's attraction to pain, his fear of women and language, his desire to dominate the environment--and to merge with it. In fact, Tompkins argues, for better or worse Westerns have taught us all--men especially--how to behave. It was as a reaction against popular women's novels and women's invasion of the public sphere that Westerns originated, Tompkins maintains. With Westerns, men were reclaiming cultural territory, countering the inwardness, spirituality, and domesticity of the sentimental writers, with a rough and tumble, secular, man-centered world. Tompkins brings these insights to bear in considering film classics such as Red River and Lonely Are the Brave, and novels such as Louis L'Amour's Last of the Breed and Owen Wister's The Virginian. In one of the most moving chapters (chosen for Best American Essays of 1991), Ttompkins shows how the life of Buffalo Bill Cody, killer of Native Americans and charismatic star of the Wild West show, evokes the contradictory feelings which the Western typically elicits--horror and fascination with violence, but also love and respect for the romantic ideal of the cowboy. Whether interpreting a photograph of John Wayne of meditating on the slaughter of cattle, Jane Tompkins writes with humor, compassion, and a provocative intellect. Her book will appeak to many Americans who read or watch Westerns, and to all those interested in a serious approach to popular culture.

Tex

Tex PDF Author: Liz Isaacson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781638760955
Category : Cowboys
Languages : en
Pages : 422

Get Book Here

Book Description
He's back in town after a successful country music career. She owns a bordering farm to the family land he wants to buy...and she outbids him at the auction. Can Tex and Abigail rekindle their old flame, or will the issue of land ownership come between them?Tex Young has spent the last two decades traveling around the world with his brothers as part of Country Quad, a successful cowboy boy band. He's stepping back from the band and returning to his roots in Coral Canyon, where the Young brothers all grew up.Their father sold the family ranch several years ago when none of them wanted it, and Tex, along with his son, rolls into town the day before an auction for the land. He wants it. He talks to some of his brothers, and they decide to try to get the ranch back.Abigail Ingalls has other plans for that land, as it borders her small farm, which she's labored on with her disabled brother for the past two decades...after Tex left her in Coral Canyon so he could go live the country music star life. The land isn't taken care of, and she wants to add it to what she owns and create an oasis out of weeds.Abby and Tex both show up at the auction, and they both want that land. The sparks between them are as hot as they were twenty years ago, but Tex tells himself it's because the uppity town librarian outbid him and bought his family ranch.So he devises another plan to get the ranch back...and that includes taking his gorgeous, former girlfriend to dinner a time or two. Can Tex and Abby build a real, lasting relationship now that they're both back in Coral Canyon for good? Or will Tex's plan to get his family ranch back end up breaking both of their hearts?

A Pictorial History of Westerns

A Pictorial History of Westerns PDF Author: Michael Parkinson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780600130673
Category : Western films
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Get Book Here

Book Description


Westerns Women

Westerns Women PDF Author: Boyd Magers
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9780786420285
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Get Book Here

Book Description
This collection features a diverse mixture of leading ladies of Westerns, along with several who are not quite as well known. Some toiled in B westerns, others worked exclusively at the A level, and a few were relegated to television. Those interviewed are Jane Adams, Julie Adams, Merry Anders, Vivian Austin, Joan Barclay, Patricia Blair, Pamela Blake, Adrian Booth, Genee Boutell, Lois Collier, Mara Corday, Gail Davis, Myrna Dell, Ann Doran, Faith Domergue, Dale Evans, Beatrice Gray, Coleen Gray, Anne Gwynne, Lois Hall, Kay Hughes, Marsha Hunt, Eilene Janssen, Anna Lee, Joan Leslie, Nan Leslie, Kay Linaker, Teala Loring, Lucille Lund, Beth Marion, Donna Martell, Kristine Miller, Peggy Moran, Maureen O'Hara, Debra Paget, Jean Porter, Paula Raymond, Jan Shepard, Marion Shilling, Roberta Shore, Elanor Stewart, Peggy Stewart, Linda Stirling, Gale Storm, Helen Talbot, Audrey Totter, Virginia Vale, Elena Verdugo, Jacqueline White and Gloria Winters. Gwynne, Hall, Storm and Vale provide forewords to the work.

Western Film Series of the Sound Era

Western Film Series of the Sound Era PDF Author: Michael R. Pitts
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN:
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 488

Get Book Here

Book Description
"This volume covers 30 western film series produced from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. Included are such long-running series as Hopalong Cassidy, The Durango Kid and The Three Mesquiteers as well as those that had moderate or brief runs. The book contains a plot synopsis and an analysis of each series' place in cinema history"--Provided by publisher.

Western Movies

Western Movies PDF Author: Michael R. Pitts
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786463724
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 485

Get Book Here

Book Description
This revised and greatly expanded edition of a well-established reference book presents 5105 feature length (four reels or more) Western films, from the early silent era to the present. More than 900 new entries are in this edition. Each entry has film title, release company and year, running time, color indication, cast listing, plot synopsis, and a brief critical review and other details. Not only are Hollywood productions included, but the volume also looks at Westerns made abroad as well as frontier epics, north woods adventures and nature related productions. Many of the films combine genres, such as horror and science fiction Westerns. The volume includes a list of cowboys and their horses and a screen names cross reference. There are more than 100 photographs.

The Spaghetti Western

The Spaghetti Western PDF Author: Bert Fridlund
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476608091
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book Here

Book Description
The 1960s and 1970s were the heyday of spaghetti westerns--low-budget films about the early American West mostly filmed in Italy. Though sometimes derided as excessively violent imitations of American-made westerns, they attracted a substantial following that has endured. With its classic elements of gunfights, gambling, heroes, sidekicks, love, and death, the genre is now perceived by critics as an intriguing object of study. This book analyzes the construction of the stories presented in spaghetti westerns. It examines the content of the Italian western using concepts and constructs borrowed from scholars studying "pre-industrial" narratives. Plot, the constellation of characters, their relationship to each other, and their motives are studied. Films examined in detail include the seminal A Fistful of Dollars as well as Django, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. There is also a discussion of the early spaghetti westerns. The study then probes the elements of bounty hunters, the deprived hero, partnerships, betrayal, and comedy. An appendix details the top grossing Italian westerns between 1964 and 1975, including title, director, lead actor and intake. A second appendix provides a list of films quoted by Italian title and then by English title.

Any Gun Can Play

Any Gun Can Play PDF Author: Kevin Grant
Publisher: FAB Press
ISBN: 9781903254615
Category : Spaghetti Westerns
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Sergio Leone's famed Dollars trilogy sparked a gold-rush, as a legion of European film-makers went on to make in excess of 600 Westerns in just 10 years. Massively popular, stylish and baroque, Euro-Westerns became box-office sensations around the world and their influence can still be felt today. Any Gun Can Play spotlights the many actors, directors and poster artists who changed the look of the Western and dragged it into the modern age. Complete with a foreword by Euro-Western legend Franco Nero.

John Ford Made Westerns

John Ford Made Westerns PDF Author: Gaylyn Studlar
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253214140
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Western is arguably the most popular and longlived form in cinematic history, and the acknowledged master of that genre was John Ford. His Westerns, including The Searchers, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, have had an enormous influence on contemporary U.S. filmmakers, and on everything from Star Wars to Taxi Driver.In nine majors essays from some of the most prominent scholars of Hollywood film, John Ford Made Westerns: Filming The Legend in The Sound Era situates the sound era westerns of John Ford within contemporary critical contexts and regards them from fresh perspectives. These range from examining Ford's relation to other art forms (most notably literature, painting and music) to exploring the development of the director's public reputation as a director of Westerns. Articles also address the intricacies of Ford's shifting approach to storytelling and the subtle techniques whereby Ford's films guide spectator interpretation and emotional engagement.While giving attention to film style and structure, the volume also explores the ways in which these much loved films engage with notions of masculinity and gender roles, capitalism and community, as well as racial and sexual identity. Authors also examine how Ford's sound-era Westerns create a complex relationship to the genre's traditional project of "defining an American nation" and how they uphold up but also question popular culture depictions of history and nationhood, to offer a commentary that engages with both the past, the present and the future.In addition to new scholarship, the volume also offers a dossier section of out of the way magazine articles that illuminate the issues raised by essays, including the director's tribute to John Wayne as well as a moving posthumous appraisal of the director published by the Director's Guild of America.

Contemporary Westerns

Contemporary Westerns PDF Author: Andrew Patrick Nelson
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 081089257X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Get Book Here

Book 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. From independent films to critically acclaimed Hollywood productions and television series, the western remains an important part of American popular culture. Running the gamut from traditional to revisionist, with settings ranging from the old West to the “new Wests” of the present day and distant future, contemporary westerns continue to explore the history, geography, myths, and legends of the American frontier. In Contemporary Westerns: Film and Television since 1990, Andrew P. Nelson has collected essays that examine the trends and transformations in this underexplored period in Western film and television history. Addressing the new Western, they argue for the continued relevance and vibrancy of the genre as a narrative form. The book is organized into two sections: “Old West, New Stories” examines Westerns with common frontier locales, such as Dances with Wolves, Unforgiven, Deadwood, and True Grit. “New Wests, Old Stories” explores works in which familiar Western narratives, characters, and values are represented in more modern—and in one case futuristic—settings. Included are the films No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, as well as the shows Firefly and Justified. With a foreword by Edward Buscombe, as well as an introduction that provides a comprehensive overview, this volume offers readers a compelling argument for the healthy survival of the Western. Written for scholars as well as educated viewers, Contemporary Westerns explores the genre’s evolving relationship with American culture, history, and politics.