The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half-Century

About this book

The Invention of the Western Film ranges across literature visual arts social history ideology and legend to provide for the first time an in-depth exploration of the early Western from short kinetoscopes of the 1890s through "classic" features of the 1940s. By examining the American Indians rise and demise during the silent era B- Westerns of the 1930s and film noir-influenced Westerns of the 1940s Scott Simmons pioneering study silhouettes the genres evolution against a myriad of cultural forces. This lively encyclopedic book revitalizes familiar Western icons John Wayne and John Ford and recovers forgotten masterworks from the Western films formative years.