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

The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half-Century by Simmon, Scott. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780521555814.

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.