The Western (Part 1): The Birth of a Genre

The Western is one of the most iconic genres in the history of American cinema. Join James Hall as he outlines the history of the Western in part 1 of C-U CineFile's new documentary series!

[subhashnamey]

Never heard such a vivid commentary on Westerns, love the way you do it. Thank you very much dear Sir.

[TheCandyButcher]

How does this have so little views, really well narrated and written video mate well done

[johnbarnett]

Many thanks for the look back, ❤John Barnett revisited November 2023❤

[subhashnamey]

So happy to have found you on YouTube. My favorite subject, everything to do with Cowboy's . Love from Kumbhoj village Jai Maharashtra.

[Vivek-klub]

Brilliant video about a Brilliant Genre!

[BrotherLaymanPaul]

Exactly the primer I was looking for. Thanks for your passionate work.

[SirBlackReeds]

I'm surprised Buffalo Dance and Fort Apache weren't mentioned.

[joshuagoodall]

This is incredibly insightful and well done. Thank you.

[larryrobinson]

Many greatest all time movies are from this genre

[DrRESHES]

i knew i would get some good esseys recommended, if i type John Wayne enough times.
I actually am on week 3 of my western marathon, starting in 1939 Stagecoach, and just today i saw The Searchers. but it all began when out of the blue i decided to watch Rio Bravo.
Next Stop: The Horse Soldiers.

[painitful]

I love the yeehaws, I've been personally planning on merging Westerns with Lovecraft to make a nice proto-genre.

Yeehaws, tentacles, and freedom 👽🤠

[mattwilson]

this legit is helping me with an assessment task ty!!

[FourthRoot]

The gambler's choice to use his last bullet on the young woman wasn't an act of depravity, it was supposed to be an act of heroism, sparing her from the horrors he believed awaited her if captured.

[Thogstacker]

I watched a multipart documentary on wtbs (or other cable channel) back in the 1990s. Do you guys have any idea what it was called? Where I might find it again.

[gabimitchell-elzk]

yo love this series so much + am doing a research project on Westerns can you pls prove that this is a reliable source somehow so that I can pacify my teacher thanks besties

[cherylmarcuri]

Fwiw, my people, the Lakota and Cheyenne, found the Comanches to be rather terrifying as well. They really didn't play well with others. ANY others.

[Icecreamforcrowtoo]

Good video.

But you seem to have taken different things from these films than I have.
For one, with Stagecoach....while I agree with your general point about class that Ford was making within the film, the bullet that the gambler gentleman was going to use on the mother was in order to spare her from the torture she'd very likely face at the hands of the Indians. You know...the Martha Edwards treatment which...despite liberal academics' insistence to the contrary...was a very real phenomenon. I think that's pretty well implied in that scene with the gun. He wasn't being malicious despite his flaws. You seem to be insinuating that him using the last bullet on her was something mischievous as opposed to a selfless act. That being said, I do agree with you that Ringo and Dallas being portrayed as the heroes despite being from a lower class was very much deliberate populist social commentary on the part of Ford.

Now, The Searchers....which is easily the most misunderstood film in American cinematic history given the fact that any themes that deal with racism cause people's critical thinking skills (and empathy for the past) to completely shut down. It's like any nuance on the subject that isn't completely critical of whites just gets thrown out the window. To start, the American military in The Searchers aren't portrayed as cowards and villains. They are merely shown as being capable of echoing some of the brutality of the Indians. Let's be fair, here. They didn't rape and murder an entire family like Scar's men did. We don't know the circumstances that lead to the Indian casualties depicted in the camp. Marty's accidental squaw wife (who had a sad story) could have been a victim of collateral damage in that camp, for all we know. That's a far cry from Scar's brutality. Saying that they're "hellbent on the extermination of the Comanche" is a bit of a stretch to say the least. I don't think that's really a fair characterization of the military in this film at all even if the film does invite you to sympathize with some of what the Indians are experiencing at certain points.

It's just outright wrong I think to say the American military were villains. Ward Bond is not portraying a villain. He's a decent guy, for crying out loud. He's shown to be a decent man in several instances including when he stopped Ethan from firing on retreating Comanches. Just because they attacked from a tactical advantage at the end of the film doesn't make them villains. And really, the film doesn't seem to be "condemning" anyone (including Ethan-- whose basically entire family including his parents were slaughtered by Comanche); it seems to be to be taking a more mature "tragic" angle about the whole Western experience involving these sorts of conflicts with Indians.

For one, men like Ethan were NEEDED to civilize the West. That's right. It takes brutal men to tame barbaric frontiers; Ethan is shown to be needed at multiple points within the film. For one, he saves Marty while out within this dangerous frontier...and Marty grows into arguably the most civilized man in the film. Even Ethan's nephew says "I wish Uncle Ethan was here" just before the Comanches descended on the Edwards home. Ethan is also needed in the final battle with the Comanche which is why Ward Bond's character made him and Marty civilian scouts. But once that frontier is tamed, men like Ethan become too rough and remain too savage to live among the meeker inhabitants within the civilization they helped lay the groundwork for. They are no longer necessary despite being very much needed before civilization; it's an interesting paradox the film is exploring. I think that (along with all sorts of other ironies that are only noticed upon repeat viewings) is much closer to what's going on with The Searchers as opposed to Ford depicting the American military as "villains." In fact, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance basically spells out this theme (this contradiction) I'm speaking to even more explicitly a few years later. And this is all an aside to the obvious point that without Ethan and his savage nature (and his intimate understanding of how Indians think), Debbie never gets rescued (or reclaimed depending on how you want to see it).

And the gag with the general's son was just that--a gag. He was a kid (and was actually played by John Wayne's real life son). He wasn't a coward or a villain. Finally, how is any notion of Western justice and glory challenged by the comical chivalrous fight between Marty and Charlie? It's just an innocuous schoolyard fight over a girl that's completely understandable even in 2019, I think. You definitely read more into this than anyone I've come across who's seen the film. It couldn't have been more innocuous. They literally shook hands and made up after the fight, lol!

[gabbysoto]

It should be Native Americans, not American Indians.

[Salome_and_The_Sons_of_Thunder]

Though this was going to be about western films not a left wing political tirade.