Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Sidekicks in Western Movies
Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Sidekicks in Western Movies

Author: Gary Koca

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-09-22

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9781537282794

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Westerns were a huge part of movies during the silent movie era and even more so beginning in the late 1930's through the 1960's. Westerns developed such great stars as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and Randolph Scott, and were instrumental in the careers of movie luminaries like James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Alan Ladd, Glenn Ford, and Clint Eastwood. Stars not normally associated with westerns - like Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, Robert Taylor, and Joel McCrea -also made a number of quality westerns. However, after the 1960's, westerns dropped out of sight for several decades as movie westerns fell out of favor with the baby boomers. After all, we had more relevant concerns than what took place in the American west after the Civil War - Vietnam, social unrest, civil rights, equality, and women's rights were just some of those issues that movies seemed to focus on. Who needed westerns with good guys and bad guys clearly differentiated? But in recent years, westerns have made somewhat of a comeback. Films like Unforgiven (Oscar winner for Best Picture), Tombstone, Dances with Wolves (another Best Picture Oscar winner), Open Range, and Silverado have brought a renaissance to the western, truly the most American form of films. Even an old west comedy like Blazing Saddles has helped bring the western film back into the limelight. Therefore, this book will concentrate on my personal favorites in three categories of westerns: 1. Good Guys (and one gal) 2. Bad Guys and Sidekicks 3. My all-time favorite western films - again, my own personal favorites. This book is dedicated to all fans of classic western movies from the 1930's to the 1960's. Not the serials, not the "B" westerns with stars like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy's William Boyd, and Buck Jones, just to name a few; and not the great television shows like The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, or others. As good as those shows were, this book has a specific movie, not television, focus.

Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors
Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors

Author: Jerry Roberts

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2009-06-05

Total Pages: 863

ISBN-13: 0810863782

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From live productions of the 1950s like Requiem for a Heavyweight to big budget mini-series like Band of Brothers, long-form television programs have been helmed by some of the most creative and accomplished names in directing. Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors brings attention to the directors of these productions, citing every director of stand alone long-form television programs: made for TV movies, movie-length pilots, mini-series, and feature-length anthology programs, as well as drama, comedy, and musical specials of more than 60 minutes. Each of the nearly 2,000 entries provides a brief career sketch of the director, his or her notable works, awards, and a filmography. Many entries also provide brief discussions of key shows, movies, and other productions. Appendixes include Emmy Awards, DGA Awards, and other accolades, as well as a list of anthology programs. A much-needed reference that celebrates these often-neglected artists, Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the history of the medium.

The Cowboy Encyclopedia
The Cowboy Encyclopedia

Author: Richard W. Slatta

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 9780393314731

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Over 450 entries provide information on cowboy history, culture, and myth of both North and South America.

B Western Actors Encyclopedia
B Western Actors Encyclopedia

Author: Ted Holland

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 1997-11-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780786404759

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During the course of a Western movie, the white hat could sing six songs to a beautiful girl, shoot half a dozen cattle rustlers, fight off an Indian attack and still have time to kiss his horse before he rode off into the sunset. Dashing heroes, dastardly villains, lovely ladies in distress and comical sidekicks--this was the formula for the westerns so popular through the fifties and sixties. This nostalgic reference work covers the heroes (90+ western stars), the sidekicks (60+ saddle pals), the cowgirls (60+ leading ladies), the bad guys (40+ villains), plus miscellaneous other players. A biographical sketch and career description with photographs and a filmography is given for each performer.

Remaking Kurosawa
Remaking Kurosawa

Author: Dolores Martinez

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2009-05-25

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 0230621678

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Through the lens of Akira Kurosawa's films, Martinez dissects the human tendency to make connections in a pioneering attempt to build a bridge out of diverse materials: the anthropology of Japan, film studies, and postmodern theory.

Life Goes to the Movies
Life Goes to the Movies

Author: Life Magazine

Publisher: Random House Value Publishing

Published: 1987-09-09

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780517625859

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In a series of photographs the stars, films, studios, and personnel behind the cameras are pictured.

The Sagebrush Trail
The Sagebrush Trail

Author: Richard Aquila

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2015-04-16

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0816531781

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The Sagebrush Trail is a history of Western movies but also a history of twentieth-century America. Richard Aquila’s fast-paced narrative covers both the silent and sound eras, and includes classic westerns such as Stagecoach, A Fistful of Dollars, and Unforgiven, as well as B-Westerns that starred film cowboys like Tom Mix, Gene Autry, and Hopalong Cassidy. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 traces the birth and growth of Westerns from 1900 through the end of World War II. Part 2 focuses on a transitional period in Western movie history during the two decades following World War II. Finally, part 3 shows how Western movies reflected the rapid political, social, and cultural changes that transformed America in the 1960s and the last decades of the twentieth century. The Sagebrush Trail explains how Westerns evolved throughout the twentieth century in response to changing times, and it provides new evidence and fresh interpretations about both Westerns and American history. These films offer perspectives on the past that historians might otherwise miss. They reveal how Americans reacted to political and social movements, war, and cultural change. The result is the definitive story of Western movies, which contributes to our understanding of not just movie history but also the mythic West and American history. Because of its subject matter and unique approach that blends movies and history, The Sagebrush Trail should appeal to anyone interested in Western movies, pop culture, the American West, and recent American history and culture. The mythic West beckons but eludes. Yet glimpses of its utopian potential can always be found, even if just for a few hours in the realm of Western movies. There on the silver screen, the mythic West continues to ride tall in the saddle along a “sagebrush trail” that reveals valuable clues about American life and thought.

REFLECTIONS OF A ''B''- MOVIE JUNKIE
REFLECTIONS OF A ''B''- MOVIE JUNKIE

Author: Jim Driscoll

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2008-12-30

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 1462838200

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"Reflections Of A 'B' Movie Junkie" is a tribute to the old "B" Movies of the Saturday Matinees of yesteryear. Actually, it is more of a homage to them, or at least (6) genres of those film types, that were so prevalent back in primarily the '40's and '50's. Their research and discussion, however, in some instances, dates all the way back to the beginning of the "talkies" of motion picture content, and can extend in the other direction, into the early '70s. These (6) genres include the popular "B"-Western, The Comedy Teams, The Jungle Adventures, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Horror and the Serial, or Chapter Plays, so popular with the week-end Matinee crowds back then. These film-types filled up our Saturday afternoons (and evenings) with exciting adventure, curious wonder, spine-tingling horror, and non-stop action. Often filmed on a shoe-string budget, and in a limited time-frame, many of these "classics" came to be looked upon by many fans as being so truly bad, that they were good, (in a bad sort of way) ! They are thus categorized, reviewed and discussed, for the most part, in a lovingly personal style, especially when compared to the film types we are subjected to in today's market. They had their place in film history, and that time is long since gone. But, for some of us, they have never been equaled, which, for others, may indeed be a good thing.