Heroes, Heavies and Sagebrush is the result of much time spent in tracing the lives of some of these players, not only from the standpoint of historical curiosity, but in order to provide an affectionate, nostalgic glimpse of a significant aspect of the western movie fare. The lives of the various players represent a study in contrasts. Some embody the rags-to-riches-to-lost-fame theme so often observed in the lives of Hollywood residents. Some were semi-literate, while others earned academic degrees. Some retained their wealth and popularity, while still others retained neither. A representative group of actors who played heroes, heavies, sidekicks, Indians and assorted character types are included in the investigation.
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.
The four volumes of Film Study include a fresh approach to each of the basic categories in the original edition. Volume one examines the film as film; volume two focuses on the thematic approach to film; volume three draws on the history of film; and volume four contains extensive appendices listing film distributors, sources, and historical information as well as an index of authors, titles, and film personalities.
One of America’s unique contributions to world culture, the cowboy has captured the imagination of people everywhere. In The Cowboy: Six-Shooters, Songs, and Sex, eight renowned western writers report on what the cowboys really were like and what they are like today. Contributors detail how the cowboys lived, loved, and died, how they fared when ranchers switched from running cattle to entertaining dudes, and how the media have depicted the cowboy.
“An excellent study that should interest film buffs, academics, and non-academics alike” (Journal of the West). Hollywood’s West examines popular perceptions of the frontier as a defining feature of American identity and history. Seventeen essays by prominent film scholars illuminate the allure of life on the edge of civilization and analyze how this region has been represented on big and small screens. Differing characterizations of the frontier in modern popular culture reveal numerous truths about American consciousness and provide insights into many classic Western films and television programs, from RKO’s 1931 classic Cimarron to Turner Network Television’s recent made-for-TV movies. Covering topics such as the portrayal of race, women, myth, and nostalgia, Hollywood’s West makes a significant contribution to the understanding of how Westerns have shaped our nation’s opinions and beliefs—often using the frontier as metaphor for contemporary issues.
Clint Eastwood is one of the world's most popular action stars, who has matured into a fine American producer-director. Entertaining, illuminating and packed with information, up to and including "The Changeling", this is the first book to cover his full life in the movies, from his beginnings in 1950s B-movies and in TV's "Rawhide" to "Gran Torino" showing how as both actor and filmmaker Eastwood aims for the heart of the drama, whatever the story. Howard Hughes follows Eastwood's craft through over 50 movies. He looks at his launch into superstardom in Sergio Leone's 1960s spaghetti westerns. Back in America, he built on his success as western hero with such films as "High Plains Drifter" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales", winning an Oscar for "Unforgiven" in 1992. He blasted his way through the seventies and eighties as Inspector Harry Francis Callahan, the last hope for law enforcement in San Francisco. He also monkeyed around in two phenomenally popular films with Clyde the orang-utan, which brought tough-guy Eastwood to a whole new audience and made him the biggest box office star of his generation. "Aim for the Heart" also looks at Eastwood's more unusual roles, including "The Beguiled", "The Bridges of Madison County" and "Million Dollar Baby". Since 1970, he has enjoyed parallel success as director-producer of his own Malpaso Productions, with "Bird", "Mystic River" and "Letters from Iwo Jima", demonstrating formidable directing credentials. "Aim for the Heart" covers all Eastwood's movies of many genres in detail, and Eastwood's story is illustrated with film stills, glimpses behind the scenes, and rare poster advertising material. "Aim for the Heart" also includes the most comprehensive credits filmography has ever compiled on Eastwood's work, as star and director.
The third of five volumes of new scholarship on American movie conventions. The 19 essays explore cinematic representations of such material items as food, weapons, clothing, tools, technology, and art and literature. Not illustrated. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $13.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.
The Amazing Tom Mix The Most Famous Cowboy of the Movies Tom Mix was a town marshal and cowboy in the Oklahoma Territory, a rodeo champion and a wild west show performer. With his devil-may-care attitude, quick wit and penchant for doing breath-taking stunts on his wonder horse, Tony, Tom Mix went on to become the #1 movie cowboy of silent films, earning millions of dollars at a time when movie tickets cost pennies. While he basked in this incredible acclaim, Tom Mix lived in fear that his deep, dark secrets would be discovered and his career and his cherished heroic image would be destroyed. Celebrated author Richard D. Jensen has spent more than 30 years researching the life of Tom Mix, the man hailed as "the idol of every American boy." With incredible detail, much of it gained from hundreds of original letters, records, documents and eyewitness accounts, The Amazing Tom Mix cuts through 100 years of public relations mythology, tall tales and outright lies to bring the true and inspiring story of a man whose Saturday matinee cowboy image would become the standard for all of the movie cowboys who rode the silver screen after him. "Here is Tom Mix as he really was...a captivating biography ... brilliant ... delightful ... It is a splendid book." -Richard S. Wheeler, five-time Spur Award winning author of Trouble In Tombstone. "... the most complete biography of Mix's life of trials, tribulations and victories." -John Duncklee, author of Bull By The Tale.
