Western

Genre of popular fiction and film based on the landscape and settlement of the American West, with emphasis on the conquest of Indian territory. It developed in American dime novels and frontier literature. The Western became established in written form with such novels as Owen Wister's The Virginian (1902) and Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage (1912). From the earliest silent films, movies extended the Western mythology and, with Italian ‘spaghetti’ Westerns and Japanese Westerns, established it as an international form.

The romance of the American frontiersman confronting his wilderness was first popularized in James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales (1823-41) and the American hunter stories of Karl May and soon evolved into a national fascination with the West specifically. From the mid-19th century, in stylized form, came frontier tales of cowboy rangers or lawmen portraying good, with Indians, cattle rustlers, or gunmen portraying evil. Most are set vaguely in the post-Civil War era. The characters are sometimes based on real persons, such as Kit Carson, Annie Oakley, Wyatt Earp, and Bat Masterson. Most Westerns are nostalgic, written after the frontier officially closed in 1890. The Virginian is the ‘serious’ version of the form, but prolific writers such as Grey; Frederick Faust (Max Brand), who wrote Destry Rides Again (1930); and Louis L'Amour, who wrote Hondo (1953), developed its pulp possibilities and its place in universal fantasy. Westerns have provided endless sources for motion pictures, among them The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Covered Wagon (1923), Cimarron (1931), Stagecoach (1939), The Gunfighter (1950), High Noon (1952), Shane (1953), and True Grit (1969). The genre became less popular in the 1970s and since then there have been only four commercially successful films: Pale Rider (1985) and the Academy Award-winning Unforgiven (1992) (both starring Clint Eastwood), Young Guns (1988), and Dances with Wolves (1990; Academy Award). The Lone Ranger was a popular serialized Western on radio and television. Other Western series on television included Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Bat Masterson, and Wyatt Earp.

Western

Genre of films based loosely on the history of the American West and evolved from the written Western. As a genre, the Western is virtually as old as the cinema. Perhaps the foremost director of Westerns has been John Ford. Classic examples of the Western include The Great Train Robbery (1903) and Stagecoach (1939).

The silent era produced such epics as The Iron Horse (1924), and the genre remained popular into the coming of sound. The 1930s saw many epics, such as Union Pacific (1939), whereas the films of the 1940s often dwelt on specific historical events (including Custer's last stand in They Died with Their Boots On (1941)). The 1950s brought more realism and serious issues, such as the treatment of the American Indians. The Westerns of the 1960s, such as The Wild Bunch (1969), contained an increased amount of violence, partly owing to the influence of the ‘spaghetti Westerns’ (often directed by Sergio Leone). Later successful Westerns include Pale Rider (1985) and Unforgiven (1992).

The genre became less popular in the 1970s, but the popularity of Young Guns (1988) led to a 1990s TV series based on the same theme, and Dances with Wolves (1990), emphasizing the American Indian perspective, won an Academy Award.