HERE ARE THE MAIN REASONS WHY WESTERNS WERE SO POPULAR AT THE TIME:

1. DISTANT FANTASY

The first reason why westerns were so popular is that they provided an escape from reality. With tough economic times, many people wanted to be a part of Jason or William Cody’s group. In the movie, they would often wear cowboy boots and hats; this allowed the public to fantasize about being a cowboy. It was their dream to be able to leave their current life for rural life.

2. ADVENTURE

People at this time were looking for something new and exciting. The Westerners created a new form of adventure for the American people. The viewers were able to see towns being destroyed and many cowboys killed in these movies. Many of the movies were based on real-life experiences, and thus many people could relate to or be mesmerized by them.

3. NEW MORAL CODE

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

4. ECONOMIC RECESSION

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

5. SAFETY/ SECURITY

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

6. MEN AND WOMEN

Westerns allowed the women of the time to be in the movie without being provocative or overly sexualized. The women were strong and could handle themselves in a fight; this is something that was very appealing to people at this time period.

7. ECONOMIC GROWTH

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

8. RACE

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

9. TECHNOLOGY

Westerns at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

10. THEATER

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

11. COLORFUL CHARACTERS

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

12. DRUGS

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

CONCLUSION

The Westerners at the time portrayed a new form of moral code. The cowboy would often do what was right instead of what others told him to do; he was his own man. This was very inspirational for the American people.

We hope this information was helpful. Thank you for reading.

The post THE MAIN REASONS WHY WESTERNS WERE SO POPULAR AT THE TIME appeared first on SouthOfTheBorder.Doc.

I’m not your typical guy. I’m not skilled in any physical way, and I can’t play an instrument, but I can write. That’s all my dad cared about and that’s all he ever pushed me to do. He didn’t even let me ride horses as a child because he was afraid it would ruin my hands for writing later on—in his mind, there was just no future in anything else.

I’ve always been able to invent stories for myself. I would create characters, and places and even begin to write little short stories, my own adventures. However, all of my “stuff” was a complete mess (sometimes literally) and I made no attempt to make it look presentable.

What the hell did I have to lose? When all of my writing was in print no one could see it anyway. There was no one to ask how I came up with the characters, the settings, or how my stories came together. I had always known this, but there seemed to be no reason to do anything about it.

Losing a parent is a pain that no one should ever have to suffer. Never having a dad around to help me out with anything has had devastating effects on my life.

Along with the issues of being raised by a single dad, there was also my mother. She was very difficult to get along with. Her issues seemed to center around money and the desire for me to make money for her, but that’s just the way she is. If she didn’t have money, she wanted it. She would verbally attack me in front of my friends at school and became extremely angry if I talked about anything but work or sports (she didn’t think the writing was something that anyone could make a living at). She would always tell me that I was “leaking words” and that I had no talent. In her mind, my only value was as a worker, and she would do anything to make sure that I never became a writer.

I made my way through college without getting into much trouble. I had gotten a job at a local supermarket where I spent most of my time looking through old paperbacks and magazines for stories to write. I found a copy of Sunset Road by Wayne D. Overholser, and I knew that I had finally found the answers to all of my questions.

I felt as if I was being shown the way for the first time: it wasn’t just about trying to create my own world. This was something that had been done before, and there were rules. My mind was opened up to new ideas and thoughts.

Then came Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, in which I learned about the mythic West. I would sit in one of the old leather chairs in my house on nice summer nights and read this book, imagining myself in that wild, wide-open land. I realized that stories about cowboys and Indians were the reason why I would always draw the wild, wide open spaces in my head. It was the people from those stories that created them—I always knew it all along but didn’t know how to get there.

Dances with Wolves opened me up even more about these ideas. I was in awe of what the screenwriters had done to create this other world. The people in that film were stunning, they had depth and beauty—and they were still alive. The actors I picked out of my head started to become the characters on my paper.

My dad had already noticed that I was writing and encouraged me on many occasions. Now, after having been exposed to these greats and decided to try my hand at writing, he became even more excited. Now that I was an adult and the decision was up to me he didn’t want to “interfere.”

I found out how hard it can be when you’re on your own for the first time, but I also discovered how great life can be when you finally get your dreams.

I believe that I have a lot to offer this world and that I can do it by writing. It took me a long time to figure it out, but now that I know where I want to go, I’ll never stop moving forward.

I hope you found this information helpful. Thank you for reading.

The post HOW WESTERNS CHANGED MY LIFE – PERSONAL ESSAY appeared first on SouthOfTheBorder.Doc.

In those days there were no loans such as those you can find here — geldlenen-spoed.nl, so people resorted to other means to get money. Nowadays you can easily get money in 15 minutes after checking a Saldodipje company review and applying for a loan, but in the period of cowboys, the rules were different. In such a short period of time, money could only be stolen or taken away by force. And instead of checking the credit conditions in Krediet Vooruit, as they do now, Americans were looking for someone they could steal money from. 

So, let’s dive right into the topic of money in Western films and check out some of the films below. 

The best films featuring money heists 

The Man of the West (1958) 

In Man of the West, a bag of money illustrates both the hope and difficulty of a new beginning. The film stars Gary Cooper as Link Jones, a reformed outlaw who is traveling to Fort Worth with money from the members of his town to hire a schoolteacher. On the train from Crosscut, he has time to meet conman Sam Beasely and singer Billie Ellis before a robbery is mounted, Link is knocked unconscious, and the money stolen. 

He wakes up to find that the train has left Sam, Billie, and himself behind, but in familiar territory, near his home from many years ago. He leads the others there only to find it occupied by the thieves who robbed the train, along with Dock Tobin, Link’s uncle and former mentor in the ways of the wild west. Realizing that he has no choice, Link pretends to have returned on purpose, with friend Sam and girlfriend Billie. He’s perhaps unwisely welcomed back by Tobin, who has regretted his absence since he left. 

The other gang members are not so trusting — one, Coaley, plays mind games with Link by forcing Billie to strip naked while Link watches, helpless. Link later gets his revenge by beating Coaley hand to hand and tearing off his clothes. Angered beyond the limit, Coaley tries to shoot Link, but Sam dives to save him; Coaley is shot by Tobin instead, for disobedience to his orders. 

The attempted robbing of a bank in nearby Lassoo, which turns out to have become a ghost town, provides Link with the opportunity to finish off the rest of the gang, killing his childhood friend with determination and some regret. Tobin is the last to go — after having violated Billie in the gang’s absence — as Link shoots him and deems him a ghost of the past.

Link faces various temptations, including amorous advances from Billie, which he could act on if he were willing to be unfaithful to his wife and children back in Good Hope. But he is determined to rescue what the outlaws have taken from him and return to his peaceful life; that he must use violence to get there is what makes the film something of a tragedy. Equal parts gripping thriller and psychological portrait, The Man of the West is a classic worth considering. 

Vera Cruz (1954) 

Vera Cruz is a film that features plenty of double-crossing and tempting sums of money. Also starring Gary Cooper as Ben Trane, a soldier who recently came from the Confederate army and is looking for work as a mercenary in Mexico. While there he meets Joe Erin, a local gang leader. Together they’re hired to escort Countess Duvare to Veracruz in service of the Emperor, for a total of $50,000. 

While on the road, however, they discover that the Countess is transporting nearly $3 million worth of gold, which they decide to steal and split between them. The plan is disrupted by invading Juaristas, and the Countess’s entourage manages to get the gold to its destination. Unwilling to give up, Erin interrogates the Countess for information, until Trane arrives and they engage in a gunfight that ends in Erin’s death. 

This is a film where greed is constantly dissolving and forming alliances, and it takes a decidedly pessimistic view of human nature. The scene of destruction at the end hammers this home, as the women are left to pick through the remains of the battle. For a film that matches greed with passion and gets to the heart of desperation, this is a good place to start. 

3:10 to Yuma (1957) 

3:10 to Yuma is another famous Western film whose leading man finds himself in desperate circumstances. Dan Evans, a rancher whose fortunes have been ruined by drought, agrees to escort notorious outlaw Ben Wade to Contention City for a reward. 

After witnessing Wade rob a stagecoach and kill the drivers, Evans helps the marshall of Bisbee, the nearest town, to arrest him. He then volunteers to accompany Wade to the train station where he will be taken to his trial on the 3:10 to Yuma. Once they arrive in Contention City, Wade, knowing that Evans was tempted once by money, tries to bribe him into letting him go. However, Evans refuses and their conversation is interrupted by the brother of the driver Wade killed in the robbery, seeking his revenge. Evans manages to disarm him, but the gun fires, alerting Wade’s gang,

The fallout of this ends with a chase of Dan and Wade by the outlaws, wherein Wade returns the favor he owes Evans and helps him to escape, agreeing to go to Yuma and help Dan claim his reward. In the end, the two men who once seemed so opposed have found a common ground in an unexpected form. 

The post Themes of money in Western films appeared first on SouthOfTheBorder.Doc.

1. Ramrod (1947)

In Ramrod, Veronica Lake plays a rancher’s daughter, Connie Dickason, who is trying to fight against the town bully and main villain, Frank Ivey. She originally hopes that her fiancé Walt Shipley will stand up to Ivey, but after he bows out, she decides to forgo pinning her hopes on a man and tries to take down Ivey’s regime herself. She and her ramrod, or foreman, Dave Nash (Joel McCrea), intend on doing everything by the law, but after Ivey attacks and wounds a friend, Connie takes matters into her own hands.

This is a revolutionary role, as it presents a woman who can handle the domestic roles, like cleaning and cooking, along with knowing how to ride a horse and work her land. At first Connie tries to accomplish her goals through others, such as using her fiancé. However, after he deserts her, Connie dons the white hat and decides to go after Ivey herself.

“Dave: What did you expect him to do? Connie Dickason: Marry me and stay and fight! Not stick a note under my door and run…wasn’t strong enough was he? Dave: [Shakes head] No. Connie Dickason: Well I am. Strong enough to beat both dad and Ivey at their own business. They broke Walt and I’m going to fight back! I’ll make Circle 66 an outfit they’ll respect.”[1]

In fact Connie’s character is very similar to the male heroes in Destry Rides Again (1939) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962). In both of these films the main characters make a decision to not use guns, but rather words when dealing with problems. However, both main characters reach a point where they realize that the only way to handle the situation is on the enemy’s terms, such as Connie does. This makes Connie a cowboy vigilante who is not afraid to break the law in order to achieve justice.

2. Red River (1948)

Red River is a fictionalized account of the historic Chisholm Trail. It stars John Wayne as Tom Dunson, and Montgomery Clift as Matt Garth. Dunson starts a cattle ranch in Texas and adopts the only survivor of a caravan attack, Garth, raising him as his own. Fourteen years pass and Dunson has decided to drive the cattle north to Missouri, but on the trail things do not turn out quite as he planned. Dunson becomes a tyrant, the crew mutinies, and Garth takes over. Later, Garth and his team encounter Native Americans attacking a troop of wagoners and step in to help them. There he meets the cardshark cowgirl, Tess Millay (Joanne Dru) and falls in love. He leaves Tess behind, but she and Dunson trek after Garth. Garth successfully brings the cattle to Kansas, resolves his issues with Dunson, wins the girl, and has his name added to the brand and ranch.

Tess Millay’s strong cowgirl character is completely different from the novel it’s based on. The director, Howard Hawks, chose to shift the Millay character from the original depiction of a gold-digger and prostitute to that of an independent, brave, cowgirl. When we are first introduced to Millay she is in the frontlines of battle. In fact, she is the only woman that is out with the men, doing her best to defend herself and the rest of the wagoners. She continues to show her strength and bravery when an enemy arrow pierces her arm. Instead of crying out or showing any emotion, she continues with her tasks, never stopping to consider the pain. Tess is also the only character in the film who does not tremble at the sound or presence of Dunson. Even the hero, Garth, who mutinied against Dunson, is completely terrified of him. Tess is one of the few people who staunchly refuses to comply with any of his demands.

“Tom Dunson: Stand up and turn around. Tess Millay: Don’t tell me what to do Mr. Dunson! Tom Dunson: [Shocked] Alright.”[2]

In fact, Tess does what no other man was able to do, physically take action against Dunson. At the end of the film, when Dunson attacks Garth, she intercedes in the fight, nicking him with a bullet to end Dunson’s tyranny, something every man wanted to do, but failed to accomplish.

3. Montana (1950)

Montana stars Errol Flynn as Morgan Lane, a sheepherder who has returned to Montana in hopes of achieving his father’s dream of sheep farming. However, he discovers that the area is controlled by three sattle barons: Maria Singleton played by Alexis Smith; Rodney Ackroyd, and George Forsythe. Lane tries to win over Maria and con some land out of her, but his plans fail. Lane then turns to small ranchers, trying to prove that sheep and cattle should be raised together. His actions create a war, as Maria and Ackroyd’s men face off against Lane and his supporters.

Maria is a true cowgirl. She belongs in the West and to the land. After the men in her family died, she took command of the land and continued to run it well. She is proud to be a rancher and is proud of her land, striving to protect it and see it prosper.

“Maria Singleton: This is cattle country, cattle built our homes and gave us a living ever since our fathers settled here. No sheep was the cattleman’s law…well it still is the law and we’ll back it up with every man and gun in the Singleton outfit! Where’s your loyalty? To your friends, your families, your fathers, to the tradition of the range? If those graves that mark the deadline mean nothing to you, well they do to me! Our fathers died in a war to keep Montana cattle land! Well now it’s war again, and whatever it costs in lives and property you can blame it on one man, Morgan Lane.” [3]

Maria’s character also exemplifies a marriage between masculinity and femininity that was not common in films at the time. Maria shows that she can be a tough, gun-toting, masculine, career woman, but at the same time be feminine. This duality shows stories of the West do not have to follow the formula of an “untamed wilderness” that gave way to “civilization.” That the West can be “wild” and free to roam, while at the same time be built upon and protected by legalities, or “civilized.”

4. Rawhide (1951)

The film Rawhide (not the television show) is a thriller-suspense western starring Tyrone Power as Tom Owens, the son of a stagecoach tycoon, living out West at a stopover station, Rawhide. When four prisoners escape from the nearby jail, singer turned cowgirl, Vinnie Holt (played by Susan Hayward) and her niece Callie are forced to stay the night. That night, Rawhide is attacked by the outlaws, as they intend on robbing an incoming stagecoach full of gold. This soon turns into a game of cat and mouse as Owens and Vinnie try to figure a way out of the situation without revealing their plans to the outlaws.

Throughout the film, Vinnie is equal to her male counterpart. She always performs the same duties as Owens. She even assists Owens in digging a hole through the wall to escape their captors. The film also reverses the damsel in distress cliché that one would expect. Throughout the movie, Vinnie is constantly harassed and attacked by the convicts, but never saved by anyone. Instead, Vinnie uses her strength, cunning, and resoluteness needed to survive living in the West. At the end of the film, one of the convicts disarms Owens and forces him to lay down on the ground. Before he has a chance to shoot him, Vinnie steps in and kills him, making this a film in which a woman uses a gun to resolve the situation, while the man lies helpless on the ground.

5. Calamity Jane (1953)

Calamity Jane (1953) is a musical film loosely based on the historic cowgirl and sharpshooter. Doris Day is Calamity Jane, a sharpshooter who wears men’s clothing, spends time in the saloon, gambles, and saves damsels in distress. In a series of comedic events she is given the task of bringing actress Adelaid Adams from Chicago, Illinois to Deadwood, South Dakota. When Calamity mistakes assistant Katie Brown for Adelaid, Katie goes along with the deception and journeys to Deadwood. There Katie’s real identity is found out, but she quickly becomes the toast of the town. She and Calamity room together, and Katie tries to change Calamity’s ways, attempting to “feminize” her. Katie has also has attracted the attentions of “Wild Bill” Hickok and Lt. Daniel Martin, the latter being the man Calamity is in love with. When Calamity discovers the attraction between Martin and Katie, their friendship is destroyed by her jealousy. In the end all is resolved, as Bill and Calamity realize their love for each other, and Calamity and Katie’s friendship is restored.

Even though this film is a comedic musical, it still manages to present a strong image of a cowgirl, doing far better than the contemporary Annie Get Your Gun (1950). The whole focus in Annie Get Your Gun is how to catch a man, with Annie Oakley even going as far as losing a shooting match to protect her man’s pride and win his heart. While Calamity does silly things, she nevertheless is presented as a caring, intelligent, strong woman. A majority of the film focuses on the love triangle between Katie, Jane, Bill, and Lt. Martin; Calamity still remains an independent, strong-willed character who refrains from changing herself for anyone. She does start wearing dresses to appease Katie, but by the end of the film she is back in the buckskin, as she decides to be herself, and not what others try to conform her to.

The post Maverick Queens: Women in Western Film, 1947 – 1953 appeared first on SouthOfTheBorder.Doc.

Stacker compiled IMDb data on all feature-length Westerns released between 1940 and 1949 and ranked them according to user rating. To qualify, the film had to be listed as “Western” on IMDb and have at least 1,000 votes. Ties were broken by votes.

Any Western aficionado is well-versed in the films from the 1940s, but there were many that were a cut above the rest. Read on to discover the best 10 Western films of the ’40s. Did your favorites make the cut?

#10. They Died with Their Boots On (1941)

– Director: Raoul Walsh
– IMDb user rating: 7.2
– Runtime: 140 minutes

This film (loosely) follows the life of George Armstrong Custer from his arrival at West Point to his death at the battle of the Little Bighorn. Facts have definitely been blurred in the movie on all levels. For example, to fill the background with Native Americans, the director employed hundreds of Filipino extras. Only 16 real-life Sioux were used for the close-ups.

#9. The Westerner (1940)

– Director: William Wyler
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Runtime: 100 minutes

The Westerner tells the tale of Vinegaroon, Texas, a town run by Judge Roy Bean. The corrupt judge befriends Cole Harden, a drifter who is convicted of horse theft. Harden is a con man himself, and ends up talking his way out of a hanging. Gary Cooper never wanted to make the film, thinking that starring alongside Walter Brennan would eclipse his role. But it actually became the first of five pair-ups for the two, the last being “Task Force” in 1949.

#8. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

– Director: John Ford
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Runtime: 104 minutes

Captain Nathan Brittles is on the brink of retirement, but he does one last patrol to help fend off a Native American attack. John Wayne was not John Ford’s first choice to play Captain Brittles, a character who was supposed to be twenty years older than Wayne actually was. But Ford changed his mind after seeing Wayne’s performance in “Red River.”

#7. Yellow Sky (1948)

– Director: William A. Wellman
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Runtime: 98 minutes

A team of robbers are on the run and hiding out in a ghost town. Here they discover a gun-slinging tomboy and her grandfather, who are intended to be their next target, until one of the gang members falls in love with the granddaughter. The exteriors of the film were shot at Death Valley National Monument. A construction crew built a ghost town in the desert near Lone Pine, California.

#6. The Mark of Zorro (1940)

– Director: Rouben Mamoulian
– IMDb user rating: 7.5
– Runtime: 94 minutes

The son of a California aristocrat returns to the territory only to discover it is in the hands of a dictator. He dons a secret, masked identity to avenge his family’s homeland. “The Mark of Zorro” was a remake of a silent film movie of the same name, and would go on to be remade again in the ’70s, meaning the story has been told without sound, in black-and-white with sound, and in color.

#5. Fort Apache (1948)

– Director: John Ford
– IMDb user rating: 7.5
– Runtime: 128 minutes

A war veteran and his regime find themselves under the command of a younger lieutenant colonel at Fort Apache. Conflicts arise when the more established veterans realize their new commander has no respect for the local tribe. The film was received with critical acclaim, making its way into the American Film Institute’s Top 10 list. Variety praised the film as masterful, using words like “superb” and “tremendous.”

#4. My Darling Clementine (1946)

– Director: John Ford
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 97 minutes

The Earp brothers are on a vengeance-seeking mission against the Clanton family after their brother is murdered and their cattle are stolen. According to True West Magazine, Wyatt Earp was a regular in Hollywood back when the Western genre was taking shape. John Ford worked as a prop assistant and would often listen to Earp tell stories about the fight at the O.K. Corral.

#3. Red River (1948)

– Directors: Howard Hawks, Arthur Rosson
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Runtime: 133 minutes

“Red River’ is the story of Tom Dunston, a rancher who is driving his 10,000 cattle to market more than 1,000 miles away. But his dictatorial leadership skills cause a mutiny in his party, led by his adopted son. John Wayne’s performance in “Red River” led to John Ford casting him in complicated roles in his films. Prior to this performance in “Red River,” Ford never fully believed the breadth and scope of Wayne’s skills.

#2. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)

– Director: William A. Wellman
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Runtime: 75 minutes

Three men are accused of killing a local farmer. They are captured by a local posse, who quickly become divided over whether or not the men deserve a hanging. The movie received very positive reviews, especially over the raw, unfiltered portrayals of hangings. Variety says “hardly a gruesome detail is omitted,” but means this as a compliment.

#1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

– Director: John Huston
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Runtime: 126 minutes

Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston star in this iconic Western that tells the story of two Americans in Mexico looking for work. They smooth-talk an old prospector into helping them pan for gold in the rugged Sierra Madre Mountains. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest Westerns of all time. It won four Academy Awards and in 1990 it was chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The post 10 Best Western films of the ’40s appeared first on SouthOfTheBorder.Doc.