One of the subsidiary channels on television, Gem I think it is, has been having something of a “John Wayne-a-thon” over the last couple of weekends, showcasing of course, the Duke’s work in the western genre. First there was “Rio Bravo”, then “El Dorado” which, in effect is a remake of the aforementioned movie and last Sunday was “The Horse Soldiers”, one of my favourites even though it is hardly ranked among the greatest westerns of all time.
Linda asked during one of the films what I was watching and I replied and suggested she may like to view this particular film as it was quite enjoyable. The answer I got was “No, it’s just more violence!”, as Robert Mitchum blazed away in “El Dorado”. Violence? Yes of course, it’s a part of most western movies which can’t be ignored but I scoffed at her dismissal of the western as a work of art and told her straight that westerns are “parables”, tales of the eternal struggle between good and evil where the line between who is the villain and who is the hero is often blurred. Just like real life. There is often a moral at the heart of great westerns.
Actors like Wayne, Gary Cooper, Steve McQueen, Robert Mitchum, Clint Eastwood and countless others seemed to play these roles like they were shelling peas and gave us a very “Hollywood” look at the days of the American frontier however imaginative it may be. But it was convincing and enjoyable and few of us over a certain age have not viewed a television matinee on lazy Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a good old shoot ’em up!
So why is it then that the western has more or less died as a cultural art form and the genre today, on the few occasions western films are made, are poor imitations of their predecessors acted by pygmies who could only dream of being of the stature of the great stars of the past?
Time moves on for sure and tastes change and perhaps the mindless action film or buddy-buddy cop films have replaced the western as our staple for escapism and actors today just want to be “respected” rather than stars and eschew any form of formula where the plot is anything less than politically correct. Perhaps.
The day of the western is done but who can’t think back to their childhood and the memories of Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) taking his niece (Natalie Wood) in his arms after searching for her for five years and taking her home to her family in “The Searchers”? Who hasn’t cheered “The Magnificent Seven” as those less than wholesome cowboys chew up Eli Wallach’s band of henchmen in defence of Mexican peasants in the climax of the movie of the same name (The theme music helped too!)? And who hasn’t sweated with sheriff Gary Cooper as the townsfolk abandon him and leave him to face an outlaw band alone at “High Noon”? And there are a thousand more great western stories which have been put on celluloid over the last century.
So, keep a look out on those slow Sunday arvos, flick around the channels on your television. You may come across a hidden gem. Hollywood’s take on the pioneer days in the United States. The western. You may just enjoy it.
Have a nice day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 