Includes bibliographical references (p. 355-363) and indexes.
Contents:
Once upon a time in a revolution : radical politics and the western film -- Part one. Cowboy politics : Roosevelt through Reagan -- To die in the west : the O.K. Corral, history versus film -- Sheriff of Cochise : thirty seconds to eternity -- Red, white and blue states : political philosophy in nineteenth-century America -- "From my cold, dead hands" : gun control in the West and westerns -- Way of the gun : violence in American life -- It's a man's world? : gender politics on Hollywood's frontier -- Go west, young (business) man : American dreamers, political schemers -- Redistributing the wealth : Gene Autry, Frank Capra, and the New Deal western -- Don't fence me in : rugged individualism and open range -- Silent springs, vanishing prairies : environmentalism and the western -- Red states, Red menace : of cowboys and Communism -- Once upon a time in a revolution : radical politics and the western film -- The church and the saloon : Catholic versus Protestant westerns -- All the right stuff : the world according to John Wayne -- Flag-waving on the wild frontier : stars and stripes as political ideology -- Part two. God's country : religion in the western film -- Odes to American imperialism : Manifest Destiny in western movies -- The town and the city : space as theme, place as character -- Glory in the (wild) flower : romanticism on the open range -- Hearts of darkness, souls of light : visions of nature in American film and fiction -- A chapel in the canyon : religiosity, American-style -- Multiculturalism, Mormanism, and movies : Hollywood's history and cultural appropriation -- End of the trail : the dark side of faith -- Ride out for vengeance : revising a western paradigm -- Old Testament and New : days of wrath, angels of mercy -- The church and the saloon : Catholic versus Protestant westerns -- General index. Harts of the west : the gospel according to Clint -- Then came Sam! : from Pappy to Peckinpah -- Count no man lucky until his death : the western as American tragedy -- Born again : of cowboys, Christianity, and conversion -- Conclusion : no country for bold men : the western film in the twenty-first century -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index of films and shows -- General index.
Summary:
"Overturns conventional thinking that the Western genre is essentially conservative. Instead, Brode demonstrates that Hollywood liberals used Westerns to espouse a progressive agenda on a range of issues, including gun control, environmental protection, respect for non-Christian belief systems, and community cohesion versus rugged individualism. Doug Brode takes a new look at dozens of Westerns, including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Red River, 3:10 to Yuma (old and new), The Wild Ones, High Noon, My Darling Clementine, The Alamo, and No Country for Old Men"-- Provided by publisher.
Series:
Jack and Doris Smothers series in Texas history, life, and culture ; number 41
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.