The Western. That most American of genres, across literature and movies. That which replaced the grit and grime with guns and gals. The drudgery and desolation with scenery and sunshine. The hardships were romanticised, loneliness glamourised and history bastardised. And (American) audiences got good bang for their buck, authenticity be damned. But then, real genius will out itself. Good filmmakers used this genre as a medium to tell their stories and audiences didn’t run away from them. We take a look at some of the commonly acclaimed Westerns. This is only Part 1, mind you.
Shane
It wasn’t all black and white (pun definitely intended) in the West. There was much more than Indians bad, cowboys good. One of the other conflicts was the fight between the cattle barons and ranchers over land. Shane (Alan Ladd) a lonely cowboy with a past comes to a small ranch owned by Joe Starrett (Van Heflin), his wife Marian (Jean Arthur) and their son Joey (Brandon de Wilde). He finds that the Starretts, along with other ranchers, are being harassed by a cattle owner Rufus (Emilie Meyer). Rufus wants all the lands for himself and he is willing to go to any length for this.
The 60 plus years since its production haven’t exactly been kind to Shane. The colour is rough around the edges, and the acting a bit theatrical, as was the case those days. But the ambition cannot be hidden. Director George Stevens set out to make an epic and he does. The Oscar-winning cinematography by Loyal Griggs (The Ten Commandments) lovingly captures the vast outdoors, showcasing the loneliness that was meant to be Shane’s lot for life.
Alan Ladd is far too pretty-looking and stylish to be convincing as a lonesome cowboy a long way from home. Jean Arthur, in her last big screen outing, is saddled with a rather thankless role. As young Joey who hero-worships Shane, Brandon de Wilde is the audience surrogate and he is very good. Jack Palance, in one of his early roles, shows a bit of the menace that he would embody later on.
Shane has a lot of ticks in the pluses column. But ultimately, it will be more of fond memory than a true classic that stands the test of time.
High Noon
The best compliment High Noon received would have been from Super-Cowboy John Wayne calling it “the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen”. It is that good!
Marshal William Kane (Gary Cooper) has had enough of policing. He has met his match and is marrying her. He and his wife-to-be Amy (Grace Kelly) are leaving the town of Hadleyville and moving to another town to start a new chapter. The wedding just got over when word arrived that dreaded outlaw Frank Miller (Iain MacDonald), who was sent behind bars by Kane, was released and now on the train to Hadleyville to take revenge.
Despite almost everyone convincing him to leave town, Kane refuses and stays back to face Miller. He asks the townspeople to help him, but no one comes forward. Both his wife and his former flame, Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado), leave to the station to catch the same train the outlaw was arriving. The clock is ticking and Kane comes to the realisation that he was all alone. It is high noon and the train’s whistle blows from the distance.
Written by Carl Foreman during the years when he was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee for his Communist sympathies, High Noon is a thinly-veiled allegory but also highly effective as a bloody good film. The desperate Marshal, who is just a decent guy who wants to do the right thing, is also a scared man. Not the fearless gunslinger. The townsfolk are appreciative of all that Kane had done for them, but they didn’t feel that warranted a sacrifice from them. A good man is going to his doom, not because of people’s actions, but, rather, their inaction.
Gary Cooper is extremely effective as Kane, even though he looked a bit too old for the role. He won an Oscar for his efforts, but was unable to make it to the ceremony. Guess who accepted it on his behalf. Yup, Mr John Wayne! Grace Kelly lightens up the black and white film. A certain Lee Van Cleef made his debut in a fascinating career of menacing heroes. And does not even utter a single word.
High Noon is not as revisionist as McCabe and Mrs Miller, but within the boundaries of a traditional Western, it subverts expectations. It follows, as far as possible, a real-time narrative and that heightens the suspense. Director Fred Zimmerman claimed that he didn’t think of the various metaphors the story-line could have stood for, but treated it as a damn good yarn. Which it is. And that is what will make the movie stand the test of time.
The Searchers
I was lucky my first John Wayne film was also the one with his best performance. When the All-American cowboy abandons the black and white in his major movies for grey, there is bound to be something special.
Ethan Edwards (Wayne) returns to his brother’s ranch after an eight-year-absence fighting in the war. His domestic stint is short-lived as the Indians raid the ranch, abducting Ethan’s nieces and killing everyone else. Ethan begins a five-year search for his younger niece after the older one was found murdered.
Director John Ford makes no apologies about painting the Comanache Indians jet black. But what is interesting is Wayne’s character. Edwards is borderline racist. At one point he is ready to kill his niece rather than let her continue to live with the Indians as was her wish. He is a brutal man and his actions do not leave room for any explanations. For someone whose actions in movies, and otherwise, were strictly black or white, this was a welcome change. The Duke ups his game and ends up elevating the movie as a result.
The technical parts stand out even today. Much has been written about the last shot of the film. People tend to forget that the same movie started with a similar shot. The Searchers is a prime example of why genre becomes irrelevant if you have a good director ready to tell a good story.
Stagecoach
The movie that made John Wayne and began his long association with director John Ford, Stagecoach is a classic in its own right. While always tagged a Western, it could easily be the father of another very American genre – the road movie.
It’s 1880 and a motley crew take a road trip on the eponymous stagecoach. Among them is a prostitute who is being driven out of town, a whiskey salesman (imagine!), a drunken doctor, a pregnant lady, a gambler and a banker. The coach’s driver and a marshal accompany them. Soon, a fugitive joins the group. Just as they are about to start, they receive info that a bunch of Apaches were on the warpath. Thus begins the journey.
The various characters have their own set beliefs and flaws. As the road-trip progresses, we see how everyone changes. Now that I said that, Stagecoach might also be the father of another genre – the dysfunctional family reunion movie. Albeit with a slight twist in that the get-together happens and then everyone comes together as a family without being related.
John Wayne was pretty much a nobody when he acted as the fugitive Ringo Kid. In fact, he got second billing to Claire Trevor. One of my favourite touches in the film is how when Ringo joins the party, the stagecoach is already full and he has to sit on the floor. Wayne plays the decent guy without any hang-ups or image hanging over him and it is an endearing performance. The rest of the cast are efficient, especially Thomas Mitchell who won an Oscar for playing the doctor.
Stagecoach is a ride that is rare in the annals of American cinema. It blazes a trail that has inspired many across genres, but never been surpassed.
Winchester ‘73
‘Those Magnificent Men and their Flaming Guns’ could be the entire Western genre in a phrase. While there would be an inkling of a plot here or there, the gun would always be a strong supporting player. Until someone decided to make it the main character. A preposterous conceit, one might say. True, but they make it work.
It’s the fourth of July in Dodge City. There is to be a shooting competition. The winner would get an 1873 Winchester rifle as the price. In rides Lin McAdam (James Stewart). He is after an outlaw Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally). Marshal Wyatt Earp (Will Geer) who runs the town has a strict ‘no guns in town’ policy. Lin and Dutch end up being the finalists and McAdam gets the Winchester. But he hadn’t taken it from its sheath when it is taken away from him. The remaining part of the movie is how the Winchester changes hands and the stories of those characters.
James Stewart somehow makes everything he appears in seem 25% better. Winchester ’73 is no exception. Shelley Winters goes through the motion in a thankless role, something not different to most of the women in a cowboy movie. There are bit parts from Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson, the latter as an Indian chief.
There must have been a temptation to let the Winchester go through more hands to add to the story. Thankfully, the writers decided to stick with a few and develop the characters. The plot seems to have been tied up a bit too smoothly, but that is a small matter. Among technical aspects the locations and the cinematography by William Daniels stand out.
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