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Western (genre)
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"Westerns" redirects here. For other uses, see Western (disambiguation).
Justus D. Barnes in Western apparel, from the silent film The Great Train Robber
y (1903).
The Western is a genre of various arts which tell stories set primarily in the l
ater half of the 19th century in the American Old West, often centering on the l
ife of a nomadic cowboy or gunfighter[1] armed with a revolver and a rifle who r
ides a horse. Cowboys and gunslingers typically wear Stetson hats, bandannas, sp
urs, cowboy boots and buckskins. Other characters include Native Americans, band
its, lawmen, bounty hunters, outlaws, mounted cavalry, settlers and townsfolk.
Westerns often stress the harshness of the wilderness and frequently set the act
ion in an arid, desolate landscape of deserts and mountains. Often, the vast lan
dscape plays an important role, presenting a "...mythic vision of the plains and
deserts of the American West".[2] Specific settings include ranches, small fron
tier towns, saloons, railways and isolated military forts of the Wild West. Most
are set in the American colonial era. Common plots include the construction of
a railroad or a telegraph line on the wild frontier; ranchers protecting their f
amily ranch from rustlers or large landowners or who build a ranch empire; reven
ge stories, which hinge on the chase and pursuit by a wronged individual; storie
s about cavalry fighting Indians; outlaw gang plots; and stories about a lawman
or bounty hunter tracking down his quarry. Many Westerns use a stock plot of dep
icting a crime, then showing the pursuit of the wrongdoer, ending in revenge and
retribution, which is often dispensed through a shootout or quick draw duel.[3]
[4][5]
The Western was the most popular Hollywood genre from the early 20th century to
the 1960s.[6] Western films first became well-attended in the 1930s. John Ford's
landmark Western adventure Stagecoach became one of the biggest hits in 1939 an
d it made John Wayne a mainstream screen star. Westerns were very popular throug
hout the 1950s and 1960s. Many of the most acclaimed Westerns were released duri
including High Noon (1952), Shane (1953), The Searchers (1956), and
ng this time
The Wild Bunch (1969). Classic Westerns such as these have been the inspiration
for various films about Western-type characters in contemporary settings, such
as Junior Bonner (1972), set in the 1970s and The Three Burials of Melquiades Es
trada (2005), which is set in the 21st century.
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Contents [hide]
1
Themes
2
Film
2.1
Characteristics
2.2
Subgenres
2.2.1 Classical Western
2.2.2 Acid Western
2.2.3 Charro, Cabrito or Chili Westerns

2.2.4 Contemporary Western

2.2.5 Electric Western
2.2.6 Epic Western
2.2.7 Euro-Western
2.2.8 Fantasy Western
2.2.9 Florida Western
2.2.10 Horror Western
2.2.11 Curry Westerns and Indo Westerns
2.2.12 Martial arts Western (Wuxia Western)
2.2.13 Meat pie Western
2.2.14 Northwestern
2.2.15 Ostern
2.2.16 Pornographic Western
2.2.17 Revisionist Western
2.2.18 Science fiction Western
2.2.19 Space Western
2.2.20 Spaghetti Western
2.2.21 Weird Western
2.2.22 Western satire
2.3
Genre studies
2.4
Influences
3
Literature
4
Television
5
Visual art
6
Other media
6.1
Anime and manga
6.2
Comics
6.3
Games
6.4
Radio dramas
6.5
Web series
7
See also
8
References
9
Further reading
10
External links
Themes[edit]
The Lone Ranger; a famous heroic lawman who was with a cavalry of six Texas Rang
ers, until they were all killed but him. He preferred to remain anonymous, so he
resigned and built a sixth grave that supposedly held his body. He fights on as
a lawman, wearing a mask, for, "Outlaws live in a world of fear. Fear of the my
sterious."
The Western genre sometimes portrays the conquest of the wilderness and the subo
rdination of nature in the name of civilization or the confiscation of the terri
torial rights of the original, Native American, inhabitants of the frontier.[1]
The Western depicts a society organized around codes of honor and personal, dire
ct or private justice "frontier justice" dispensed by gunfights. These honor codes a
re often played out through depictions of feuds or individuals seeking personal
revenge or retribution against someone who has wronged them (e.g., True Grit has
revenge and retribution as its main themes). This Western depiction of personal
justice contrasts sharply with justice systems organized around rationalistic,
abstract law that exist in cities, in which social order is maintained predomina
tely through relatively impersonal institutions such as courtrooms. The popular
perception of the Western is a story that centers on the life of a semi-nomadic
wanderer, usually a cowboy or a gunfighter.[1] A showdown or duel at high noon f
eaturing two or more gunfighters is a stereotypical scene in the popular concept
ion of Westerns.
In some ways, such protagonists may be considered the literary descendants of th
e knight errant which stood at the center of earlier extensive genres such as th
e Arthurian Romances.[1] Like the cowboy or gunfighter of the Western, the knigh

t errant of the earlier European tales and poetry was wandering from place to pl
ace on his horse, fighting villains of various kinds and bound to no fixed socia
l structures but only to his own innate code of honor. And like knights errant,
the heroes of Westerns frequently rescue damsels in distress. Similarly, the wan
dering protagonists of Westerns share many of the characteristics equated with t
he image of the ronin in modern Japanese culture.
The Western typically takes these elements and uses them to tell simple morality
tales, although some notable examples (e.g. the later Westerns of John Ford or
Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, about an old hired killer) are more morally ambiguo
us. Westerns often stress the harshness and isolation of the wilderness and freq
uently set the action in an arid, desolate landscape. Specific settings include
isolated forts, ranches and homesteads; the Native American village; or the smal
l frontier town with its saloon, general store, livery stable and jailhouse and
the open desert, where there are no structures and only windswept sand dunes. Ap
art from the wilderness, it is usually the saloon that emphasizes that this is t
he Wild West: it is the place to go for music (raucous piano playing), women (of
ten prostitutes), gambling (draw poker or five card stud), drinking (beer or whi
skey), brawling and shooting. In some Westerns, where civilization has arrived,
the town has a church, a general store, a bank and a school; in others, where fr
ontier rules still hold sway, it is, as Sergio Leone said, "where life has no va
lue".
Film[edit]
Characteristics[edit]
Gary Cooper in Vera Cruz
The American Film Institute defines western films as those "set in the American
West that embodies the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier."
[7] The term Western, used to describe a narrative film genre, appears to have o
riginated with a July 1912 article in Motion Picture World Magazine.[8] Most of
the characteristics of Western films were part of 19th century popular Western f
iction and were firmly in place before film became a popular art form.[9] Wester
n films commonly feature protagonists such as cowboys, gunslingers, and bounty h
unters, who are often depicted as semi-nomadic wanderers who wear Stetson hats,
bandannas, spurs, and buckskins, use revolvers or rifles as everyday tools of su
rvival and as a means to settle disputes using "frontier justice". Protagonists ri
de between dusty towns and cattle ranches on their trusty steeds.
Western films were enormously popular in the silent film era (1894-1927). With t
he advent of sound in 1927-28, the major Hollywood studios rapidly abandoned Wes
terns,[citation needed] leaving the genre to smaller studios and producers. Thes
e smaller organizations churned out countless low-budget features and serials in
the 1930s. By the late 1930s, the Western film was widely regarded as a "pulp"
genre in Hollywood, but its popularity was dramatically revived in 1939 by major
studio productions such as Dodge City starring Errol Flynn, Jesse James with Ty
rone Power, Union Pacific with Joel McCrea, Destry Rides Again featuring James S
tewart and Marlene Dietrich, and perhaps most notably the release of John Ford's
landmark Western adventure Stagecoach, which became one of the biggest hits of
the year. Released through United Artists, Stagecoach made John Wayne a mainstre
am screen star in the wake of a decade of headlining B westerns. Wayne had been
introduced to the screen ten years earlier as the leading man in director Raoul
Walsh's widescreen The Big Trail, which failed at the box office, due in part to
exhibitors' inability to switch over to widescreen during the Depression. After
the Western's renewed commercial successes in the late 1930s, the popularity of
the Western continued to rise until its peak in the 1950s, when the number of W
estern films produced outnumbered all other genres combined.[10]
Western films often depict conflicts with Native Americans. While early Eurocent
ric Westerns frequently portray the "Injuns" as dishonorable villains, the later

and more culturally neutral Westerns (notably those directed by John Ford) gave
Native Americans a more sympathetic treatment. Other recurring themes of Wester
ns include Western treks or perilous journeys (e.g. Stagecoach) or groups of ban
dits terrorising small towns such as in The Magnificent Seven.
Western set at Universal Studios in Hollywood
Early Westerns were mostly filmed in the studio, just like other early Hollywood
films, but when location shooting became more common from the 1930s, producers
of Westerns used desolate corners of Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Mont
ana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, or Wyoming. These settings gave
filmmakers the ability to depict vast plains, looming mountains and epic canyons
. Productions were also filmed on location at movie ranches.
Often, the vast landscape becomes more than a vivid backdrop; it becomes a chara
cter in the film. After the early 1950s, various wide screen formats such as Cin
emascope (1953) and VistaVision used the expanded width of the screen to display
spectacular Western landscapes. John Ford's use of Monument Valley as an expres
sive landscape in his films from Stagecoach (1939) to Cheyenne Autumn (1965) "pr
esent us with a mythic vision of the plains and deserts of the American West, em
bodied most memorably in Monument Valley, with its buttes and mesas that tower a
bove the men on horseback, whether they be settlers, soldiers, or Native America
ns".[2]
Subgenres[edit]
Dan Duryea in Along Came Jones (1945)
One More Train to Rob (1971) is a comedy western and revenge story
Author and screenwriter Frank Gruber listed seven plots for Westerns:[11][12]
Union Pacific story. The plot concerns construction of a railroad, a telegraph l
ine, or some other type of modern technology or transportation. Wagon train stor
ies fall into this category.
Ranch story. The plot concerns threats to the ranch from rustlers or large lando
wners attempting to force out the proper owners.
Empire story. The plot involves building a ranch empire or an oil empire from sc
ratch, a classic rags-to-riches plot.
Revenge story. The plot often involves an elaborate chase and pursuit by a wrong
ed individual, but it may also include elements of the classic mystery story.
Cavalry and Indian story. The plot revolves around "taming" the wilderness for w
hite settlers.
Outlaw story. The outlaw gangs dominate the action.
Marshal story. The lawman and his challenges drive the plot.
Gruber said that good writers used dialogue and plot development to develop thes
e basic plots into believable stories.[12] Other subgenres include the Spaghetti
Western, the epic western, singing cowboy westerns, and a few comedy westerns;
such as: Along Came Jones (1945), in which Gary Cooper spoofed his western perso
na; The Sheepman (1958), with Glenn Ford poking fun at himself; and Cat Ballou (
1965), with a drunk Lee Marvin atop a drunk horse. In the 1960s and 1970s, the W
estern was re-invented with the revisionist Western.[13]
Classical Western[edit]
John Wayne in The Comancheros (1961)
The Great Train Robbery (1903), Edwin S. Porter's film starring Broncho Billy An
derson, is often cited as the first Western, though George N. Fenin and William
K. Everson point out that the "Edison company had played with Western material f
or several years prior to The Great Train Robbery. " Nonetheless, they concur th
at Porter's film "set the pattern of crime, pursuit, and retribution for the Western

film as a genre."[14] The film's popularity opened the door for Anderson to bec
ome the screen's first cowboy star; he made several hundred Western film shorts.
So popular was the genre that he soon faced competition from Tom Mix and Willia
m S. Hart.
The Golden Age of the Western is epitomized by the work of several directors, mo
st prominent among them, John Ford (My Darling Clementine, The Horse Soldiers, T
he Searchers). Others include: Howard Hawks (Red River, Rio Bravo), Anthony Mann
(Man of the West, The Man from Laramie), Budd Boetticher (Seven Men from Now),
Delmer Daves (The Hanging Tree, 3:10 to Yuma), John Sturges (The Magnificent Sev
en, Last Train from Gun Hill), and Robert Aldrich (Vera Cruz, Ulzana's Raid).[ci
tation needed]
Acid Western[edit]
Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum refers[specify] to a makeshift 1960s and 1970s ge
nre called the Acid Western, associated with Dennis Hopper, Jim McBride, and Rud
y Wurlitzer, as well as films like Monte Hellman's The Shooting (1966), Alejandr
o Jodorowsky's bizarre experimental film El Topo (The Mole) (1970), and Robert D
owney Sr.'s Greaser's Palace (1972). The 1970 film El Topo is an allegorical cul
t Western and underground film about the eponymous character, a violent black-cl
ad gunfighter, and his quest for enlightenment. The film is filled with bizarre
characters and occurrences, use of maimed and dwarf performers, and heavy doses
of Christian symbolism and Eastern philosophy. Some Spaghetti Westerns also cros
sed over into the Acid Western genre, such as Enzo G. Castellari's mystical Keom
a (1976), a Western reworking of Ingmar Bergman's metaphysical The Seventh Seal
(1957).
More recent Acid Westerns include Alex Cox's film Walker (1987) and Jim Jarmusch
's film Dead Man (1995). Rosenbaum describes the Acid Western as "formulating a
chilling, savage frontier poetry to justify its hallucinated agenda"; ultimately
, he says, the Acid Western expresses a counterculture sensibility to critique a
nd replace capitalism with alternative forms of exchange.[15]
Charro, Cabrito or Chili Westerns[edit]
Charro Westerns have been a standard of Mexican cinema often featuring musical s
tars as well as action had been a feature of the Mexican cinema since the 1930s.
In the 1930s and 1940s, these were typically films about horsemen in rural Mexi
can society, displaying a set of cultural concerns very different from the Holly
wood meta-narrative, but the overlap between 'charro' movies and westerns became
more apparent in the 1950s and 1960s.[16][17]
Contemporary Western[edit]
Also known as Neo-Westerns, these films have contemporary American settings, and
they utilize Old West themes and motifs (a rebellious anti-hero, open plains an
d desert landscapes, and gunfights). For the most part, they still take place in
the American West and reveal the progression of the Old West mentality into the
late 20th and early 21st centuries. This subgenre often features Old West-type
characters struggling with displacement in a "civilized" world that rejects thei
r outdated brand of justice.
Examples include Hud, starring Paul Newman (1963); The Getaway (1972); Junior Bo
nner (1972); Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974); Robert Altman's McCabe
& Mrs. Miller (1971); J. W. Coop, directed/co-written by and starring Cliff Robe
rtson; Simon Wincer's Quigley Down Under; Robert Rodrguez's El Mariachi (1992) an
d Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003); John Sayles's Lone Star (1996); Tommy Lee J
ones's The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005); Ang Lee's Brokeback Mount
ain (2005); Wim Wenders's Don't Come Knocking (2005); Hearts of the West starrin
g Jeff Bridges (1975); Alan J. Pakula's Comes a Horseman (1978); John Sturges's
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955); the Coen brothers Academy Award-winning No Country
For Old Men (2007); and Justified (2010-2015). Call of Juarez: The Cartel is an

example of a Neo-Western video game. Likewise, the television series Breaking B

ad, which takes place in modern times, features many examples of Western archety
pes. According to creator Vince Gilligan, "After the first Breaking Bad episode,
it started to dawn on me that we could be making a contemporary western. So you
see scenes that are like gunfighters squaring off, like Clint Eastwood and Lee
Van Cleef
we have Walt and others like that."[18]
The precursor to these[citation needed] was the radio series Tales of the Texas
Rangers (1950 1952), with Joel McCrea, a contemporary detective drama set in Texas
, featuring many of the characteristics of traditional Westerns.
Electric Western[edit]
Zachariah (1971)
The 1971 film Zachariah starring John Rubinstein, Don Johnson and Pat Quinn was
billed as, "The first electric Western."[19] The film featured multiple performi
ng rock bands in an otherwise American West setting.[19]
Zachariah featured appearances and music supplied by rock groups from the 1970s,
including the James Gang[19] and Country Joe and the Fish as "The Cracker Band.
"[19] Fiddler Doug Kershaw had a musical cameo[19] as does Elvin Jones as a guns
linging drummer named Job Cain.[19]
The independent film Hate Horses starring Dominique Swain, Ron Thompson and Paul
Dooley billed itself as, "The second electric Western."[20]
Epic Western[edit]
The epic western is a subgenre of the western that emphasizes the story of the A
merican Old West on a grand scale. Many epic westerns are commonly set during a
turbulent time, especially a war, as in Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the
Ugly (1966), set during the American Civil War, or Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bun
ch (1969), set during the Mexican Revolution. One of the grandest films in this
genre is Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), which shows many operatic
conflicts centered on control of a town while utilizing wide scale shots on Monu
ment Valley locations against a broad running time. Other notable examples inclu
de The Iron Horse (1924), Duel in the Sun (1946), The Searchers (1956), Giant (1
956), The Big Country (1958), Cimarron (1960), How the West Was Won (1962), Duck
, You Sucker! (1971), Heaven's Gate (1980), Dances with Wolves (1990), The Assas
sination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), Django Unchained (2012
), and The Revenant (2015).
Euro-Western[edit]
Euro Westerns are Western genre films made in Western Europe. The term can somet
imes, but not necessarily, include the Spaghetti Western subgenre (see below). O
ne example of a Euro Western is the Anglo-Spanish film The Savage Guns (1961). S
everal Euro-Western films, nicknamed Sauerkraut Westerns[21] because they were m
ade in Germany and shot in Yugoslavia, were derived from stories by novelist Kar
l May and were film adaptations of May's work.
Fantasy Western[edit]
Fantasy Westerns mixed in fantasy settings and themes, and may include Fantasy m
ythology as background. Some famous examples are Stephen King's The Stand and Th
e Dark Tower series of novels, the Vertigo comics series Preacher, and Keiichi S
igsawa's light novel series, Kino's Journey, illustrated by Kouhaku Kuroboshi.
Florida Western[edit]
Florida Westerns, also known as Cracker Westerns, are set in Florida during the
Second Seminole War. An example would be Distant Drums (1951) starring Gary Coop
er.

Horror Western[edit]
A developing subgenre,[citation needed] with roots in films such as Billy the Ki
d vs. Dracula (1966), which depicts the legendary outlaw Billy the Kid fighting
against the notorious vampire. Another example is The Ghoul Goes West, an unprod
uced Ed Wood film to star Bela Lugosi as Dracula in the Old West.[citation neede
d] Recent examples include the films Near Dark (1987) directed by Kathryn Bigelo
w which tells the story about a human falling in love with a vampire , From Dusk
till Dawn (1996), by Quentin Tarantino deals with outlaws battling vampires acr
oss the border, Vampires (1998) by John Carpenter tells about a group of vampire
s and vampire hunters looking for an ancient relic in the west, Ravenous (1999),
which deals with cannibalism at a remote US army outpost; The Burrowers (2008),
about a band of trackers who are stalked by the titular creatures; and Abraham
Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012). Undead Nightmare (2010), an expansion to Red Dea
d Redemption (2010) is an example of a video game in this genre, telling the tal
e of a zombie outbreak in the Old West.Bone Tomahawk (2016) one of the most rece
nt entries in the genre received wide critical acclaim but, like many other movi
es in the genre, it wasn't a commercial success.
Curry Westerns and Indo Westerns[edit]
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The first Western films made in India - Mosagaalaku Mosagaadu (1970), made in Te
lugu, Mappusakshi (Malayalam),[citation needed] Ganga (1972), and Jakkamma (Tami
l)[citation needed] - were based on Classic Westerns. Thazhvaram (1990), the Mal
ayalam film directed by Bharathan and written by noted writer M. T. Vasudevan Na
ir, is perhaps the most resemblant of the Spaghetti Westerns in terms of product
ion and cinematic techniques. Earlier Spaghetti Westerns laid the groundwork for
such films as Adima Changala (1971) starring Prem Nazir, a hugely popular "zapa
ta Spaghetti Western film in Malayalam, and Sholay (1975) Khote Sikkay (1973) an
d Thai Meethu Sathiyam (1978) are notable Curry Westerns.
Takkari Donga (2002), starring Telugu Maheshbabu, was applauded by critics but a
n average runner at box office. Quick Gun Murugun (2009), an Indian comedy film
which spoofs Indian Western movies, is based on a character created for televisi
on promos at the time of the launch of the music network Channel [V] in 1994, wh
ich had cult following.[citation needed] Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam (2010), a
Western adventure comedy film, based on cowboy movies and paying homages to the
John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Jaishankar, was made in Tamil.
Martial arts Western (Wuxia Western)[edit]
While many of these mash-ups (e.g., Billy Jack (1971) and its sequel The Trial o
f Billy Jack (1974)) are cheap exploitation films, others are more serious drama
s such as the Kung Fu TV series, which ran from 1972-1975. Comedy examples inclu
de the Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson collaborations Shanghai Noon (2000) and its s
equel Shanghai Knights (2003). Further sub-divisions of this subgenre include Ni
nja Westerns (such as Chuck Norris' contemporary action film The Octagon (1980)
and Samurai Westerns (incorporating samurai cinema themes), such as Red Sun (197
1) with Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune.
Meat pie Western[edit]
The Meat pie Western (a slang term which plays on the Italo-western moniker "Spa
ghetti Western") is an American Western-style movie or TV series set in Australi
a, especially the Australian Outback.[22] Shows such as Rangle River (1936), Kan
garoo (1952), Mad Dog Morgan (1976), The Man from Snowy River (1982), and Five M
ile Creek (1983 85), and the theatrical film Quigley Down Under (1991) are all rep
resentative of the genre. The term is used to differentiate more Americanized Au
stralian films from those with a more historical basis, such as those about bush
rangers.[23]

Northwestern[edit]
The Northern genre is a subgenre of Westerns taking place in Alaska or Western C
anada. Examples include several versions of the Rex Beach novel, The Spoilers (i
ncluding 1930's The Spoilers, with Gary Cooper, and 1942's The Spoilers, with Ma
rlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott and Wayne); The Far Country (1954) with James Ste
wart; North to Alaska (1960) with Wayne; and Death Hunt (1981) with Charles Bron
son.
Ostern[edit]
Main article: Ostern
Osterns, also known as "Red Western"s, are produced in Eastern Europe. They were
popular in Communist Eastern European countries and were a particular favorite
of Joseph Stalin,[citation needed] and usually portrayed the American Indians sy
mpathetically, as oppressed people fighting for their rights, in contrast to Ame
rican Westerns of the time, which frequently portrayed the Indians as villains.
Osterns frequently featured Gypsies or Turkic people in the role of the Indians,
[citation needed] due to the shortage of authentic Indians in Eastern Europe.[ci
tation needed]
Gojko Mitic portrayed righteous, kind-hearted, and charming Indian chiefs (e.g.,
in Die Shne der groen Brin (1966) directed by Josef Mach). He became honorary chie
f of the Sioux tribe, when he visited the United States in the 1990s and the tel
evision crew accompanying him showed the tribe one of his films. American actor
and singer Dean Reed, an expatriate who lived in East Germany, also starred in s
everal Ostern films.
Pornographic Western[edit]
The most rare of the Western subgenres, pornographic Westerns use the Old West a
s a background for stories primarily focused on erotica. The three major example
s of the porn Western film are Russ Meyer's nudie-cutie Wild Gals of the Naked W
est (1962), and the hardcore A Dirty Western (1975) and Sweet Savage (1979). Swe
et Savage starred Aldo Ray, a veteran actor who had appeared in traditional West
erns, in a non-sex role. Among videogames, Atari 2600's Custer's Revenge (1982)
is an infamous example, considered to be one of the worst video games of all tim
e.
Revisionist Western[edit]
Main article: Revisionist Western
After the early 1960s, many American filmmakers began to question and change man
y traditional elements of Westerns, and to make Revisionist Westerns that encour
aged audiences to question the simple hero-versus-villain dualism and the morali
ty of using violence to test one's character or to prove oneself right. This is
shown in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969). One major revision was the incre
asingly positive representation of Native Americans, who had been treated as "sa
vages" in earlier films. Examples of such revisionist Westerns include Richard H
arris' A Man Called Horse (1970), Little Big Man (1970), Man in the Wilderness (
1971), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Dances with Wolves (1990) and Dead Man (19
95). A few earlier Revisionist Westerns gave women more powerful roles, such as
Westward the Women (1951) starring Robert Taylor. Another earlier work encompass
ed all these features, The Last Wagon (1956). In it, Richard Widmark played a wh
ite man raised by Comanches and persecuted by whites, with Felicia Farr and Susa
n Kohner playing young women forced into leadership roles.
Science fiction Western[edit]
The science fiction Western places science fiction elements within a traditional
Western setting. Examples include Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (19
65),The Valley of Gwangi (1969) featuring cowboys and dinosaurs. Westworld (1973
) and its sequel Futureworld (1976), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Wild Wi
ld West (1999), and Cowboys & Aliens (2011). The most well-known example would b

e Firefly, which aired in 2002 and was cancelled, to much dismay from fans, afte
r only one season. Fallout: New Vegas (2010) is an example of a video game that
follows this format, with futuristic technology and genetic mutations placed amo
ng the western themes and desert sprawl of the Mojave Wasteland.
Space Western[edit]
The Space Western or Space Frontier is a subgenre of science fiction which uses
the themes and tropes of Westerns within science fiction stories. Subtle influen
ces may include exploration of new, lawless frontiers, while more overt influenc
es may feature literal cowboys in outer space who use ray guns and ride robotic
horses. Examples include the American television series Brave Starr (which aired
original episodes from September 1987 to February 1988) and Firefly (created by
Joss Whedon in 2002), and the films Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), which is a
remake of The Magnificent Seven; Outland (1981), which is a remake of High Noon;
and Serenity (2005, based on the Firefly TV series). The classic western genre
has also been a major influence on science fiction films such as the original St
ar Wars movie of 1977. Famously Gene Roddenberry pitched the concept of the TV s
how Star Trek as a Wagon Train to the stars.
Spaghetti Western[edit]
Main articles: Spaghetti Western and Zapata Western
During the 1960s and 1970s, a revival of the Western emerged in Italy with the "
Spaghetti Westerns" also known as "Italo-Westerns". The most famous of them is T
he Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966). Many of these films are low-budget affair
s, shot in locations (for example, the Spanish desert region of Almera) chosen fo
r their inexpensive crew and production costs as well as their similarity to lan
dscapes of the Southwestern United States. Spaghetti Westerns were characterized
by the presence of more action and violence than the Hollywood Westerns. Also,
the protagonists usually acted out of more selfish motives (money or revenge bei
ng the most common) than in the classical westerns.[24] Some Spaghetti Westerns
demythologized the American Western tradition, and some films from the genre are
considered revisionist Westerns.
The Western films directed by Sergio Leone were felt by some to have a different
tone than the Hollywood Westerns.[25] Veteran American actors Charles Bronson,
Lee Van Cleef and Clint Eastwood[25] became famous by starring in Spaghetti West
erns, although the films also provided a showcase for other noted actors such as
James Coburn, Henry Fonda, Klaus Kinski, and Jason Robards. Eastwood, previousl
y the lead in the television series Rawhide, unexpectedly found himself catapult
ed into the forefront of the film industry by Leone's A Fistful of Dollars.[25]
Weird Western[edit]
The Weird Western subgenre blends elements of a classic Western with other eleme
nts. The Wild Wild West television series, television movies, and 1999 film adap
tation blend the Western with steampunk. The Jonah Hex franchise also blends the
Western with superhero elements. The film Western Religion (2015), by writer an
d director James O'Brien, introduces the devil into a traditional wild west sett
ing. Old Man Logan (2008-2009) graphic novel combines the elements of superhero
and post-apocalyptic fiction with western.
Western satire[edit]
This subgenre is imitative in style in order to mock, comment on, or trivialize
the Western genre's established traits, subjects, auteurs' styles, or some other
target by means of humorous, satiric, or ironic imitation. Examples include Car
ry On Cowboy (1965), The Hallelujah Trail (1965), The Scalphunters (1968), Suppo
rt Your Local Sheriff! (1969), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971), Blazing Sad
dles (1974), Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985), Three Amigos (1986), Maverick (1994), Qu
ick Draw (2013) and A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014).
Genre studies[edit]

Tom Mix in Mr. Logan, U.S.A., c. 1919

In the 1960s academic and critical attention to cinema as a legitimate art form
emerged. American Westerns of the mid 20th Century romanticize the ideas of loya
lty and virtue.[citation needed] Westerns of the late 20th Century possess a mor
e negative view of the early American frontier. With the increased attention, fi
lm theory was developed to attempt to understand the significance of film. From
this environment emerged (in conjunction with the literary movement) an enclave
of critical studies called genre studies. This was primarily a semantic and stru
cturalist approach to understanding how similar films convey meaning.
One of the results of genre studies is that some[who?] have argued that "Western
s" need not take place in the American West or even in the 19th century, as the
codes can be found in other types of films. For example, a very typical Western
plot is that an eastern lawman heads west, where he matches wits and trades bull
ets with a gang of outlaws and thugs, and is aided by a local lawman who is well
-meaning but largely ineffective until a critical moment when he redeems himself
by saving the hero's life. This description can be used to describe any number
of Westerns, but also other films such as Die Hard (itself a loose reworking of
High Noon), Top Gun, and Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai which are frequently cit
ed examples of films that do not take place in the American West but have many t
hemes and characteristics common to Westerns. Likewise, films set in the America
n Old West may not necessarily be considered "Westerns."
Influences[edit]
Being period drama pieces, both the Western and samurai genre influenced each ot
her in style and themes throughout the years.[26] The Magnificent Seven was a re
make of Akira Kurosawa's film The Seven Samurai, and A Fistful of Dollars was a
remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo, which itself was inspired by Red Harvest, an Ameri
can detective novel by Dashiell Hammett.[27] Kurosawa was influenced by American
Westerns and was a fan of the genre, most especially John Ford.[28][29]
Despite the Cold War, the Western was a strong influence on Eastern Bloc cinema,
which had its own take on the genre, the so-called "Red Western" or "Ostern". G
enerally these took two forms: either straight Westerns shot in the Eastern Bloc
, or action films involving the Russian Revolution and civil war and the Basmach
i rebellion.
An offshoot of the Western genre is the "post-apocalyptic" Western, in which a f
uture society, struggling to rebuild after a major catastrophe, is portrayed in
a manner very similar to the 19th century frontier. Examples include The Postman
and the Mad Max series, and the computer game series Fallout. Many elements of
space travel series and films borrow extensively from the conventions of the Wes
tern genre. This is particularly the case in the space Western subgenre of scien
ce fiction. Peter Hyams' Outland transferred the plot of High Noon to Io, moon o
f Jupiter. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the Star Trek series, pitched his sh
ow as "Wagon Train to the stars" early on, but admitted later that this was more
about getting it produced in a time that loved Western-themed TV series than ab
out its actual content.[citation needed] The Book of Eli depicts the post apocal
ypse as a Western with large knives.
More recently, the space opera series Firefly used an explicitly Western theme f
or its portrayal of frontier worlds. Anime shows like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun and O
utlaw Star have been similar mixes of science fiction and Western elements. The
science fiction Western can be seen as a subgenre of either Westerns or science
fiction. Elements of Western films can be found also in some films belonging ess
entially to other genres. For example, Kelly's Heroes is a war film, but action
and characters are Western-like. The British film Zulu set during the Anglo-Zulu
War has sometimes been compared to a Western, even though it is set in South Af
rica.

John Wayne (1948)

The character played by Humphrey Bogart in film noir films such as Casablanca an
d To Have and Have Not an individual bound only by his own private code of honor has
a lot in common with the classic Western hero. In turn, the Western, has also e
xplored noir elements, as with the films Pursued and Sugar Creek.
In many of Robert A. Heinlein's books, the settlement of other planets is depict
ed in ways explicitly modeled on American settlement of the West. For example, i
n his Tunnel in the Sky settlers set out to the planet "New Canaan", via an inte
rstellar teleporter portal across the galaxy, in Conestoga wagons, their captain
sporting mustaches and a little goatee and riding a Palomino horse with Heinlein
explaining that the colonists would need to survive on their own for some years,
so horses are more practical than machines.
Stephen King's The Dark Tower is a series of seven books that meshes themes of W
esterns, high fantasy, science fiction and horror. The protagonist Roland Descha
in is a gunslinger whose image and personality are largely inspired by the "Man
with No Name" from Sergio Leone's films. In addition, the superhero fantasy genr
e has been described as having been derived from the cowboy hero, only powered u
p to omnipotence in a primarily urban setting. The Western genre has been parodi
ed on a number of occasions, famous examples being Support Your Local Sheriff!,
Cat Ballou, Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles, and Rustler's Rhapsody.
George Lucas's Star Wars films use many elements of a Western, and Lucas has sai
d he intended for Star Wars to revitalize cinematic mythology, a part the Wester
n once held. The Jedi, who take their name from Jidaigeki, are modeled after sam
urai, showing the influence of Kurosawa. The character Han Solo dressed like an
archetypal gunslinger, and the Mos Eisley Cantina is much like an Old West saloo
n.
Meanwhile, films such as The Big Lebowski, which plucked actor Sam Elliott out o
f the Old West and into a Los Angeles bowling alley, and Midnight Cowboy, about
a Southern-boy-turned-gigolo in New York (who disappoints a client when he doesn
't measure up to Gary Cooper), transplanted Western themes into modern settings
for both purposes of parody and homage.[30]
Literature[edit]
Main article: Western fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West, most comm
only between the years of 1860 and 1900. The first critically recognized Western
was The Virginian (1902) by Owen Wister.[citation needed] Other well-known writ
ers of Western fiction include Zane Grey, from the early 1900s, Ernest Haycox, L
uke Short, and Louis L'Amour, from the mid 20th century. Many writers better kno
wn in other genres, such as Leigh Brackett, Elmore Leonard, and Larry McMurtry,
have also written Western novels. The genre's popularity peaked in the 1960s, du
e in part to the shuttering of many pulp magazines, the popularity of televised
Westerns, and the rise of the spy novel. Readership began to drop off in the mid
- to late 1970s and reached a new low in the 2000s. Most bookstores, outside of
a few Western states, now only carry a small number of Western novels and short
story collections.[31]
Literary forms that share similar themes include stories of the American frontie
r, the gaucho literature of Argentina, and tales of the settlement of the Austra
lian Outback.
Television[edit]
Main articles: Television Westerns and List of TV Westerns

James Garner and Jack Kelly in Maverick (1957)

Television Westerns are a subgenre of the Western. When television became popula
r in the late 1940s and 1950s, TV Westerns quickly became an audience favorite.[
32] Beginning with re-broadcasts of existing films, a number of movie cowboys ha
d their own TV shows. As demand for the Western increased, new stories and stars
were introduced. A number of long-running TV Westerns became classics in their
own right, such as: Bonanza (1959-1973), Gunsmoke (1955-1975), Have Gun
Will Tra
vel (1957-1963), Maverick (1957-1962), Rawhide (1959-1966), Sugarfoot (1957-1961
), The Rifleman (1958-1963), The Big Valley (1965-1969), The Virginian (1962-197
1), and Wagon Train (1957-1965).
The peak year for television Westerns was 1959, with 26 such shows airing during
primetime. Increasing costs of American television production weeded out most a
ction half hour series in the early 1960s, and their replacement by hour-long te
levision shows, increasingly in color.[33] Traditional Westerns died out in the
late 1960s as a result of network changes in demographic targeting along with pr
essure from parental television groups. Future entries in the genre would incorp
orate elements from other genera, such as crime drama and mystery whodunit eleme
nts. Western shows from the 1970s included Hec Ramsey, Kung Fu, Little House on
the Prairie, and McCloud. In the 1990s and 2000s, hour-long Westerns and slickly
packaged made-for-TV movie Westerns were introduced, such as: Lonesome Dove (19
89) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. As well, new elements were once again added t
o the Western formula, such as the Western-science fiction show Firefly, created
by Joss Whedon in 2002. Deadwood was a critically acclaimed Western series whic
h aired on HBO from 2004 through 2006.
"As Wild felled one of the redskins by a blow from the butt of his revolver, and
sprang for the one with the tomahawk, the chief's daughter suddenly appeared. R
aising her hands, she exclaimed, 'Go back, Young Wild West. I will save her!'" (
1908)
Visual art[edit]
Main article: Artists of the American West
A number of visual artists focused their work on representations of the American
Old West. American West-oriented art is sometimes referred to as "Western Art"
by Americans. This relatively new category of art includes paintings, sculptures
, and sometimes Native American crafts. Initially, subjects included exploration
of the Western states and cowboy themes. Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russ
ell are two artists who captured the "Wild West" on canvas.[34] Some art museums
, such as the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Wyoming and the Autry National
Center in Los Angeles, feature American Western Art.[35]
Other media[edit]
The popularity of Westerns extends beyond films, literature, television, and vis
ual art to include numerous other media forms.
Anime and manga[edit]
With anime and manga, the genre tends towards the Science fiction Western [e.g.,
Cowboy Bebop (1998 anime), Trigun (manga serialized in 1996), and Outlaw Star (
manga)], although contemporary Westerns also appear (e.g., El Cazador de la Bruj
a, a 2007 anime television series set in modern-day Mexico).
Comics[edit]
Western comics have included serious entries (such as the classic comics of the
late 1940s and early 1950s[specify]), cartoons, and parodies (such as Cocco Bill
and Lucky Luke). In the 1990s and 2000s, Western comics leaned toward the Weird
West subgenre, usually involving supernatural monsters, or Christian iconograph
y as in Preacher. However, more traditional Western comics are found throughout
this period (e.g., Jonah Hex and Loveless).

Games[edit]
Western arcade games, computer games, role-playing games, and video games are of
ten either straightforward Westerns or Western Horror hybrids. Some Western them
ed-computer games include the The Oregon Trail (1971), Mad Dog McCree (1990), Su
nset Riders (1991), Outlaws (1997), Red Dead Revolver (2004), Gun (2005), Call o
f Juarez (2007), Red Dead Redemption (2010), and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2017). O
ther video games adapt the Science fiction Western or Weird West subgenres (e.g.
, Fallout (1997), Gunman Chronicles (2000), Darkwatch (2005), the Borderlands se
ries (first released in 2009) and Fallout: New Vegas (2010)).
Radio dramas[edit]
Western radio dramas were very popular from the 1930s to the 1960s. Some popular
shows include The Lone Ranger (first broadcast in 1933), The Cisco Kid (first b
roadcast in 1942), Dr. Sixgun (first broadcast in 1954), Have Gun Will Travel (fir
st broadcast in 1958), and Gunsmoke (first broadcast in 1952).[36]
Web series[edit]
Westerns have been showcased in short episodic web series. Examples include Leag
ue of STEAM and Red Bird.
See also[edit]
5-in-1 Blank Cartridges
AFI'S 10 Top 10
American Old West
American West
Boss of the plains
Cowboy
Dime Western
Golden Boot Awards
Gunfighter
History of Movie Ranches
History of United States continental expansion
Native American History
Native American history of California
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TV Western
List of film genres
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List of Western computer and video games
List of Western fiction authors
List of Western films
Western Writers of America
Earl W. Bascom
Frederic Remington
Charles Russell
Owen Wister
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d Newman, Kim (1990). Wild West Movies. Bloomsbury.
^ Jump up to: a b Cowie, Peter (2004). John Ford and the American West. New York
: Harry Abrams Inc. ISBN 0-8109-4976-8.
Jump up ^ Agnew, Jeremy. December 2, 2014. The Creation of the Cowboy Hero: Fict
ion, Film and Fact, p. 88, McFarland. ISBN 978-0786478392

Jump up ^ Adams, Cecil. "Did Western gunfighters really face off one-on-one?". S
traight Dope. Retrieved October 4, 2014. June 25, 2004
Jump up ^ "Wild Bill Hickok fights first western showdown". History.com. July 21
, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
Jump up ^ Indick, William. The Psychology of the Western. Pg. 2. McFarland, Aug
27, 2008
Jump up ^ "America's 10 Greatest Films in 10 Classic Genres". American Film Inst
itute. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
Jump up ^ McMahan, Alison; Alice Guy Blache: Lost Visionary of the Cinema; New Y
ork: Continuum, 2002; 133
Jump up ^ Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth, C
ambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1950.
Jump up ^ Indick, William. The Psychology of the Western. Pg. 2 McFarland, Aug 2
7, 2008.
Jump up ^ Gruber, Frank The Pulp Jungle Sherbourne Press, 1967
^ Jump up to: a b "No Soft Soap About New And Improved Computer Games". Computer
Gaming World (editorial). October 1990. p. 80. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
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of the American Western. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California
Press. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-520-25866-2.
Jump up ^ Fenin, George N.; William K. Everson (1962). The Western: From Silents
to Cinerama. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 47.
Jump up ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (June 26, 1996). "Acid Western: Dead Man". "Chicag
o Reader".
Jump up ^ Rashotte, Ryan Narco Cinema: Sex, Drugs, and Banda Music in Mexico's B
-Filmography Palgrave Macmillan, 23 April 2015
Jump up ^ p. 6 Figueredo, Danilo H. Revolvers and Pistolas, Vaqueros and Caballe
ros: Debunking the Old West ABC-CLIO, 9 Dec 2014
Jump up ^ "Contemporary Western: An interview with Vince Gilligan". News. United
States: Local iQ. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Greenspun, Roger (January 25, 1971). "Zachariah (1970)
Screen: 'Zachariah,' an Odd Western". The New York Times.
Jump up ^ Hate Horses - Official Trailer. YouTube. 2015.
Jump up ^ Brookeman, Christopher & British Film Institute (1993). The BFI Compan
ion to the Western. A. Deutsch. p. 118.
Jump up ^ Ross Cooper, Andrew Pike (1998). Australian Film 1900-1977: A Guide to
Feature Film Production. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 310. ISBN 01955
07843.
Jump up ^ "HOLLYWOOD". The Australian Women's Weekly. November 4, 1981. p. 157.
Retrieved December 28, 2011.
Jump up ^ Frayling, Christopher (1998). Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and European
s from Karl May to Sergio Leone. IB Tauris.
^ Jump up to: a b c Billson, Anne (September 15, 2014). "Forget the Spaghetti We
stern
try a Curry Western or a Sauerkraut one". The Daily Telegraph.
Jump up ^ "Cowboys and Shoguns: The American Western, Japanese Jidaigeki, and Cr
oss-Cultural Exchange". Digitalcommons.uri.edu.
Jump up ^ Kehr, Dave (January 23, 2007). "New DVDs: 'Films of Kenneth Anger' and
'Samurai Classics'". The New York Times.
Jump up ^ Crogan, Patrick. "Translating Kurosawa". Senses of Cinema.
Jump up ^ Shaw, Justine. "Star Wars Origins". Far Cry from the Original Site. Re
trieved December 20, 2015. December 14, 2015
Jump up ^ Silva, Robert (2009). "Future of the Classic". Not From 'Round Here...
Cowboys Who Pop Up Outside the Old West. Archived from the original on 2009-1213.
Jump up ^ McVeigh, Stephen (2007). The American Western. Edinburgh University Pr
ess.
Jump up ^ Gary A. Yoggy, Riding the Video Range: The Rise and Fall of the Wester
n on Television (McFarland & Company, 1995)
Jump up ^ Kisseloff, J. (editor) The Box: An Oral History of Television
Jump up ^ Buscombe, Edward (1984). "Painting the Legend: Frederic Remington and

the Western". Cinema Journal. pp. 12 27.

Jump up ^ Goetzmann, William H. (1986). The West of the Imagination. New York: N
orton.
Jump up ^ "Old Time Radio Westerns". otrwesterns.com.
Further reading[edit]
Buscombe, Edward, and Christopher Brookeman. The BFI Companion to the Western (A
. Deutsch, 1988); BFI = British Film Institute
Everson, William K. A pictorial history of the western film (New York: Citadel P
ress, 1969)
Kitses, Jim. Horizons West: The Western from John Ford to Clint Eastwood (Britis
h Film Institute, 2007).
Lenihan, John H. Showdown: Confronting Modern America in the Western Film (Unive
rsity of Illinois Press, 1980)
Nachbar, John G. Focus on the Western (Prentice Hall, 1974)
Simmon, Scott. The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genr
e's First Half Century (Cambridge University Press, 2003)
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Westerns, Wild West in art and Na
tive Americans in art.
The "Classic Western Films DVD Set" contains 500 Classic Western Films
Most Popular Westerns at Internet Movie Database
Western Writers of America website
The Western,[dead link] St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, 2002
I Watch Westerns, Ludwig von Mises Institute
Film Festival for the Western Genre website
Takeoneinplease.com
[show] v t e
American Old West
[show] v t e
American folklore and tall tales
[show] v t e
United States Animation industry in the United States
Categories: Western (genre)American Old WestCulture of the Western United States
Film genresFiction by genreGenresWestern United States in fictionWorks set in th
e 19th century
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