Classic Hollywood Westerns

The following films are all available at the Media Center in Clemons.

The project here is to capture the ways in which american films, especially the classic western, can be seen as reacting to culture in which they were produced and consumed, as way of understanding their own times -- the Depression, WWII, and the Cold War --.

Choose a film from the list posted on my office door. Your task is to create a small site for your film. The site should include pertinent information about the film, director, studio, actors, date of release, plus a brief description of the film -- no more than 250 words.

The description is the real challenge here: it should give a sense of the plot of the film as well as of its cultural significance, as well as the ways in which it seems to reflect contemporary issues or values. The description should also provide you one or more "hooks," points at which you can link one or two short film clips to illustrate the points you're making. The clips should be no more than 2 minutes long, shorter if the point can be made in less time.

To help you get a fix on the western as a genre, please look at John Cawelti's essay, The Western from Adventure, Mystery, and Romance: Part I, Part II, and Part III.