Mia Mask is a professor of film at Vassar College, where she holds the Mary Riepma Ross 1932 endowed chair of film. She has appeared on CNN's The Movies, the Smithsonian Channel, the Criterion Channel, and has provided commentary on National Public Radio. Her books include Poitier Revisited: Reconsidering a Black Icon in the Obama Age and Divas on Screen: Black Women in American Film.

"This is a book for movie buffs, Black history enthusiasts, and anyone who appreciates solid research and good storytelling." --Roundup Magazine "Richly researched. . . . This carefully crafted academic treatment will enhance library shelves." --Library Journal (starred review) "A unique take on a key genre of cinema." --Film Stage “Mask provides an insightful commentary on the Civil Rights era and its African-American-themed Westerns from today's perspective.”--Angela Aleiss, author of Hollywood's Native Americans: Stories of Identity and Resistance “An enormously useful tool with which to teach these films as a crucial part of the history of American cinema and images of the African American West in the classroom.” --Western American Literature

• Acknowledgments IntroductionFootball Heroes Invade HollywoodBlack Masculinity on Horseback: From Duel at Diablo to Buck and the PreacherBlaxplotation versus Black Liberation: The Charley TrilogyHarlem Rides the Range: Nobody Told You There Were Black CowboysWesterns and Westploitation: Brothas and Sistas at the O.K. CorralAppendix: Interview with Jeff Kanew NotesFilmographyBibliographyIndex

Mia Mask is a professor of film at Vassar College, where she holds the Mary Riepma Ross 1932 endowed chair of film. She has appeared on CNN's The Movies, the Smithsonian Channel, the Criterion Channel, and has provided commentary on National Public Radio. Her books include Poitier Revisited: Reconsidering a Black Icon in the Obama Age and Divas on Screen: Black Women in American Film.

"This is a book for movie buffs, Black history enthusiasts, and anyone who appreciates solid research and good storytelling." --Roundup Magazine "Richly researched. . . . This carefully crafted academic treatment will enhance library shelves." --Library Journal (starred review) "A unique take on a key genre of cinema." --Film Stage “Mask provides an insightful commentary on the Civil Rights era and its African-American-themed Westerns from today's perspective.”--Angela Aleiss, author of Hollywood's Native Americans: Stories of Identity and Resistance “An enormously useful tool with which to teach these films as a crucial part of the history of American cinema and images of the African American West in the classroom.” --Western American Literature

• Acknowledgments IntroductionFootball Heroes Invade HollywoodBlack Masculinity on Horseback: From Duel at Diablo to Buck and the PreacherBlaxplotation versus Black Liberation: The Charley TrilogyHarlem Rides the Range: Nobody Told You There Were Black CowboysWesterns and Westploitation: Brothas and Sistas at the O.K. CorralAppendix: Interview with Jeff Kanew NotesFilmographyBibliographyIndex

Mia Mask is a professor of film at Vassar College, where she holds the Mary Riepma Ross 1932 endowed chair of film. She has appeared on CNN's The Movies, the Smithsonian Channel, the Criterion Channel, and has provided commentary on National Public Radio. Her books include Poitier Revisited: Reconsidering a Black Icon in the Obama Age and Divas on Screen: Black Women in American Film.

"This is a book for movie buffs, Black history enthusiasts, and anyone who appreciates solid research and good storytelling." --Roundup Magazine "Richly researched. . . . This carefully crafted academic treatment will enhance library shelves." --Library Journal (starred review) "A unique take on a key genre of cinema." --Film Stage “Mask provides an insightful commentary on the Civil Rights era and its African-American-themed Westerns from today's perspective.”--Angela Aleiss, author of Hollywood's Native Americans: Stories of Identity and Resistance “An enormously useful tool with which to teach these films as a crucial part of the history of American cinema and images of the African American West in the classroom.” --Western American Literature

• Acknowledgments IntroductionFootball Heroes Invade HollywoodBlack Masculinity on Horseback: From Duel at Diablo to Buck and the PreacherBlaxplotation versus Black Liberation: The Charley TrilogyHarlem Rides the Range: Nobody Told You There Were Black CowboysWesterns and Westploitation: Brothas and Sistas at the O.K. CorralAppendix: Interview with Jeff Kanew NotesFilmographyBibliographyIndex