Sue Matheson - Böcker

After a century of reinvention and, frequently, reinterpretation, Western movies continue to contribute to the cultural understanding of the United States. And Western archetypes remain as important emblems of the American experience, relating a complex and coded narrative about heroism and morality, masculinity and femininity, westward expansion and technological progress, and assimilation and settlement.In this collection of new essays, 21 contributors from around the globe examine the "cowboy cool" iconography of film and television Westerns--from bounty hunters in buckskin jackets to denizens of seedy saloons and lonely deserts, from Cecil B. DeMille and John Ford to Steve McQueen and Budd Boetticher, Jr.

Transmitting the crisis that Frederick Jackson Turner and Theodore Roosevelt feared when the frontier closed, the Western has returned to reveal a cultural watershed at work in twenty-first century America, revitalized with horror, terror and the peccant. Darkened and dystopic, contemporary Westerns point to a national bankruptcy, upending the notion that regenerative, civilizing impulses direct nation-building. Exploring films like Open Range (2003), Yah?i Bat? (2010), The Keeping Room (2015), Little Woods (2018), and First Cow (2019), as well as television series like Justified (2010-1015), Longmire (2012-2017), Westworld (2016-2022), and Yellowstone (2020 ), this thought-provoking collection examines re-constituted masculinities, feminine re-fashioning and new directions in Western filmmaking. Covering a wide range of aesthetic and thematic concerns, Return of the Western: Refracting Genre, Representing Gender in the Twenty-First Century reminds us how deeply this versatile genre is grounded in the American psyche.

Transmitting the crisis that Frederick Jackson Turner and Theodore Roosevelt feared when the frontier closed, the Western has returned to reveal a cultural watershed at work in twenty-first century America, revitalized with horror, terror and the peccant. Darkened and dystopic, contemporary Westerns point to a national bankruptcy, upending the notion that regenerative, civilizing impulses direct nation-building. Exploring films like Open Range (2003), Yahşi Batı (2010), The Keeping Room (2015), Little Woods (2018), and First Cow (2019), as well as television series like Justified (2010-1015), Longmire (2012-2017), Westworld (2016-2022), and Yellowstone (2020 –), this thought-provoking collection examines re-constituted masculinities, feminine re-fashioning and new directions in Western filmmaking. Covering a wide range of aesthetic and thematic concerns, Return of the Western: Refracting Genre, Representing Gender in the Twenty-First Century reminds us how deeply this versatile genre is grounded in the American psyche.

Explorers on Screen: Adventure! Danger! Romance! brings together essays that break new ground on films featuring explorers and adventurers from the Age of Exploration to the present. It focuses on fictional and dramatized representations, rather than biopics, as these create the most interesting reflections of the attitudes, ideals, aspirations and tensions at work in their eras of production and reception.It provides readers with the conceptual tools to more deeply consider the portrayals of these characters, both fictional and real, and the ways in which they shape and reflect key historical figures and moments. The volume’s essays offer interdisciplinary approaches from film studies, history, anthropology, philosophy and literature to bring fresh and complex perspectives to each chapter and the volume as a whole.

Responsible for some of the greatest films of the 20th century—The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, and The Quiet Man among others—John Ford was best known for motion pictures that defined the American West and the face of wartime military. A Hollywood celebrity, Ford lived his life against the background that Twentieth Century-Fox fashioned for him. As he did, the facts of his life merged with—and became inseparable from—his multifaceted legend, fostered by Hollywood’s studio culture and his own imagination.In The Westerns and War Films of John Ford Sue Mathesonoffers an engaging look at one of America’s greatest directors and the two genres of films that solidified his reputation.Drawing on previously unreleased material, this volume explores the man, the filmmaker, the veteran, and the legend—and the ways in which all of those roles shaped Ford’s view of America, national character, and his creative output. Among the films discussed here in depth are Ford’s early productions, such as The Iron Horse and Drums along the Mohawk, his military films, such as Submarine Patrol, The Battle of Midway, and They Were Expendable, and his Westerns, including Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, and Cheyenne Autumn. Ford imbued many of his creations with a point of view that represented his ideals, and the films discussed here illustrate their director’s distinct vision of American life on the frontier and in service of the country. That vision—Ford’s idealization of the American Character—would, in turn, shape the worldview of several generations. The Westerns and War Films of John Ford will appeal to critics and scholars, but also to any fan of this iconic filmmaker’s work.

As the Western matured, women’s roles became more complex and modern – transmitting a subtle cultural coding about the nature of westward expansionism, heroism, family life, manliness and American femininity. In Women in the Western, a range of international scholars explores the changing roles of women in the genre through case studies of classic films like Broken Arrow (1950) and The Searchers (1956), and contemporary films and TV series like Wind River (2017) and Justified (2010–15). Considering traditional and intertextual representations of women in the Western, the book charts the significant shifts in Hollywood’s transmission of gender values and expectations.

As the Western matured, women's roles became more complex and modern transmitting a subtle cultural coding about the nature of westward expansionism, heroism, family life, manliness and American femininity. In Women in the Western, a range of international scholars explores the changing roles of women in the genre through case studies of classic films like Broken Arrow (1950) and The Searchers (1956), and contemporary films and TV series like Wind River (2017) and Justified (2010 15). Considering traditional and intertextual representations of women in the Western, the book charts the significant shifts in Hollywood's transmission of gender values and expectations.

Although Americans are no longer compelled to learn Greek and Latin, classical ideals remain embedded in American law and politics, philosophy, oratory, history and especially popular culture. In the Western genre, many film and television directors (such as John Ford, Raoul Walsh, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann and Sam Peckinpah) have drawn inspiration from antiquity, and the classical values and influences in their work have shaped our conceptions of the West for years.This thought-provoking, first-of-its-kind collection of essays celebrates, affirms and critiques the West's relationship with the classical world. Explored are films like Cheyenne Autumn, The Wild Bunch, The Track of the Cat, Trooper Hook, The Furies, Heaven's Gate, and Slow West, as well as serials like Gunsmoke and Lonesome Dove.

The winner of four Academy Awards for directing, John Ford is considered by many to be America’s greatest native-born director. Ford helmed some of the most memorable films in American cinema, including The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, and The Quiet Man, as well as such iconic westerns as Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. In The John Ford Encyclopedia, Sue Matheson provides readers with detailed information about the acclaimed director’s films from the silent era to the 1960s. In more than 400 entries, this volume covers not only the films Ford directed and produced but also the studios for which he worked; his preferred shooting sites; his World War II documentaries; and the men and women with whom he collaborated, including actors, screenwriters, technicians, and stuntmen. Eleven newly discovered members of the John Ford Stock Company are also included.Encompassing the entire range of the director’s career—from his start in early cinema to his frequent work with national treasure John Wayne—this is a comprehensive overview of one of the most highly regarded filmmakers in history. The John Ford Encyclopedia will be of interest to professors, students, and the many fans of the director’s work.