What is a western movie, anyway?

What is a western movie, anyway?

Western is a genre of various arts incorporating Western lifestyle which tell stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, often centering on the life of a nomadic cowboy or gunfighter armed with a revolver and a rifle who rides a horse. Cowboys and gunslingers typically wear Stetson hats, neckerchief bandannas, vests, spurs, cowboy boots and buckskins (alternatively dusters). Recurring characters include the aforementioned cowboys, Native Americans, bandits, lawmen, bounty hunters, outlaws, gamblers, soldiers (especially mounted cavalry, such as buffalo soldiers), and settlers (farmers, ranchers, and townsfolk). The ambience is usually punctuated with a Western music score, including American and Mexican folk music such as country, Native American music, New Mexico music, and rancheras.

Westerns often stress the harshness of the wilderness and frequently set the action in an arid, desolate landscape of deserts and mountains. Often, the vast landscape plays an important role, presenting a "...mythic vision of the plains and deserts of the American West".  Specific settings include ranches, small frontier towns, saloons, railways, wilderness, and isolated military forts of the Wild West.

The First Western film

Justus D. Barnes in Western apparel, as "Bronco Billy Anderson", from the silent film The Great Train Robbery (1903).

Author and screenwriter Frank Gruber described seven plots for Westerns:

  1. Union Pacific story. The plot concerns construction of a railroad, a telegraph line, or some other type of modern technology or transportation. Wagon train stories fall into this category.
  2. Ranch story. The plot concerns threats to the ranch from rustlers or large landowners attempting to force out the proper owners.
  3. Empire story. The plot involves building a ranch empire or an oil empire from scratch, a classic rags-to-riches plot.
  4. Revenge story. The plot often involves an elaborate chase and pursuit by a wronged individual, but it may also include elements of the classic mystery story.
  5. Cavalry and Indian story. The plot revolves around "taming" the wilderness for white settlers.
  6. Outlaw story. The outlaw gangs dominate the action.
  7. Marshal story. The lawman and his challenges drive the plot.

Gruber said that good writers used dialogue and plot development to develop these basic plots into believable stories. 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 persona
    • The Sheepman (1958), with Glenn Ford poking fun at himself
    • Cat Ballou (1965), with a drunk Lee Marvin atop a drunk horse.
    • Blazing Saddles (1974)