Other people... treasure memorable moments in their lives: the time one climbed the Parthenon at sunrise, the summer night one met a lonely girl in Central Park and achieved with her a sweet and natural relationship, as they say in books... What I remember is the time John Wayne killed three men with a carbine as he was falling to the dusty street in Stagecoach... Walker Percy, The Moviegoer
William S. Hart (1864-1946)
The Authentic West
I don't know how much the Western film means to Europe; but to this country it means the very essence of national life. I am referring now to the later frontier-- the frontier of the range and the mining camps, with all its youthful follies and heartbreaks and braveries that we know and love best. It is but a generation or so since virutally all this country was frontier. Consequently its spirit is bound up in American citizenship. William S. Hart, 1916
Broncho Billy Anderson (1882-1971)
The First Western Star
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Tom Mix (1880-1940)
Showmanship
Followers
The most interesting of the classic movie genres to me are the indigenous ones: the Western, which was born on the frontier; the Gangster film, which originated in the East Coast cities; and the Musical, which was spawned by Broadway. They remind me of Jazz: they allowed for endless, increasingly complex, sometimes perverse variations. When these variations were played by the masters, they reflected the changing times; they gave you fascinating insights into American culture and the American psyche. Martin Scorsese
Cahill, U.S. Marshal was released, starring John Wayne and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Here's the opening scene (with Greek subtitles, I think), courtesy of Youtube:
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