| Hollywood, Westerns And The 1930S: The Lost Trail Contributor(s): Stanfield, Peter (Author) |
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ISBN: 0859896943 ISBN-13: 9780859896948 Publisher: University of Exeter Press OUR PRICE: $32.67 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2001 Annotation: Hollywood, Westerns and the 1930s: The Lost Trail recovers the context in which Westerns were produced, exhibited and viewed in the 1930s. By examining why the American film industry produced Westerns in the 1930s and by locating these films within the history of Hollywood's production cycles and trends, Peter Stanfield reveals the limitations of previous studies. Instead of constructing a canon of isolated film 'classics', his research makes it clear that the hitherto marginalised 'B' or 'series' Western was central to the genre's history in this period. The study explains the effect that Hollywood's shift to synchronized sound had on the Western, and discusses the studios' huge financial investment in the epic Westerns of the early years of the 1930s. It traces the subsequent decline and resurgence in Western production in the mid-1930s, and examines the deluge of A-feature Westerns produced in the 1939-1940 cycle, including Stagecoach, Dodge City, Jesse James, Destry Rides Again, Union Pacific and The Oklahoma Kid. Challenging many of the conventional critical assumptions about the Western, including the firmly held opinion that it was principally aimed at male viewers, the book highlights the significance of female audiences, the role of independent exhibitors, and of censorship in shaping film production. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Performing Arts | Film - History & Criticism - History | Americas (north Central South West Indies) - History | Modern - 20th Century |
| Dewey: 791.430 |
| Series: Exeter Studies in Film History |
| Physical Information: 0.52" H x 6.24" W x 9.34" (1.05 lbs) 272 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1930's |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: For the first time, this book tells the 'lost' story of the 1930s Western. Written from a concern to understand Western films primarily as products of Hollywood's studio system, it recovers the context in which Westerns were produced, exhibited and viewed in the 1930s. Peter Stanfield highlights the hitherto marginalised 'B' or 'series' Western, the significance of female audiences, the role of independent exhibitors and of censorship in shaping film production. Includes illustrations from the following films: Arizona, The Big Trail, Billy the Kid, Cimarron, Destry Rides Again, Dodge City, In Old Arizona, In Old Santa Fe, Jesse James, The Lash, Let Freedom Ring, Oh, Susanna , Oklahoma Kid, The Plainsman, Ramona, Santa Fe Trail, Stand Up and Fight, Three Godfathers, Trail of the Lonesome Pine, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Union Pacific, Virginia City, The Virginian, The Westerner. |