Cowboys As Cold Warriors : The Western and U. S. History

by Corkin, Stanley

• ISBN13: 9781592132546
• ISBN10: 1592132545
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-06-01
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr

Summary

Though the United States emerged from World War II with superpower status and quickly entered a period of economic prosperity, the stresses and contradictions of the Cold War nevertheless cast a shadow over American life. The same period marked the heyday of the western film. Cowboys as Cold Warriors shows that this was no coincidence. It examines many of the significant westerns released between 1946 and 1962, analyzing how they responded to and influenced the cultural climate of the country. Author Stanley Corkin discusses a dozen films in detail, connecting them to each other and to numerous others. He considers how these cultural productions both embellished the myth of the American frontier and reflected the era in which they were made. Films discussed include: My Darling Clementine, Red River, Duel in the Sun, Pursued, Fort Apache, Broken Arrow, The Gunfighter, High Noon, Shane, The Searchers, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Magnificent Seven, The Alamo, Lonely Are the Brave, Ride the High Country, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Author note: Stanley Corkin is Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati and author of Realism and the Birth of the Modern U.S.

Author Biography

Stanley Corkin is Professor of English at the University of Cincinati.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
INTRODUCTION Westerns, U.S. History, and the Cold War	1	(18)
ONE Cowboys, Free Markets, Wyatt Earp, and Thomas Dunson: My Darling Clementine and Red River	19	(32)
TWO Melodrama and the Feminine Means to Empire: Duel in the Sun, Pursued, and Fort Apache	51	(43)
THREE Cold War Westerns and the Law of the Gun: Broken Arrow and The Gunfighter	94	(33)
FOUR Korea, Containment, and Nationalism: High Noon, Shane, and The Searchers	127	(37)
FIVE Modernization Theory, Political Discord, and Intervention: Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Magnificent Seven, and The Alamo	164	(41)
SIX Imperialist Nostalgia and the Road to Vietnam: Lonely Are the Brave, Ride the High Country, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance	205	(44)
Notes	249	(8)
Bibliography	257	(10)
Index	267