Westerns: Reviews and Articles about Selected Films in the UC Berkeley Libraries












Listing of Westerns held by MRC
Movies, Race, and Ethnicity: Native Americans

Bibliography of works on John Ford
Bibliography of works on Sam Peckinpah
Images of Native Americans bibliography

Broken Arrow (Delmer Daves)

Aleiss, Angela.
"Hollywood Addresses Postwar Assimilation: Indian/White Attitude In Broken Arrow." "American Indian Culture and Research Journal 1987 11(1): 67-79.
The release of Delmer Daves's Broken Arrow in 1950 marked an abandonment of the traditional racism that dominated American films from Stagecoach to Union Pacific. Although John Ford led Hollywood efforts to destroy stereotypes, Broken Arrow is the first to portray racial equality, humane Indians, the universal values of justice, friendship, and tolerance, and an Indian hero." [from ABC-CLIO America History and Life]

"Broken Arrow: (Review) New York Times, (July 21, 1950), p. 15

"Broken Arrow: (Review) New Yorker, 26 (July 22, 1950), p. 45

Ceplair, Larry.
"Who Wrote What??? A Tale of a Blacklisted Screenwriter and His Front." Cineaste, vol. 18 no. 2. 1991. pp: 18-21.

Lenihan, John H.
"Classics And Social Commentary: Postwar Westerns, 1946-1960." Journal of the West 1983 22(4): 34-42.
"Western movies followed a standard model set by The Great Train Robbery (1903) until the precedent-setting The Outlaw (1943) and Duel in the Sun (1946). These movies were the first to offer a greater variety of story and character, and, together with films which had a psychological or social theme, became known as "adult Westerns." Red River (1948) dealt with postwar disillusionment, High Noon (1952) was a reaction to the McCarthy era, and Broken Arrow (1950) treated the subject of racial tolerance." [from ABC-CLIO America History and Life]

Magill's Survey of Cinema--English Language Films, first series
Edited by Frank N. Magill ; associate editors, Patricia King Hanson, Stephen L. Hanson. pp: 248-51. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Salem Press, c1980.
UCB Hum/Area PN1995 .M3 V.1-4 (C1980);
UCB Info Ctr PN1995 .M3 1-4)

Manchel, Frank.
"Cultural Confusion: Broken Arrow." In: Hollywood's Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film / Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor, editors. pp: 91-106. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, c1998.
Main Stack PN1995.9.I48.H66 1998
Moffitt PN1995.9.I48.H66 1998

Manchel, Frank.
"Cultural Confusion: Broken Arrow: A Look Back at Delmar Davis'Broken Arrow." Film & History 1993 23(1-4): 57-69.
"Once heralded as a sympathetic and positive Hollywood portrayal of American Indians, the film Broken Arrow (1950) actually distorts many elements of the historical record, including Apache culture and relations between Indians and whites." [from ABC-CLIO America History and Life]

Tuska, Jon.
The Filming of the West. 1st ed. pp: 533-4. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976.
UCB Main PN1995.9.W4 T81
UCB Moffitt PN1995.9.W4 T8

Umland, Sam.
"The Representation of the Native American in the Hollywood Western." Platte Valley Review, vol. 19 no. 1. 1991 Winter. pp: 49-70.

Buffalo Bill and the Indians (Robert Altman)

Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray)

See Nicholas Ray bibliography

Ride the High Country (Sam Peckinpah)

See Sam Peckinpah bibliography

High Noon

Allison, Deborah
"'Do Not Forsake Me: The Ballad of High Noon' and the Rise of the Movie Theme Song." Senses of Cinema: An Online Film Journal Devoted to the Serious and Eclectic Discussion of Cinema, vol. 28, pp. (no pagination), September 2003

Barsness, J. A.
"High noon." Film Quarterly v. 21 no. 1 (Fall 1967) p. 33-7

Blake, Michael F.
Code of honor : the making of three great American westerns-- High Noon, Shane, and The searchers Lanham : Taylor Trade Pub., c2003.
PFA : PN1995.9.W4 B58 2003

Byman, Jeremy
Showdown at high noon : witch-hunts, critics, and the end of the Western / Jeremy Byman. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2004.
Main Stack PN1997.H484.B96 2004
Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0413/2004000190.html

Ceplair, Larry
"Shedding Light on Darkness at High Noon." Cineaste: America's Leading Magazine on the Art and Politics of the Cinema, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 20-22, Fall 2002
UC users only
"A comment on Lionel Chetwynd's documentary Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents. The documentary contends that Foreman was the auteur of High Noon--the 1951 movie produced by Stanley Kramer--as well as the genius behind all of the previously successful pictures produced by Kramer's company. Like other Hollywood studio employees at the time, Foreman was asked to cooperate with the Unamerican Activities Committee by apologizing for his political past and naming other members of the Communist Party. The documentary shows that when he refused to cooperate, Kramer forced him out of his company, deprived him of a producing credit, and then took credit for a film he (Kramer) had virtually disowned. Research shows that uncritical acceptance of Foreman's point of view by the documentary's makers led them to damn Kramer from the outset, and thus to not research his side of the story enough. Study of the entire Kramer-Foreman episode demonstrates that it resulted from conflicting yet not dishonorable loyalties and principles, as Kramer was not indifferent to the movie and did not take any credit." [Art Index]

Costello, Matthew.
"Rewriting "High Noon": Transformations in American Popular Political Culture During the Cold War." Film & History 33:1 [2003] p. 30-40
UC users only
Also In:
Hollywood's West : the American frontier in film, television, and history / edited by Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor. Lexington : University Press of Kentucky, c2005.
Main Stack PN1995.9.W4.H58 2005
Bancroft PN1995.9.W4.H58 2005

Fishman, D.
"The Cold War: three episodes in waging a cinematic battle." In: War and film in America : historical and critical essays / edited by Marilyn J. Matelski and Nancy Lynch Street. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, c2003.
Main Stack PN1995.9.W3.W35 2003

Folsom, J. K.
"High noon (1952)" In: Western movies / edited by William T. Pilkington and Don Graham ; ill. by Laura Butler. 1st ed Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, c1979
Main Stack PN1995.9.W4.W38

Foster, Gwendolyn
"The Women in High Noon (1952): A Metanarrative of Difference." Film Criticism, vol. 18; 19, no. 3; 1, pp. 72-81, Spring 1994
"Part of a special issue on Austrian-born film director Fred Zinnemann. The subversion of cliched female types in Zinnemann's Western High Noon is discussed. Classical Hollywood Westerns usually exemplify the homogenizing practices of dominant societal values, particularly as these values are applied to those marginalized by American patriarchy. High Noon is ultimately a complex split-narrative that elucidates the struggle of a white Quaker woman and a Mexican-American woman, who represent the marginalized in society. Unusually, these characters find common ground in speaking to each other as women, both take action in the narrative and power over their bodies, and neither is sacrificed. Zinnemann's depiction of women seems to suggest that emancipation from the thoroughly corrupt and valueless system portrayed will only be possible when women and men are willing to work together toward effective change." [Art Index]

Foster, Gwendolyn
"The Women in High Noon (1952): A Metanarrative of Difference." In: The films of Fred Zinnemann : critical perspectives / edited by Arthur Nolletti, Jr. Albany : State University of New York Press, c1999.
Main Stack PN1998.3.Z56.F56 1999

Garrett, George P. Film scripts. Edited by George P. Garrett, O. B. Hardison, Jr. [and] Jane R. Gelfman. New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1971
Main Stack PN1997.A1.G18

Graham, Don
"The Women of High Noon: A Revisionist View." Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 243-51, Fall 1980
UC users only

"High noon." Life v. 33 (August 25 1952) p. 73-4+

"High noon." The Nation v. 174 (April 26 1952) p. 410

"High noon." The New Yorker v. 28 (August 2 1952) p. 55

"High noon." Newsweek v. 40 (July 14 1952) p. 91

"High noon." Saturday Review v. 35 (July 5 1952) p. 29

"High noon." Time v. 60 (July 14 1952) p. 92+

Kroeber, Karl.
"Seeing and Imagining Ethical Crises: High Noon: Afternoon." In: Make believe in film and fiction : visual vs. verbal storytelling New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
Main Stack PN1995.3.K76 2006

Lerner, Neil
"'Look at That Big Hand Move Along': Clocks, Containment, and Music in High Noon." South Atlantic Quarterly, vol. 104, no. 1, pp. 151-73, Winter 2005

McReynolds, Douglas J.; Lips, Barbara J.
"Taking Care of Things: Evolution in the Treatment of a Western Theme, 1947-1957." Literature/Film Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 202-208, 1990

Palmer, R. Barton
"A Masculinist Reading of Two Western Films: High Noon & Rio Grande." Journal of Popular Film and Television, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 156-162, Winter 1984

Peterson, Wolfgang
"Wolfgang Peterson on High noon." In: Watching movies : the biggest names in cinema talk about the films that matter most / Rick Lyman. 1st ed. New York : Times Books, 2003.
PFA PN1993.5.U6.L96 2003
Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/hol031/2002032495.html

Prince, Stephen
"Historical Perspective and the Realist Aesthetic in High Noon (1952)." Film Criticism v. 18-19 (Spring/Fall 1994) p. 59-71
Main Stack PN1998.3.Z56.F56 1999
"Part of a special issue on Austrian-born film director Fred Zinnemann. Zinnemann's classic Western High Noon is examined. The writer discusses the film in the context of Zinnemann's European background and influences, his emphasis on socially-cognizant filmmaking, the resonance of the Will Kane character for Zinnemann, the importance of his contributions to the film's visual design, and the competing views of history at the heart of the film. He notes that the film's didactic seriousness of purpose achieves some distance from the entertainment formulas of studio filmmaking. He suggests that the emphatic nature of the historical debates in the narrative is a clear index of the film's close connection to the political turmoil of the period in which it was made and of the philosophical basis that might underlie an aesthetic of social realism. The behavior of the individual carries clear social consequences, he continues; the task of the artist, as Zinnemann understands it, is to dramatize these connections." [Art Index]

Prince, Stephen
"Historical Perspective and the Realist Aesthetic in High Noon (1952)." In: The films of Fred Zinnemann : critical perspectives / edited by Arthur Nolletti, Jr. Albany : State University of New York Press, c1999.
Main Stack PN1998.3.Z56.F56 1999

Rapf, Joanna E.
"Myth, Ideology, and Feminism in High Noon." Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 75-80, Spring 1990

Sinyard, Neil.
Fred Zinnemann : films of character and conscience / Neil Sinyard. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Company, c2003.
Main Stack PN1998.3.Z56.S56 2003

Weidhorn, Manfred
"High Noon: Liberal Classic? Conservative Screed?" Bright Lights Film Journal, vol. 47, pp. (no pagination), February 2005

The Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood)

Alleva, Richard.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Commonweal v119, n17 (Oct 9, 1992):21 (2 pages).

Ansen, David.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Newsweek v120, n6 (August 10, 1992):52.

Blake, Richard A.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) America v167, n6 (Sept 12, 1992):144 (2 pages).

Bowman, James.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) American Spectator v25, n10 (Oct, 1992):53 (2 pages).

Brod, Harry.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Tikkun v8, n3 (May-June, 1993):30.

Bromwich, David.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) New Leader v76, n8 (June 14, 1993):20 (2 pages).

Broeske, Pat H.
"They finally made his day; to many, Eastwood's acclaim long overdue." (Clint Eastwood's movie 'Unforgiven' wins Oscars) Washington Post v116 (Wed, March 31, 1993):B1, col 5, 18 col in.

Canby, Vincent.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) (Living Arts Pages) New York Times v141 (Fri, August 7, 1992):B1(N), C1(L), col 1, 23 col in.

Corliss, Richard.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Time v140, n6 (August 10, 1992):66.

Deloria, Philip J.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) American Historical Review v100, n4 (Oct, 1995):1194 (5 pages).

Denby, David.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) New York v25, n33 (August 24, 1992):119 (2 pages).

Frayling, Christopher.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Sight and Sound v2, n6 (Oct, 1992):58.

Greenberg, Harvey R.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Film Quarterly v46, n3 (Spring, 1993):52 (5 pages).

Hamers, Alice.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) off our backs v23, n6 (June, 1993):18 (2 pages).

Johnson, Brian D.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Maclean's v105, n33 (August 17, 1992):50.

Kauffmann, Stanley.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) New Republic v207, n16 (Oct 12, 1992):36 (3 pages).

Klawans, Stuart.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Nation v255, n7 (Sept 14, 1992):258 (3 pages).

Pawelczak, Andy.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Films in Review v43, n11-12 (Nov-Dec, 1992):409 (2 pages).

Romney, Jonathan.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) New Statesman & Society v5, n220 (Sept 18, 1992):31 (2 pages).

Salamon, Julie.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Wall Street Journal (Thu, August 6, 1992):A13(W), A11(E), col 1, 10 col in.

Sinclair, Clive.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) TLS. Times Literary Supplement, n4669 (Sept 25, 1992):23.

Sragow, Michael.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) New Yorker v68, n25 (August 10, 1992):70 (2 pages).

Sterritt, David.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Christian Science Monitor v84, n183 (Thu, August 13, 1992):12, col 2, 22 col in.

Travers, Peter.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Rolling Stone, n637 (August 20, 1992):55 (2 pages).

Wall, James M.
"Unforgiven." (movie reviews) Christian Century v109, n28 (Oct 7, 1992):859 (2 pages).

Weinraub, Bernard.
"Clint Eastwood offers a revisionist Western." (completes movie 'Unforgiven') (Living Arts Pages) New York Times v141 (Thu, August 6, 1992):B3(N), C15(L), col 1, 32 col in.

The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)

See Sam Peckinpah bibliography

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