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Western Film

Since the beginning of cinema in the United States , there has been on genre of film which has been explicitly American - the Western . Though touched on by films in other countries , the Western film has been used for decades as the quintessential view into American ideals and lifestyles . Though this genre has not changed much in since its inception , stylistically , it has changed in its way of expressing and covering issues of American culture

Many clichys have arisen

out of the western film . The good guys wore white clothes . The bad guys ' wore black clothes . The lawmen were always on the side of truth and justice - and often portrayed as immensely stoic - if not immortal . Other clichys of the genre include the savagery ' of the Native Americans and the bravery , and justice displayed by every man in the position of right ' - IE . Marshals military men or even the unaffiliated heroes such as the Lone Ranger

One of the first movies to begin to break from this traditional view of the American west was the film High Noon . In this 1952 film , town marshal Will Kane , played by Gary Cooper , is told that a man from his past is returning to town with the intention of killing him - for putting the man in prison . Ian MacDonald 's Frank Miller is seeking revenge , and returning on the noon train

Though this motif was not original to the film , the manner of its characterization was . Marshal Kane 's first response to the news of Frank Miller 's return is to leave town and avoid the fight . Though his machismo will not allow for a cowardly escape , the film does illustrate the fear that plagues Cooper 's character

The dread that Kane feels throughout the film is compounded by the lack of support he receives from the townspeople . Despite being a beloved lawman for sometime - the movie takes place on the day of his retirement - the entirety of the town recommends that Kane flee for his life rather than face possible death as the hands of Miller . Throughout the film Kane attempts to garner , at least , moral support for his pending conflict however he finds - not even from his wife , who also tells him to flee

Howard Burton wrote , in 1953 , that High Noon was the return of the story of everyman ' as well as the final maturing of the western film as a genre . In Burton 's explication of the film , Kane is everyman Burton describes everyman as weak . He tries desperately to avoid meeting death , even attempting to delay death [ (Burton 83

The film , however , does not stray too far from the old ideal of the stoic hero , as Kane does face Miller . However , a change is noticed , as the hero acknowledges his mortality , as well as his ability to lose it This break from the norm would ripple throughout the decades - and eventually create a near-complete paradigm...