Westerns, at their hearts, are stories about heroes. The hero defeats the villains and saves the honest townsfolk using, not just his wits, but also his fists and gun. While the town doctor might be a brave, kind, smart man, in the mythical land of the West that is not enough to free him from oppression at the hands of gunmen stronger than he is. Violence and the barrel of a gun are the only language the men in black hats will understand, and even the fragile arm of the law can not touch them without a hero to back it up.
The situation presented in these classic Westerns is not reality of course, merely the byproduct of the rules that American mythology has set for itself. Just like the Arthurian hero must fight the black knight at the bridge crossing, the hero of a western must eventually shoot it out with the bad guy. Thus the notion of a “pacifist Western” has always seemed a bit conflicted to me since brute force wielded by a righteous hand is really the only possible solution when you are working within the mythological confines of the American Western and to say otherwise you are either setting yourself up for failure, or no longer making a “Western”. However, upon further reflection, I have come to realize that the pacifist Western is a far more worthwhile member of the “Western” genre than I had once thought.
When evaluating the Pacifist Western film genre (I am far more familiar with filmed Westerns than I am with the stories that spawned them and will thus focus on them for this post), perhaps it is best to start by attempting to figure out the filmmaker’s intent. Were they trying to say that there actually is a way to resolve the central conflict other than a violent denouement? Or were they attempting to show the futility of trying a nonviolent approach within the confines of their mythological setting? One would suspect that these pacifist Westerns were taking the latter approach since, in almost every case, the pacifist hero MUST resort to violence by the end of the film, negating every well reasoned non violent argument he stood for. One of the few real Westerns that I can think of where the pacifist hero does NOT resort to violence in the end would be Angel and the Badman, where John Wayne’s gunfighter learns to be a pacifist from the Quaker girl he falls for. Yet, though he doesn’t even use his gun the whole movie, he is only saved in the final shootout when the marshall shoots his assailants for him. Is it really a triumph of non violence if someone else had to shoot the bad guys anyway?
Of course, no one can say what a director’s true intentions were, but I will admit I have often been skeptical of the notion that every pacifist Western director actually intended for the delicious moral ambiguity of creating a well reasoned case for pacifism and then showing how futile it is anyway. Though if any of the pacifist Western directors were actually trying to show pacifism as a viable option I would say they failed for I have yet to see a Western that succeeds in this mission without deviating so far from the tenets of the genre that it is no longer a Western.
Not that an attempt at pacifism has no place in a Western. Westerns are America’s representative mythology after all, and what is more American than the uneasy duality between violence and peace, law and free will, good intentions and suspect methods? Other countries might not even question the violence, but in American mythology the non-violent approach is almost necessary to maintain the duality. The only difference between a regular Western and a pacifist Western is that the hero attempts to take the non violent approach rather than the town doctor or judge (the usual “voice of reason” in a western). Destry Rides Again is one film that almost manages to present the pacifist case from the hero’s viewpoint without compromise, but then you realize that he is only able to enforce order after a display of his shooting prowess, and by the end every woman in the town takes rolling pin in hand to charge the bad guy’s saloon (advocating the violence that Destry would not up to that point) while Destry finally straps his guns on and uses the skills we’ve all been waiting to see to shoot it out with the bad guy anyway.
This brings up another interesting aspect of the pacifist Western, the desire to see someone who has been holding back finally use their skills and kick some ass. You can see aspects of this in plenty of places other than a Western, everything from the Hulk to Yoda in the new Star Wars movies; there is nothing more satisfying to the viewer than to see a character that they know to be bad ass finally show what they can do. In The Big Country Gregory Peck is a “city boy” that goes out west to marry a frontier girl. When his unwillingness to play the games of machismo required to fit into frontier society shames him to everyone he makes a very good point to his girl about how it’s silly to play such macho games…and then goes on to secretly break the wild horse and kick Charlton Heston’s ass anyway (much to the viewer’s delight).
Of course, this element of machismo, while a large part of the delight found in watching Westerns, is not in itself very thematically compelling. But it is an added bonus when, after seeing how conflicted Clint Eastwood’s character is in Unforgiven at taking up his gun again, you finally see him in “Any man don’t want to get killed…better clear on out the back” mode. Thus, new layers of psychological complexity are added to what otherwise might have been a routine (though still quite enjoyable) film about kicking ass and taking names.
I think that at the end of the day, the thematically conflicted pacifist Western draws a great deal of its strength from how at odds its themes are. This is made abundantly clear in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a movie that reveals deeper layers each time I rewatch it. Jimmy Stewart is a lawyer who refuses to stoop to the level of frontier savagery that he sees around him. Yet, he ends up being forced into a gunfight with the villain Lee Marvin, who would have killed him if John Wayne hadn’t shot the Marvin at the last minute instead. Then, on the basis of the legend that Stewart killed Marvin, Stewart goes on to a political career that finally tames the West while Wayne dies forgotten. It is movies like this that show, not just the power of the American Western, but the complexity that can be found in the pacifist Western genre. Even if the filmmaker intended for their movie to be a condemnation of violence, if they stay within confines of Western mythology, something far richer emerges. A film with all the high points of a traditional Western along with a fascinating commentary on the notion of embracing peace even though it is an untenable goal. There is something very American about the idea of striving to reach an unrealistic ideal, and I mean that in the most positive way possible.
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Finally saw Liberty Valance. Compared to a non-pacifist film like Rio Bravo, it hardly holds a candle in my book from a pure enjoyment standpoint. It is hard to get my head around the notion of the traditional hero ends up dead in a box and the dandy easterner ends up with the prestige and the girl. The film itself is excellent from both a purely film stance and emotional view, but the concept of a western where the hero doesn’t win is so foreign to the traditional mythos of the west that is just rubs you wrong. Of course if you look at John Wayne as the hero who gave all to save the day and he won by doing those things then you could argue that the traditions were held in the film. Now if Jimmy Stewart would have come around and shot Lee Marvin in the knee caps then beat him to death with his own whip, decked John Wayne, and swept the girl off her feet, then I would have felt that it would have held true to the myth. As it was it just left me feeling disappointed that a great man like Tom Donovan would have to give up all of his happiness to keep the sissy boy from getting croaked so his girl could be happy. Admittedly I think that is exactly what the film was trying to get across; that and the concept of the wild west having to step aside so that progress could take place. Give me John Wayne whipping a guy across the mouth with a Winchester, or Clint Eastwood spitting a bid ol’ plug of chew on a dead guys forehead any day of the week over some sissy Yankee trying to decide if killing is the answer.
Have you seen Fort Apache? I wrote a blog post on it here. It is a very similar film to Man Who Shot Liberty Valance as far as the “print the legend” theme. It is an interesting idea, most of what we see in Westerns is exaggerated, but the heroic stories are important so every now and then Ford would make a movie showing “the real story” and then show how the facts were misrepresented so that the American people would not have their idea of a pure West tarnished. It’s a heavy idea and not without its flaws (do we really need the wool pulled over eyes?) but I do like how in Liberty Valance, Wayne’s character is every bit the hero, the fact twisting is to say that Stewart is too. Though I think the fact that Stewart “wins” in the end is more due to the inevitable march of progress you talked about…there was just no place for John Wayne’s type in the world to come so he had to step aside. That’s always a bummer about those Westerns set at the end of the West…you know those days are almost over.
All that said, Man Who Shot Liberty Valance doesn’t hold a candle to Rio Bravo! “You want that gun? Pick it up! I wish ya would!” (I wrote a review of that here too).
As I have mulled over Liberty, the film has definitely grown on me. Your points are very valid for the timing of the story and the heroism that Wayne portrayed. Rio is by far one of my favorites, if not the one. The glimpse of a group of men hanging around waiting for the inevitible and the interactions between them mixed in with plenty of Wayne being Wayne…can’t hardly beat it.
I haven’t been able to get a hold of a copy of Fort Apache yet from the Library. I wan to watch it before I read your post. Do you have a list of other westerns worth the time of watching? A top ten maybe? With the two kids I get to see a movie maybe once a month at best. Price you pay I guess.
Oh man, Top 10 Westerns? I should do a separate post for this some day, but off the top of my head:
1. Rio Bravo
2. Red River
3. My Darling Clementine
4. Stagecoach
5. Searchers
6. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
7. The Big Country
8. Once Upon a Time in the West
9. Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
10. Unforgiven
Of course the first six are from the same two directors (John Ford and Howard Hawks) so I’m a bit biased.
There are a lot of semi westerns I love (McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Misfits) but I tried to keep the list to “classic” westerns (even though the last three are a bit darker than a true classic western).
I have seen 1,2,5,6, & 10. 1, 2, and 5 are exceptional.
I am suprised by #10. I really didnt’ care for it when I first saw it, but it has been so long ago I can’t remember why. I also expected to see the Man with No Name trilogy as highly as you have spoken of it in the past. I will work through the list and let you know what I think.
Saw #5 again last night. Man it is a powerful film. The scene where Wayne comes upon the burned out house of his brother and sister-in-law was very well done. The look of shear fury on his face as he rides up over the crest of the hill and whips off the scabbard of his rifle, then the imagery of the camera being in the duggout with the dead and his stark silhouette against the burning house behind was very moving. Despite some overacting by his halfbreed ‘nephew’, there is very little to squabble about in this film. OK, the moron with the guitar was obnoxious, but that is what Ford wanted him to be to show just how much she settled. This continues to be an exceptional film no matter how many times I see it. Take this film off my top ten list…That’ll be the day! Next up for me are the Misfits and #3.
Yeah, I have similar squabbles with The Searchers…it really is an amazing film (and that may be John Wayne’s best performance) but some of the broader humor doesn’t seem to fit in such a serious movie. But I’m really just nitpicking…Searchers is Brilliant, and very complex.
I wrote a post related to it (and the misfits) here a long time ago: https://www.isleyunruh.com/?p=107
https://www.isleyunruh.com/?p=107
Saw Misfits and #3 this weekend. I am torn on #3. I enjoyed the film and the performance of the actors, but there is a huge part of me that just can’t stand Henry Fonda. He plays a good cool character in this, but I really struggle to see him as a strong lead. Part of it is residual distaste for his good for nothing Pinko daughter, but I still just don’t enjoy him in films. Part of it might also be that I still want to gut him for getting all of those good men killed in Fort Apache. I thought that Brennan’s performance was excellent and that Doc Holiday was done very well however I still am left searching for the “brilliance” that is associated with this film. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to jump out of my chair and kill me a Clanton when Brennan shot Virgil in the back, and I cheered when Morgan shot him down from the fence. Any film that evokes that sort of a response from me is well done in that respect. I just would not put it in the class of a Stagecoach or the Searchers.
The Misfits like you suggested was a whole other animal all together. It is hard to really classify it as a western at all. As a film however, I thought it was very well done. Clark Gable was exceptional, Marilyn was very good, and Guido was very compelling. As much as Marilyn gets flack for being just a pretty face, I really think this film showed her depth as an actress. I might even get laughed at for thinking that. Overall though, I can’t say that I really enjoyed the film. I am just not that interested in watching a film about a bunch of divorcés getting drunk and trying to “find themselves”. Sure it makes some good comments about life changing out from under you, but I just found myself not caring at all.
Next up for me is Once Upon a Time in the West and The Wild Bunch.
It’s tough to explain why I like My Darling Clementine so much. All the little scenes, stiffly dancing in the new church, balancing on his stool, the first showdown with Doc in the bar where he tries to make Wyatt drink…they are all just kind of pure cinema. If it helps, Henry Fonda was one of the most right wing conservative guys in Hollywood, his apples just fell pretty far from the tree. Not that I judge an actor based on their ideological beliefs. I actually read an essay that claimed My Darling Clementine was a film about conservatives (Wyatt, professional, man of the people) taming liberals (Doc, city learning, upper class).
Yeah, Misfits isn’t really a “Western”, but it is a very assured representation of the end of the west idea. That final horse roundup is great when you see how Gable is so desperately trying to hang on to what once was. And nothing wrong with liking Monroe’s acting…she’s actually one of my favorite actresses…even when she acts ditzy there is a genuineness about her that few actresses have…she’s great.
Wait till you see Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West…it’s not what you’d expect! 🙂
That does help some. By the time his apple hit the ground she was a Vietcong loving commie orange if you ask me, but that is neither here nor there and I agree that we probably shouldn’t let that sort of thing affect our enjoyment of films. I can see your points with the small details of Clementine. I enjoyed his casually sitting on the porch and his interaction with the girl from the east. All of the scenes where he interacted with the Clantons were really neat too. You could just feel the tension.
I also agree that the horse scene was the best part of the Misfits for me. You could see both the desperation of Roslyn to le the wild run free and of Gay as he held on to that mustang and brought him down one last time. That on top of his desperation to find his kids in his drunken state really built upon the sympathetic character of the old cowboy, but I just wasn’t buying it. Maybe I am just too blinded by making wages and being a responsible supporter of a family instead of a good for nothing old cowboy who ran out on his family to chase a dying dream. I am very glad to hear that I am not the only one who enjoys Marilyn for her acting in addition to her beauty. I have been accused of liking her acting in the same way as some men read adult magazines for the articles. She really is quite good.
My curiosity is piqued for Once Upon a Time in the West. I will let you know how I like it. Have a Merry Christmas!
Saw Once Upon a time in the West, the Wild Bunch, High Sierra, and Asphalt Jungle over Christmas break. A pretty fun mixed bag for a few days off work. For #8, you were right about me not expecting Fonda’s character to be like that. I enjoyed this film. The use of sound really stuck out to me. Each scene in the film was enriched by the sounds in each instance. The birds flushing before the family is killed, the harmonica throughout, but particularly with the girl at night, the heavy breathing of the cripple beside the pool of water with the ocean in the background, the sound of horses approaching and the train. It all built a very engrossing environment for the action of the film. The build up and conclusion to the harmonica player was very well done. The widow was compelling in her attempts to find a place for herself (and not get herself killed). Overall the film was very deep in a lot of ways and I feel like I need to watch it again to even get half of it.
The Wild Bunch was pretty much what it said. It was neat to see it in comparison with the Misfits as it was very much along the same lines of the west is ending let’s hold on while we can. I am torn as to whether I enjoyed this film. I think at just a first blush it was fun to watch, but I am just not sure how much it went past that for me. I mean it was pretty much senseless violence and some really cool guys going out in style. It had a little bit of a Rio Bravo feel from the camaraderie of men standpoint, but it was far from the wholesome characters of RB. I wouldn’t say it was a favorite for me, but it was fun to watch once.
The other two were just to take a break from westerns for a bit. Enjoyed them both. Next on my list of westerns to watch is the Shootist and the Westerner.
Nice, some awesome movies there! Yeah, that opening train shootout (“we’re one horse short”/”you brought two too many”) and especially the murder of the family are amazing in Once Upon a Time. I think my only minor complaint about that movie is that the middle section seems to drag a bit. Have you seen the Eastwood ones before that? (Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, Good the Bad and the Ugly) They are the same director and similar in style.
And yeah, those “end of the west” movies are always kind of a downer…the good ol days are gone and all that.
Asphalt Jungle is one of my all time favorites…there are actually some french heist films that are very influenced by it that I love too, you might check out something like Rififi if you don’t mind subtitles.
And I wrote a post about High Sierra a while back here. If you like those gangster films I can recommend a lot of good ones…the post goes over how High Sierra is the bridge between stuff like The Roaring Twenties and The Asphault Jungle.
The Shootist is quite good, great film for Wayne to go out on. And I’ve never seen The Westerner, but it has a great cast, director and cinematographer, so I’ll have to check it out (we’ll discuss!)
Man I had forgotten how good that first scene was. The guy with the crazy eyes and the slow wait and then harmonica getting off on the other side. What a scene! I have seen and own the Man with No Name trilogy. I thought that the director sounded familiar. All four of those films are good. I can really see the similarities now that you pointed that out to me. I will let you know what I think about the Shootist. I also grabbed Seven Samurai while I was there. Looking forward to both of them.
Saw the Shootist last night. It was excellent. It evoked a lot more emotion than I was expecting. You hit it on the head with it being a great movie for Wayne to go out on. Lauren Backal was very good and the chemistry btwn her and JB was very compelling. I even thought Ron Howard was a good character actor in it, and I typically have not enjoyed his work. This film had lots of great lines in it as well. “I am just a dying man afraid of the dark” was particularly memorable as it is pretty indicative of the state of most men when it comes right down to it.
My copy of the Westerner just got in at the library so I will let you know what I think soon on that one.
Yeah, and for anyone who still says John Wayne couldn’t act, The Shootist is one (of many of his movies) they should check out.
I just had the Westerner come in for me too at the library…meet you back here 😉
I finally had time to watch the Westerner this weekend. I would have to say that I was somewhat disappointed in this film. It had all of the acting firepower to be exceptional, but it just fell a little flat. I am starting to realize that I am not that big of a Gary Cooper fan. I thoroughly enjoyed Sergeant York, but in this one he just didn’t carry the film and have the presence of a prototypical western hero. The part was written such that he could have but he just didn’t seem to fit. Walter Brennan was excellent as always, but the part of Roy Bean was just kind of silly with all of the adoration of Lily Langtry and whatnot. I would have liked to have seen him be more of a true villain rather than kind of an immature self absorbed buffoon that the director clearly wanted us to feel for. I just couldn’t seem to connect with anyone in this film except for maybe the farmers who were being snuffed out by the corrupt ‘law’ of the time.
Next up for me I thought I would try and see a few of your gangster suggestions. Will be back to westerns soon I am sure.
Yeah, I felt pretty much exactly the same about The Westerner. Brennan was a hoot, but that character was still pretty despicable and it didn’t seem right to make him a loveable old doofus, especially with how seriously the scenes with the farmers were handled. The movie kind of wanted it both ways, funny and cute/ serious and deep, and ended up being a bit of a thematic mess. I thought the photography was great though, and there were enough good parts I was glad I watched it, just not one of the masterpieces.
Well since the last time we spoke I have seen several westerns. Some good, some really not very good. I saw my first Wayne film that I just really didn’t like: North to Alaska. It was just campy for the sake of being campy, and I just didn’t connect very well to any of the characters. I also saw Big Trail, Comancheros, Undefeated, and Seven Sinners.
Big Trail was neat from just a historical standpoint, and Wayne was pretty decent even in 1930. Not bad for a first big role. I did find myself fast forwarding through the 5-10 minute scenes of wagon trains walking across the prairie looking for trees. You might actually like that one!
Comancheros was fun even though predictable. It was still Wayne being Wayne and the good guys win.
Undefeated was an OK film, but the fact that it was set in 1864-65 and Wayne whipped out a Model 1894 saddle ring, big loop Winchester to fight off the Mexicans just bugs me to no end. Come on film maker. You aren’t even trying at that point. I did like the rough and tumble group of ex-Yankees coming to the rescue and you can’t ever argue with a film where the good guys get to kill the French.
Seven Sinners was really a Marlene Dietrich film with Wayne in it. She is really entertaining. I wish I could ask my Grandfather what he thought if her. She was a bit risqué for 1940. It is not a western, so I won’t go further here.
I know I have seen several more in the last month, but I can’t remember them for the life of me. Next up is 3 Godfathers, Pittsburgh, Jet Pilot, and the Conqueror. John Wayne as Genghis Kahn: that has to be good, right?
Heh, I actually did like the wagon train parts of The Big Trail. I was expecting it to be one of those low budget B movies, but it obviously had a pretty huge budget and I was really impressed with the Landscape photography.
Comancheros and Undefeated were fun (heh, and I didn’t have a problem with the rifles since I don’t know my guns…are you talking about the same kind of gun he had in Stagecoach where he did that badass “spin-cocking” thing with in the beginning? I think he used it in Rio Bravo too.
Yeah, I couldn’t get into North to Alaska either. For a silly Western, McClintock is so much better.
Haven’t seen Seven Sinners…Dietrich is pretty great, her and Wayne were in one called The Spoilers that was ok (it has a ridonkulous 10 minute fistfight at the end).
I also haven’t seen any of the ones you are planning on watching, you’ll have to let me know what you thing…I heard that Ghengis Kahn one was pretty bad (it’s apparently the movie that killed him (along with the smoking) since they filmed on radioactive dirt and most of the cast ended up with cancer later in life.
I did see McQ where Wayne plays Dirty Harry basically…it was actually kind of entertaining!
Well, you were correct about the Conqueror. It wasn’t as terrible as I was expecting, but it was still pretty bad. I spent half the movie laughing at his glued on whiskers and terrible toupee. There were a couple of scenes that I swear he lost half his mustache. Pittsburgh was pretty good. Wayne played a really excellent character who worked/schemed his way into everything he wanted only to realize he had hurt everyone else to get there. The only complaint I had for the film was the last 10 minutes turned into a WWII propaganda film and it left the film very incomplete. I appreciate the fact that in 1942 that is what America needed, but they could have done it without completely disrupting the flow of the film. Overall it was a decent movie to watch and helped to show a more complete body of Wayne’s work.
I also saw the Shepherd of the Hills. It co-starred Harry Carey and was pretty good. Both Wayne and Carey played excellent rolls. The end fight scene had a twist that I never saw coming. It was very well put together. I have heard the book is good too.
Still have Jet Pilot and 3 Godfathers to go. 3 Godfathers is a John Ford film, so I was surprised you had not sean it. Until next time.
Well, it has been a while since I had the time to sit down and watch a film, and I was finally able to catch Rio Lobo the other day while I was home sick. Definitely not the best Hawks film ever, but still fun. One thing I have noticed though is that Wayne’s later films are saddled by really poor supporting acting. The two primary support roles in this film were played by soap-opera level talent at best. If it wasn’t for the crazy eyed old man the supporting cast would have almost been a complete loss. Besides the fact that I am reallizing that I qualify in the ‘comfortable’ category now, I enjoyed the film as simply Wayne being Wayne and the good guys win.
Yeah, I remember the girl in Rio Lobo being especially laughable (and you are right, the old dude (Jack “crazy eye” Elam) was pretty good. One of the weakest Hawks films I’ve seen (though, like you said, not that it wasn’t fun).
I actually just saw a pretty good Howard Hawks film: The Thing From Another World. Didn’t have Wayne and wasn’t a Western, but it had a Rio Bravo/El Dorado/Rio Lobo “mismatched group under seige” feel to it. It was pretty fun!
I will have to try out the thing from another world. I did catch The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with Paul Newman this weekend. It had a great cast, and an excellent writer/director team, but I just couldn’t get into it. I can’t get over the ridiculousness of the Lily Langtree theme in either this film or in the Westerner with Walter Brennan. The end of the Newman version was good though with a very gangster film: everyone dies at the end of the era as they struggle to hold on to the past sort of thing (a carry over from some of John Hustons other films), but the rest of the film was too slow and had virtually no plot. I didn’t expect much from an early ’70s western, and I got about what I expected. I will have to get Cool Hand Luke again to restore my faith in Paul Newman films. This is the first of his earlier ones that I did not enjoy.
Have you seen Hud? Not really a western (just set in the modern day west), but its a good Newman film. Hombre is a decent Western from him too…not really essential though.
I will have to check those out. I haven’t seen them. What is your favorite film of his from any genre?
I’d probably say The Hustler. Followed by Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Hud (though it’s been a while since I’ve seen Hud).
I have minor issues with his popular stuff:
Cool hand – prison movies depress me
Butch & Sundance/The Sting – maybe a little too cutesy?