Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Sidekicks in Western Movies : From the 1930's Through the 1960's

Westerns were a huge part of movies during the silent movie era and even more so beginning in the late 1930’s through the 1960’s. Westerns developed such great stars as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and Randolph Scott, and were instrumental in the careers of movie luminaries like James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Alan Ladd, Glenn Ford, and Clint Eastwood. Stars not normally associated with westerns - like Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, Robert Taylor, and Joel McCrea -also made a number of quality westerns. However, after the 1960’s, westerns dropped out of sight for several decades as movie westerns fell out of favor with the baby boomers. After all, we had more relevant concerns than what took place in the American west after the Civil War – Vietnam, social unrest, civil rights, equality, and women’s rights were just some of those issues that movies seemed to focus on. Who needed westerns with good guys and bad guys clearly differentiated? But in recent years, westerns have made somewhat of a comeback. Films like Unforgiven (Oscar winner for Best Picture), Tombstone, Dances with Wolves (another Best Picture Oscar winner), Open Range, and Silverado have brought a renaissance to the western, truly the most American form of films. Even an old west comedy like Blazing Saddles has helped bring the western film back into the limelight. Therefore, this book will concentrate on my personal favorites in three categories of westerns : 1. Good Guys (and one gal) 2. Bad Guys and Sidekicks 3. My all-time favorite western films – again, my own personal favorites. This book is dedicated to all fans of classic western movies from the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Not the serials, not the “B” westerns with stars like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy’s William Boyd, and Buck Jones, just to name a few; and not the great television shows like The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, or others. As good as those shows were, this book has a specific movie, not television, focus.