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Melancholy in Hollywood Westerns, 1939-1962 Peter Falconer A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Television Studies University of Warwick Department of Film and Television Studies September 2010 i Contents List of Illustrations iv Acknowledgements vii Declaration x Abstract xi Introduction 1 Review of Literature 13 Introduction to Melancholy 59 Chapter 1: Violence 81 Colt .45 – Establishing the “Right” Relationship to the Gun 82 The Problem of Meaningful Violence 93 The Violent World 97 The Justifying Outrage 108 Violence, Genre and Tone 119 Picking up Guns 123 ii Monstrosity and Melancholy 134 Control and Honour 141 The Fair Fight 147 Chapter 2: Western Towns at Night 160 The Implicit Standard of the Gunfight 162 The Shooting in the Night-time Town, version 1: Pursued 164 The Shooting in the Night-time Town, version 2: Rio Bravo 170 The Shooting in the Night-time Town, version 3: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 178 Stagecoach – a melancholy sense of possibility 185 Chapter 3: Old Men 196 The Old Man and the Western Hero – background 197 Blood on the Moon – a moment of role-reversal 200 Stasis and Place 205 The West as an Old Place 212 The Hero and the Old Man’s World 214 Man of the West – the World of the Evil Old Man 220 The Evil Old Man and the Western Hero 223 Ride the High Country – Old Men, Heroism and Authenticity 230 Finding a Place where Old Men can be Heroes 234 iii Chapter 4: Music 243 Westerns and Popular Music 243 Time and the Title Song 246 Disjunctions and Clashing Conventions 254 Rancho Notorious – the Lost World 259 Establishing a Relationship to the Past 263 The Irretrievable Past 269 Johnny Guitar – Asserting Control and Coherence 276 Intensity and Isolation 280 River of No Return – The Impracticality of Melancholy 284 Conclusion 297 Bibliography 304 Filmography 317 Illustrations 321 iv List of Illustrations Fig. 1.1 – Colt. 45: the guns in their display case. Fig. 1.2 – Colt. 45: Brett’s wanted poster. Fig. 1.3 – The Gunfighter: Jimmy Ringo shoots Eddie, while still holding his drink in his other hand. Fig. 1.4 – Bend of the River: Laura listening to the calls of the “night-birds”. Fig. 1.5 – Winchester ’73: Lola tells Lin that she understands what the last bullet is for. Fig. 1.6 – Stagecoach: Mrs Mallory praying, unaware of Hatfield’s gun. Fig. 1.7 – Winchester ’73: the scuffed stock of the recovered rifle. Fig. 1.8 – Dodge City: Harry playing at being “a pretty desperate character.” Fig. 1.9 – Dodge City: a glimpse of the Sunday School picnic scene in an earlier montage. Fig. 1.10 – The Return of Frank James: revealing the gun. Fig. 1.11 – Destry Rides Again: Destry reacts to the death of Frenchy. Fig. 1.12 – Destry Rides Again: Destry listens to the children singing. Fig. 1.13 – The Return of Frank James: “Are you ready to meet your maker?” “I reckon so.” Fig. 1.14 – The Return of Frank James: Frank looming over the stage. Fig. 1.15 – Colt .45: the oddly static two-shot. Fig. 1.16 – Man With The Gun: Nelly cradles the wounded Tollinger. Fig. 1.17 – The Gunfighter: the silhouetted rider in the final shot. Fig. 2.1 – Pursued: Jeb hiding in the stable. Fig. 2.2 – Pursued: Jeb, still in the shadows after shooting young Prentice. Fig. 2.3 – Pursued: Grant Callum points a gun at Jeb from the alley. Fig. 2.4 – Pursued: Jake Dingle’s gun, revealed in the same shot to be pointed at Callum. Fig. 2.5 – Rio Bravo: Dude and Chance looking up the street at Wheeler. Fig. 2.6 – Rio Bravo: Wheeler coming down the street. Fig. 2.7 – Rio Bravo: Wheeler stepping into the sights of the hidden gunman. Fig. 2.8 – Rio Bravo: the hidden gunman up in the rafters of the saloon. Fig. 2.9 – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – Hallie in the kitchen doorway, watching Tom depart. v Fig. 2.10 – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Tom shoots Liberty Valance from across the street. Fig. 2.11 – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Ranse peering in through the window of the newspaper office. Fig. 2.12 – Stagecoach: “If there’s ever anything I can do for…” Fig. 2.13 – Stagecoach: “I know.” Fig. 2.14 – Stagecoach: Ringo and the Plummer brothers meet where the street narrows. Fig. 2.15 – Stagecoach: Ringo dives forward and fires. Fig. 3.1 – Blood on the Moon: Kris Barden in a gunfighter pose. Fig. 3.2 – Blood on the Moon – Barden given an iconic outline in a rear-close- up. Fig. 3.3 – Blood on the Moon: introducing Barden’s homestead. Fig. 3.4 – Blood on the Moon: Barden reacts to the news of his son’s death. Fig. 3.5 – Yellow Sky: the main street of the ghost town. Fig. 3.6 – Ride Lonesome: the main characters in the ruined Dobe Corral. Fig. 3.7 – Yellow Sky: Grandpa offers Stretch a drink. Fig. 3.8 – Blood on the Moon: Barden’s house at the end of the movie. Fig. 3.9 – Yellow Sky: Grandpa dozing in the saddle. Fig. 3.10 – Man of the West: Dock Tobin presiding over the fight between Link and Coaley. Fig. 3.11 – Man of the West: Dock up on the ledge, shouting down at Link. Fig. 3.12 – Man of the West: Dock coming down from the mountain. Fig. 3.13 – Man of the West: Link patting Billie on the hand. Fig. 3.14 – Man of the West: Coaley holds a knife to Link’s throat while Dock dozes in the background. Fig. 3.15 – Ride the High Country: Gil Westrum as “The Oregon Kid”. Fig. 3.16 – Ride the High Country: Steve Judd in the wilderness. Fig. 3.17 – Ride the High Country: Gil in the wilderness. Fig. 3.18 – Ride the High Country: the face-off in the Knudsen farmyard. Fig. 3.19 – Ride the High Country: Gil and Steve face the Hammonds. Fig. 3.20 – Ride the High Country: Steve falls out of the frame in the final shot. Fig. 4.1 – High Noon: Will and Amy Kane step forward to take their wedding vows. vi Fig. 4.2 – High Noon: “No, I couldn’t get anybody.” Fig. 4.3 – High Noon: the end of the crane shot. Fig. 4.4 – Wagon Master: the river crossing. Fig. 4.5 – A Walk in the Sun: the book as title card. Fig. 4.6 – Rancho Notorious: Altar Keane singing, smoking and looking bored in a flashback. Fig. 4.7 – Rancho Notorious: the face of an anonymous grizzled frontiersman. Fig. 4.8 – Johnny Guitar: Vienna lighting the lamps. Fig. 4.9 – Rancho Notorious: groups of older men sitting around doing nothing. Fig. 4.10 – Johnny Guitar: Vienna’s fringed leather gloves, worn on the buggy ride with Johnny. Fig. 4.11 – River of No Return: Matt Calder chopping down a tree in the opening shot. Fig. 4.12 – River of No Return: Kay Weston closes her eyes as she sings. vii Acknowledgements This project was funded by a Postgraduate Research Fellowship at Warwick University. I would first like to thank the University for providing this funding (and the teaching opportunities that came with it). I am also hugely grateful to Stella Bruzzi and Ed Gallafent for their instrumental roles in helping me secure the fellowship. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the friends and colleagues who provided more kinds of comfort, advice and practical assistance than I can list here: Becky Allen, Hannah Andrews, José Arroyo, Rosie Atwood, Martin and Lucy Basford, Eve Bennett, Rose Biggin (who suggested that my title should be ‘This Frown Ain’t Big Enough For the Both of Us’), Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, Anne Birchall, Mair Bosworth, Matt Briant, Bobby Bridgeman, Kostya and Emmy Bristow, David Broster, Charlotte Brunsdon, Jon Burrows, Chris and John Carter, Heather Charlton, Oli Copp, Fiona Cox, Paul Cuff, Jon Curzon, Gordon Drummond, Greg Frame, Oliver Gruner, Malini Guha, Stephen Gundle, Heather Hares, Elly Harrowell, Linzi Harvey, Stuart Haynes, Stuart Henderson, Ben Hickman, Alex Jacoby, Claire Jenkins, Wujung Ju, Neon Kelly, Mikel Koven, Ritesh Krishna, Owen Lake, Milly Lewis, Dean Love, Sergio Lussana, John Lyons, Becky Mahay, Anne and Eugene Mainwaring, Catherine March, David McGowan, Aileen McKenna, Tracey McVey, Chris Meir, Hayley Merchant, Barbara Mitra, Rachel Moseley, Richard Murphy, Celia Nicholls, Claire Nicholson, Santiago Oyarzabal, Holly Parsons, Victor Perkins, Victoria Perks, Adam Phillips, Alastair Phillips, Roy Pierce-Jones, Michael Pigott, Nic Pillai, Lydia Plath, Martin Pumphrey, Doug Pye, Denise Quinn, Mike Riding, Hannah Samuel, Otto Saumarez Smith, Laura Sava, Tom Steward, Dan Stirrup, Natalie Stone, Sarah Thomas, Dan Thompson and Zoë Brigley Thompson, Claire Trévien, Tim Vermeulen, Tom Voce, Rick Wallace, Helen Wheatley, Fran and Paul White, Mark Willetts, Oliver Wilson and Louise Zborowski. viii Particular thanks are also due to: My students at the Universities of Warwick and Worcester, who weren’t on the whole very keen on Westerns, but who were provocative, inspiring and lots of fun.