The Evolution of the Western

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23767, 21 September 1940, Page 10 (Supplement)

The Evolution of the Western

In the beginning was the Western—a jerky, celluloid strip of cowboys, masked bandits, Indians, sheriffs, ana their posses, writes C. A. Lejeune, in the Observer. Time and time again in the past twenty years we have fancied that the Western was almost dead, and time and time again it has popped up, winded a bit perhans, but still lively, like its own miraculous heroes. Hollywood is shrewdly aware of the property America has in the Western, a unique property, unshared by any other country. It has never allowed this property to lapse. Whenever public interest seems to flag a little, whenever the straight cowboys-and-Indians appeal seem to pall, something is done to give the Western a now face. Cowboys become crooners. Colour touches up the sagebrush and the desert. History is raked for legendary bad men, Jesse Jameses and Geronimos and Billy the Kids, who can bring the bandit into the classic hero class % One Western was even made with midget 9 in the search for novelty, another with coloured actors. Westerns, from t>eing mere programme-fillers, have been raised to the rank of - big-budget films. Directors like John Ford are assigned to handle thorn. Cherished stars like Gary Cooper, Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn are encouraged to play in them.