The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly part 1

On Friday when the class watchend the good, the bad, and the ugly, it wasn't my first time seeing the film, but it was the first time I realized how differant it was campaired to the movies of John Wayne, and the other cowboy movies of the mid 2oth century. The good the bad and the ugly broke many of the cowboy movie traditions that we talked about, and some that we didn't but i have noticed in my viewing of westerns. The sceen were angle eyes shoots the man through the pillow broke the rule about you couldn't have a gun fire and a person being shot in the same frame. This may not be a perfect example as the pillow was covering his head so we didn't see him actully being shot but his body was still visable and was thrashing around before the shots then went limp after them so as to give the impression of death. The second thing that i noticed was that the "good" was introduced last after all the other actors. This is a change because in most westerns the hero is introduced first or close to the begaing of the movie not 15 to 20 min into the movie.

Also i would like to ask the question why did the Italians make westerns, and why are other cultures around the world so intersted in Cowboys. I have my own ideas on this. Just like we as a culture are fasinated by the samuri of Japan, and the Knights of europe I think that that other cultures look at the cowboy the same way. It was something that they didn't have in there culture the cowboy is something that is unique to america and almost nowhere else so thats why people from other countries are so fasinatied by them.

fruther ideas for essays

Other ideas that i have for essays are the evolution of the cowboy. We started off reading dime novels that didn't really have a method on what a cowboy hero should look like or act. The perfect example is cali Joe he was dressed in all black but road a white horse. The lone ranger on the other hand dressed in all white and rode a white horse. The acts of the cowboy seemed to go in an ark through out the years. The cowboy starts out as an outlaw (cali Joe) and then moved onto the noble actions of the lone ranger and the singing cowboys then the cowboy devolves back into an outlaw with some of John Wayne's characters and with Clint Eastwood with his role in the dollars trilogy.
The second idea is a look at the cowboy code and the movie cowboys Vs. the reality of what history says happened.

Essay topics,

Well with an essay coming up I think that i have at leas three good topics for an essay. My first topic would am expose on the outlaw hero in westerns. For this topic I could use the examples of Cali Joe, ethan from the searcher, and clint eastwood in the dollars trilogy. The second one would be the attire of the western hero from the black garb and white horse of Cali Joe to the all white dress of the lone ranger, and the all black of zorro. The third and final topic is the question can some one make an original western any more, has it all been done and can the method be improved upon.

The Searchers. part 3

Well this movie ended in the way that i expected it to. They found her, she didn't want to go because she thought the indians were her family. Ethan got mad cut her out of his will, and gave all his things to Martin. Martin ends up fighting because his love is about to be married to another man. Ethan's crime almost gets him. The fight scar one final time. Ethan forgives Debbie and they ride happly into the sunset as the movies ends. This Is a typical ending for the typical western. I think that this movie could be used as a templet on how to make other westerns. It had all the things you think of when you think of a western. It had outlaws, loss of family, a love story, a singing cowboy, indians, mexicans, calvary men, and a happy ending. I'm not saying that this is a bad movie I am just saying it is nothing i haven't seen a hundred times before in other westerns. I think that i have become some what jaded to the whole movie genera in general, because i have seen so many. This movie though does help tie into some things i was thinking about doing a paper on,

The Searchers. part 2

With the second watching of the searchers I applaud the film makers for trying to add some complexity to the movie with the addition of the romance/ love triangle for martin. As an avid movie goer i can tell that this isn't going to end well for him and the others involved. The addition of the Comic and tragic figure Look was good at providing a break in the other wise tense feeling set by the directors. What makes Look such a tragic figure is that when the viewers find out she is dead the views feel only a little shock about the death but never sadness. As a flat character though could we really expect anything different. The directors give us a view of what the little girl could be like when the find her. We as viewers get this view when Ethan and Martin are in the fort looking at the girls that were brought back by the calvary, The way Ethan looks at them tells me that he is not going to be happy if he find his kin in the same condition. There is also the questions of race brought up in this segment. The border scenes with the Mexicans show how they were thought of in 1956 you had the drink with Ethan couldn't stomach, the food, and the dancer.

The Searchers.

The Searchers was a Movie made in 1956 staring Americas number one cowboy John Wayne.

This Movie starts off like most other westerns. Man returns home after a long time of war and wondering. When the man gets back not much has changed, but it seems that his return has started a chain of events that leads to the death and or kidnapping of his family while he is away. After the first showing in class I was dissapointed because I had high hopes for this movie, but after one viewing I can tell this is going to be a plain lets watch this guy run around and try to find his missing kin. My number one question with the movie is were did Ethan get all those gold coins. I know it will come back later near the end and we as the people watching the movie will find out that the hero has done some crime that makes him an outlaw hero.

John Wayne

First of all sorry it has taken me so long to blog just got my computer back on friday.

Coming into this segment about John Wayne I thought that i knew a lot about the man know as John Wayne. I grew up with a dad who enjoyed westerns so me and John Wayne had meet before. I had seen his work in classics like the Alamo and war wagon. With only knowing a few of the movies he worked on i dismissed him as just another famous actor playing cowboy. Come to find out i knew very little about the man know as John Wayne. Just a few of the things that I have learned have changed my view of the him. In my research I found out that John Wayne was not a real name it was a stage name used by Marion Mitchell Morrison. When I first found out this I got a chuckle because the most famous cowboy in American film was named Marion. Then I checked out his filmography I was amazed to find out he had participated in over one hundred movies. I having to sit through some of them as a child thought that I had at least seen most of them, but i was wrong I went and took a look at my dads old VHS's and I found out that I hadn't even seen half of the ones that my dad had. He had 60 tapes in all and looking through them I found 2 that really changed my view of John Wayne as an actor. Those two movies were sands of iwo jima and the longest day. These are two world war two movies that were award winning films back in the day. Wanting to know what these two movies were like I dug up the old VCR and hooked it up to the TV and took a look at the movies. Both of the movies are long but they are some of John Wayne's best work. These movies changed my view of him and gave me good feeling about the searchers.