The Crowded Prairie: American National Identity in the Hollywood Western (Cinema and Society Series) [Paperback]

Michael Coyne (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1860642594 | ISBN-13: 978-1860642593 | Publication Date: December 15, 1998

This fresh, stimulating book employs the Western as a vital medium for examining the many tensions--political, racial, sexual, social and religious--which have beset modern America from "Stagecoach" and the Depression's last years to the decline of the genre in the 1970s. Michael Coyne focuses on a group of great Westerns, showing how they engaged covertly with such thorny issues as miscegenation, labor-management relations, generational discord, codes of masculinity, the Cold War, McCarthyism, Vietnam, and the increasing individual social alienation.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Coyne (history, Univ. of Edinburgh) brings forth a bracing analysis of what he terms the golden age of Hollywood Westerns, from Stagecoach (1939) to The Shootist (1976). As the title suggests, he targets an academic or highly literate audience, for whom lingo such as "patriarchy" and "Manichacan" signifies much. Minimally, readers must be familiar with most grade A Westerns and television miniseries of the era. Coyne is well versed in this material, and the diligent reader will welcome his ability to emphasize his points through the judicious use of dialog, contemporary critics' reviews, and box office receipts. Equally appreciated are reevaluations of Duel in the Sun (1946), The Big Country (1958), and Warlock (1959). Films are placed in context to their times and each other, but more important, combed for subtexts that create or reflect American identity. Race, male supremacy, dysfunctional families, and Vietnam are all stirred into a stimulating soup. For all academic film collections.?Kim R. Holston, American Inst. for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Malvern, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Michael Coyne...heft[s] his pickax in search of intellectual nuggets...The Crowded Prairie's real strength lies in Coyne's passion. The Washington Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris (December 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860642594
• ISBN-13: 978-1860642593
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #898,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting analyses., July 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Crowded Prairie: American National Identity in the Hollywood Western (Cinema and Society) (Hardcover)

The author examines the Hollywood Western in its heyday, from Stage Coach (1939) to The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), to view the genre in its social, political, and cultural dimensions.
His approach is annoyingly Politically Correct (he finds objectionable the depiction of the West as having been conquered largely by white males, which of course it was), and the intrusion of conventional British class-consciousness may leave some readers cold, but his connection ,for instance, of Josey Wales to Vietnam is interesting, if unpersuasive.
The plots of the films are deftly summarized, but the reader is encouraged to view the films in conjuction with this text.
With filmography, bibliography, good index, and some of the poorest photo-reproduction this reviewer has seen.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical retings.)

0 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm a fan of the Lone Star state, February 16, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Crowded Prairie: American National Identity in the Hollywood Western (Cinema and Society Series) (Paperback)

The book was dedicated to John Wayne. Most historians dedicate their first book to their parents, but Michael Coyne takes another path.

Is this suggestive, (I think we should be told)

Continued on page 94