The Cowboy - AHC documentary

[Cusser]

I've partially watched the American Heroes Channel new documentary "The Cowboy".  This is about film western heroes, not trying to express the reality.  It's very good.

This lists the influential westerns film directors as John Ford, Kurasawa, Leone, and Eastwood.  This - from what I've watched so far - does an honorable job with Sergio Leone, even if some stills and clips shown were from a different Eastwood film than what was being discussed (but similar for some John Ford films).

For example, the "myth" of the lone cowboy riding away alone at the end (like in the Searchers, Leone films) really gained popularity because of TV westerns, where the lead had to survive to next week's episode with no entanglements for a fresh story.

There was fair amount of discussion about Leone's films being where the audience was actually on the side of the bad guy, even when he was out for just money.  Anson Mount raved about the beginning of Once Upon a Time in the West, too.

[dave jenkins]

For example, the "myth" of the lone cowboy riding away alone at the end (like in the Searchers, Leone films) really gained popularity because of TV westerns, where the lead had to survive to next week's episode with no entanglements for a fresh story.

I call BS on this. It was a staple of the genre long before weekly TV shows started using it. Of course, TV reached a lot more people than films ever did, so "gained popularity" isn't something one can dispute. But it's not much of a "fact."

[Cusser]

They said the movie serials also for this, called those serials kids' films, not serious.

[dave jenkins]

They said the movie serials also for this, called those serials kids' films, not serious.

Yeah, the serials were kinda pre-TV TV, so they're on firmer ground there.

[Cusser]

Second hour showed Lee Van Cleef as Jesse James from 1954  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0710947/, seemed like a pretty big role for him at the time, and also Bronson getting killed on Gunsmoke.