Occasionally in these pages, I am concerned with Western fiction, but only
in its relationship to what was filmed on the basis of it. THE AMERICAN WEST
IN FILM is principally preoccupied with the social and psychological aspects
of the systematic distortion and misrepresentation of our past and the possible
influence this common practice in Western films exerted, and continues to ex-
ert, on the national character of Americans, on their international image as per-
ceived by non-Americans, and, frankly, on the many potential dangers that may
arise from what can only be termed an habituation to falsehood. I realize that
this perspective is likely to spark controversy, because no one as yet has un-
dertaken to evaluate Western films in terms of their ideological contents. Yet
this is the best time to do it, when Western films are enjoying an unprecedented
resurgence via cable television and are even highly praised by religious groups
for their supposedly salutary morality. It is now even possible in many com-
munities in the United States to watch Western films twenty-four hours a day,
a situation which has not prevailed since the early days of television.

From the thousands of Western films which I have seen and on which I have
compiled notes, I have chosen in this book to discuss at any length what may
seem only a handful-although, in actuality, the number approaches several
hundred. I have tried in every case to select films which are representative, or
innovative, or adjudged by critics to be classics. Yet my ultimate purpose has
not been the critique of any specific Western film. Rather, as in my course,
"Images of the American West," which I have offered at a number of colleges
and universities particularly for primary and secondary teachers, my intention
is to provide the reader with the means to analyze and come to terms with the
structure, formula, and ideology of any Western film. This is not the usual in-
tention behind a book concerned with cinematic art and, insofar as it is not, it
constitutes what I regard as the true uniqueness of my approach. The same holds
true for my selection of photo illustrations. I have been guided by my aim to
demonstrate the ideological contents of certain select Western films, rather than
by any other consideration.

Quotations from foreign languages, unless they be extremely brief, appear in
translation only, with the title of the book alone given in both the original and
in translation. Unless otherwise noted, all such translations are by myself. I
have found, while writing this book, that much valuable criticism of Western
films has been published in French but so far has not been made available in
English. The reader conversant in French is advised to seek out these references
as contained in the footnotes and the bibliography.

I am a firm believer in dating. Accordingly, the first time a book or period-
ical is cited, it is followed in the text with the year of publication, with the
exception of works originating in Classical Antiquity. Because the dating of
films is, in my view, even more important, each film is followed by the name
of the releasing company and the year of release. Once a book or periodical is
dated in the text, it is not dated again even when cited again. With films, how-
ever, although they are dated only once in any given chapter, if cited in a sub-

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