Dr Tim Barnard

A/P  Ian Gordon

History

NUS

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GEM 2005 / HY2243

FILM AND HISTORY

Lecture 3

Shane! Come Back!

Shane (1953)
 

• Issue of change in how the past is viewed
  
  
• Issue of how we can view two films to understand changing perspectives of the past.

2. Versions of History

• Status Quo view
  
  
• Revisionist view

3. The Cowboy in History (c. 1870-1900)

• The American West
  
  
• Manifest Destiny
  
  
• Mining, New Towns, Ethnically diverse, Violence, “progress” of civilization
  
  
• Cowboys

4. The Cowboy in Popular Culture (1870-1950)

• Dimestore Novels
  
  
• Early Silent Films
  
  
• Wyatt Earp
  
  
• Cimarron (1931)
  
  
• John Ford/John Wayne
  
  
• Gene Autry/Roy Rogers
  
  
• High Noon (1952)

5. Shane

Basic Plot

Characters:

Shane (Alan Ladd)
Marian Starrett (Jean Arthur)
Joe Starrett (Van Heflin)
Joey Starrett (Brandon De Wilde)
Jack Wilson (Jack Palance)
Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer)

6. Things to Watch For…

How do these two films demonstrate changing understandings of a historical era?