Falconer, Peter (2010) Melancholy in Hollywood westerns, 1939-1962. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis uses the concept of melancholy to extend and develop the critical
understanding of the Western genre. It focuses on the various ways in which
Westerns made in Hollywood between 1939 and 1962 can be said to express
melancholy. It proposes that, during the period in which Western movies
were an important and popular part of mainstream film production, the
conventions of the genre were familiar and well-developed enough to permit a
wide range of sophisticated expressive possibilities. The complex and
ambiguous associations attached to the notion of melancholy make it
particularly suitable for demonstrating this.
The Review of Literature addresses the major perspectives through which
Westerns have been conceived and understood within Film Studies, and
assesses their relevance to the methodology employed in this thesis. It also
considers some of the wider contexts that will be employed in the discussion
of the genre and its conventions that will follow. The Introduction to
Melancholy establishes a fuller cultural, historical and intellectual context for
the particular focus of the thesis, and suggests some of its specific
applications in relation to Westerns.
The main section of the thesis is divided into four chapters. Each of these
examines a particular feature of the Western genre that can be used to
express melancholy. Chapter 1 discusses the conventions that are employed
to frame our understanding of violence in the genre. The melancholy
implications of these conventions, and the problems that arise out of them,
are considered in relation to a number of films from the period.
Chapters 2 and 3 deal with more specific and localised tropes which function
as melancholy reflections of other aspects of the genre. Chapter 2 looks at
the night-time town as an alternative melancholy space within the generic
world of the West. Aspects of the previous chapter’s discussion of violence
are developed in this context, through the detailed analysis of the use of the night-time town in Pursued, Rio Bravo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
and Stagecoach.
Chapter 3 examines the figure of the old man as a melancholy counterpart to
the Western hero. It demonstrates a long-standing connection between the
two character types within the genre, and investigates how this connection is
used to portray the hero in a melancholy light. The first half of the chapter
examines the melancholy relationship between the hero and old men as
supporting characters in Blood on the Moon and Yellow Sky. The second half
develops some of the same issues further in relation to old men in more
prominent roles in Man of the West and Ride the High Country.
Chapter 4 considers the use of music to express melancholy in Westerns. Its
particular focus is the Western title song, and the period of the early 1950s
when it came to prominence. More broadly, the chapter looks at the effects of
combining styles and conventions from Western movies and popular music,
and the ways in which this combination can produce melancholy. The films
whose title songs are examined in detail are High Noon, Rancho Notorious,
Johnny Guitar and River of No Return.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Western films -- History and criticism, Melancholy in literature
Official Date:	September 2010
Dates:	Date Event September 2010 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Film and Television Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Gallafent, Edward
Sponsors:	University of Warwick
Extent:	xii, 351 leaves : ill.
Language:	eng

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