Henry Pelifian

The Hollywood Western is truly an American creation that epitomized the hardship to maintain and restore justice.  The inequality, greed and corruption were rampant in the Westerns of Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Tim Holt, Randolph Scott, Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea.  There are singular Westerns from actors who did not specialize in the Western genre but contributed to the great Western like Alan Ladd in Shane, Paul Newman in Hombre and Robert Taylor in Westward the Women and The Devil’s Doorway which shows the mistreatment and slaughter of the American Indian as well as John Ford’s Cheyenne Autumn depicting the cruel and abusive treatment of the American Indian.  Wagon Master directed by John Ford is among his best pictures, though less well known.   High Noon does not delve into the more usual aspects of criminality rather it depicts the town peoples’ unwillingness to support a retiring sheriff from the arrival of…