Western Films
Decades
1950s to 1970s: Conflict in the West
The Star System

By: Liat Fishman, Helen Cohen & Melissa Leithwood

There were two stars that defined this era, and one of them would move on to define western films in the late 20th century as well. They are John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, the latter produced Unforgiven in 1992.

Of the two, Clint Eastwood would go on to star in westerns past this decade of the 60's and into the 90's. The Man with No Name would become a Western anti-hero…additionally the “no name” character would add a new element to the Western genre. This new element not only proved evidence that the genre was evolving, but that a change in society had occurred and influenced the values of the Western genre:

“America's social turmoil during the late 1960's and early 1970's coincided with the emergence on the screen of The Man With No Name…Eastwood in the role of a cynical loner at a time when the mood of the country was shaped in much the same line of thought.” (McDonald 1987: 187)

“The Man with No Name was a Western anti-hero who had not yet been viewed by America moviegoers, and that made the character and the actor who played him a different kind of Western hero.” (McDonald 1987: 187)