Hollywood produced more Westerns

For over forty years, from 1926 to 1967, Hollywood produced more Westerns than it did any other kind of film (American Cinema American Culture). During these years, roughly one-quarter of all Hollywood films were Westerns. Throughout its history, the Western has played a crucial role in dramatizing and recreating for successive generations of Americans the original experience of the Frontier, which shaped American character. High Noon (1952), a Western directed by Fred Zinnemann, is just one example of the characteristics, conventions, and innovations of the Western genre. Westerns portray one man up against another, usually ending in violence without any help from others. This characteristic is evident in High Noon. Will Kane, played by Gary Cooper, is at a personal war with Frank Miller, whom he sent to prison years earlier. he has no help from others since every citizen in the town of Hadleyburg finds reason to turn their backs on him. The Western hero is forged amidst the conflicting forces that characterize the formation of the Frontier (American Cinema American Culture). Will Kane struggles for survival, even losing his wife as she sides with the town. The cowboy hero, villain, and innocent wife are all evident in High Noon and in the Western genre. Westerns are both typical and innovative. High Noon follows the typical western genre with its cowboy hero, mentioned above. Other examples of typical westerns include saloon brawls, war paint, and beautiful landscapes. At times, studios used actual American landmarks for the background of pictures, instead of man-made. High Noon is also a pure of example of innovation. Director Fred Zinnemann shot the film in real time, so that its eighty-five minutes length corresponds to the storys actual time frame. Meanwhile, the clocks ticks off the minutes to ...