ABSTRACT
The western refers to one of the most important creations of American movies. The most compelling reason to support this claim is that the western genre helped create the myth of America. The American West's wide-open spaces and unsettled territories provide blank slates for persons to create new lives, even new personas. Successful screenplays are based on the emotional, physical and psychological conflict of characters in, for the most part; life-changing situations. The western is set apart because, unlike other film genres, it focuses on a certain period of history as well as a certain locale. The classic western takes place between the mid-1800s and 1890. Some film theorists may push the western back to the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 and even allow for the Mexican Revolution. An important element of the western is the use of the horse as the main mode of transportation. Horses represent freedom, man's connection to the unconquered terrain.
