ABSTRACT
The American movie audience had a long and fruitful love affair with the Hollywood western through much of the twentieth century. Directors in the sound era, such as John Ford and Howard Hawks, stars such as the singing cowboys Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, and box office mega-stars such as John Wayne, built their careers on the loyal and predictable American audience’s appetite for stories of the pioneer days of the American West. Audiences relished above all the satisfaction that came with knowing that the villain would be captured or killed, peace would be restored, order would replace disorder, and justice would prevail.
