148. WESTERNS 101: The Silent Era

To kick off a new series of episodes that will give an overview of the history of the western genre, Alex and Jonathan start off by talking about three early western films from the pre-sound era: The Testing Block (1920), Sky High (1922), and The Iron Horse (1924). We discuss the development of both the themes and the action of the western genre, how the early westerns lacked many of the common tropes we expect in westerns today, and how John Ford set himself apart early as one of the great western directors. Skip to: (19:34) – The Testing Block (44:30) – Sky High (58:36) – The Iron Horse (1:25:26) – Overall (1:36:17) – Coming Attractions Coming Attractions: My Darling Clementine (1946) The Searchers (1956) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) For more information, visit the blog: https://thefilmlings.wordpress.com/2023/02/01/silent-westerns Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion: https://discord.gg/MAF6jh59cF