The Encyclopedia of Westerns (The Facts on File Film Reference Library) - Softcover

Fagen, Herb

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9780816044573: The Encyclopedia of Westerns (The Facts on File Film Reference Library)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0816044570 ISBN 13: 9780816044573

Publisher: Facts on File, 2003

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Presents an alphabetical listing of western films, discussing information on production, cast, and crew, and offering a summary of the plot, and a critical analysis.

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About the Author:

Herb Fagen is one of the nation's leading experts on the subject of the Hollywood Western. He is the author of several books, including Duke, We're Glad We Knew You and Stand Tall, Pilgrim: The John Wayne Quote Book. Mr. Fagen also contributes articles on Western movies for publications such as Filmfax, Classic Images, and Movie Marketplace. He lives in Walnut Creek, CA.

From Booklist:

Western films endure even through the ebb and flow of their immediate popularity. This reference book covers more than 3,500 western films over the past 100 years. The author has tried to be as comprehensive as possible in listing feature films. He includes mainly sound productions and covers silent, serial, and TV films selectively. A few crossover titles, such as Hud and Oklahoma! show the Western influence.

Longtime western aficionado Fagen has written several books on this genre. Both Tom Selleck and Dale Robertson wrote prefaces for this volume, in support of westerns and their history.

A three-page introduction traces the history and main actors of western films. The body of the book consists of alphabetically arranged film titles. Each entry lists the credits. About half of the entries have only a sentence or two about the movie, but a few, such as the entries for High Noon and Shane, continue for two pages and include production notes, some plot summary and critical commentary, and quotes from critics, performers, and filmmakers. Series are cross-referenced. Writing is clear and usually positive. About 100 black-and-white captioned photos of actors and screen shots offer visual relief and information.

Five appendixes provide useful data: a one-page discussion and A-Z list of spaghetti westerns (noting date and director); a chronological list of western Oscar nominees and winners; a list of movies based on books; two supplementary chronological lists of silent and sound titles for which insufficient information or box office returns exist; and a selected bibliography. The index mainly cites names and film titles.

Though the book generally lacks depth, its broad base offers a good starting point for research on this genre. Recommended for film collections in academic and public libraries. RBB
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