3:10 to Yuma

The two versions of 3:10 to Yuma differ greatly from one another. The later version, filmed in 2007, can be considered a revision of the original version, filmed in 1957. For example, in the original version, Dan Evans is a much more masculine character. He is very macho, which is typical of the alpha male cowboy. In the remake of the film, Dan’s character would not be considered the alpha male of the film because he appears as a much weaker man. In comparison to Ben Wade’s character, it is difficult to classify him as the alpha male. Instead, Wade takes on that role in the remake, even though he happens to be the outlaw. In both versions, Wade is playing a psychological game with Dan. He tries to charm Dan’s wife in both versions of the film, though he is much more charming with women in the original than in the remake. In the remake, he is also more aware of Dan’s relationship with his older son. Dan’s son doesn’t seem to have a lot of respect for his father because Dan can barely provide for his family, financially speaking. This is why in the remake Dan begs to take Wade to the train station in Yuma. He’ll get paid for his services, and he is ready to risk his own life in order to make some cash. The remake sends the message that men will do anything for money, which speaks for the time in which the film was made. In today’s society, that is the attitude that people in the United States often demonstrate. Our country is also much more violent today, which the remake shows with the increase of violence. The violence in the remake is at times over the top and totally unnecessary, but it says that our country is violent today and people enjoy seeing more violence in films.

The Unforgiven

The Unforgiven can be considered a revisionist Western film because ideas in the film are different than the ideas that traditional Westerns films present. The portrayal of the alpha male cowboy, Will, is significantly different from the portrayal of alpha male characters in more traditional Westerns. When the Schofield Kid offers Will to split a money reward for killing two men, Will turns to another ex-paid killer, Ned. Throughout the film, Will refuses to continue with the plan to kill the men without his companion by his side. This is not typical behavior of an alpha male, whom we are used to seeing live a life of solitude in films such as The Searchers. Another interesting thing about Ned is that he is African American, which would have made him an inferior “other” in earlier Westerns. In this film, however, he is never inferior to Will. Will also makes decisions guided by his emotions, which we rarely see in the alpha male cowboy. Will is obviously deeply affected by the passing of his wife, and he is emotionally connected to every decision he makes in the film. He has two young children to care for, and part of the reason he accepts the Schofield Kid’s offer is because the money will help support his family. He is always dwelling on his wife’s death, and we can read that emotion on his face. Traditional alpha male cowboys rarely show their emotions, which makes The Unforgiven a revisionist film in that respect.

Johnny Guitar/Two Mules for Sister Sara

In West of Everything, Jane Tompkins says, “Westerns either push women out of the picture completely or assign them roles in which they exist only to serve the needs of men” (Tompkins 39-40). This is certainly not true of Western films that present revisionist ideas about women, such as Johnny Guitar and Two Mules for Sister Sara. For example, Vienna, the lead character in Johnny Guitar, is a business-minded woman in a Western. She has a strong presence from the start of the film. She first appears on screen at the top of the stairs in her saloon when Johnny Guitar comes in to talk with her, establishing her power we see throughout the rest of the film. She is aggressive and strong-minded, and she doesn’t get along well with another woman in the film, Emma Small. The two women hate each other, and when Emma persuades the town to hang Vienna for her involvement with The Dancin’ Kid, Johnny saves her at the last second. Johnny’s presence in Vienna’s life brings her the strength to act as she does throughout the film; however, she still portrays a strong woman and she handles her own confrontation with Emma by killing her at end of the film. Vienna possesses the qualities of an alpha male, such as the ability to shoot, and she even dresses androgynously. Although Johnny Guitar is considered a classic Western, it certainly raises revisionist ideas about women.

Another film that doesn’t push a woman out of the picture is Two Mules for Sister Sara. At the beginning of the film, Hogan, a gunfighter, saves Sara from three men who are trying to rape her. Sara does not display characteristics of classic Western women because she isn’t what Hogan thinks she is. She is posing as a nun involved in the Mexican revolutionary movement against the French; however, she is really a prostitute with knowledge of the French fort. Sara is a smart, tough woman who is wise to play the victim in order to keep Hogan around. Some of her actions definitely cause Hogan to question what kind of a nun she is, because he is surprised to see her smoking a cigar and sneaking a drink of whiskey. It is obvious that she is liberated from men because she is able to successfully pose as a nun throughout the majority of the film. Although she keeps Hogan around for protection, Hogan ends up needing Sara just as much as she needs him at the end of the film. Hogan is clearly attracted to Sara, and they stay together after they successfully help the Mexicans capture the French fort. The way the alpha male cowboy relates to Sara in this film is very different from what we have seen in classical Westerns, which is why this film isn’t classified as such.

Unforgiven

When watching Unforgiven, it is clear that you are not watching a stereotypical western. The clearest indication of this is the alpha male cowboy, Munny. The stereotypical alpha male cowboy is usually ruthless in his struggle to survive, but is also clean cut, and looking for justice. In Unforgiven, Munny is clearly ruthless. However, he is anything but clean cut. He is a pig farmer, and looks like one. He is usually unshaved. In concerns of looking for justice, it is clear that the only reason Munny accepts the job is to get money. This is later proven when he sees the hooker that was cut. He was told that her face was tremendously disfigured, and that she was completely scarred. However, when he sees her, he knows that this was an exaggeration, and that she is only slightly scarred. He realizes that its not justice to kill the people who cut her, but continues anyways. Another way that Munny differs from the typical alpha male is that he is not associated with the law at all, and instead is a former bandit. He also is beaten by the town sheriff, who he in the end kills. This shows Munny’s complete disregard for the law, and his destruction of it. Another way that Munny differs is his alcoholism. While characters like Rooster Cogburn were shown to be alcoholics, and while some characters did frown upon drinking, it was never painted in as terrible a picture as Munny made. Munny made it clear that he could only do the terrible things he had done in this life because he was drunk. This is shown again by how he gets drunk before killing Little Bill and his posy. This view of alcohol paints the picture that it releases the monster, rather than the picture that it was a typical and mostly harmless part of the west, as was shown in many other films.
Another part of how Unforgiven is a revisionist western is shown by Munny’s sidekick. Ned Logan is black, and married to a native American. But, as a sidekick, he is treated as an equal. In The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, Pompey is Doniphon’s sidekick, but is never treated as an equal. He is the person who fetches something, or puts away the horses, but never someone who adds valuable information. In Rooster Cogburn, Wolf is shown in a more positive light as a minority sidekick, but is still a very flat character. He seems simple, never saying anything very insightful. Ned is the complete opposite of these characters. Ned is treated as an equal and a friend by Munny. Ned proves to be a character with actual emotions, shown by the pain he expresses when shooting someone. Although his death didn’t say too much about how race, it does paint a better picture of brutality in the west. In Red River, Dunson buried and said a prayer over the men he killed. In Day of the Outlaw, they make sure to bury Bruhns in respect to him. In Unforgiven, Ned is put on display. This blatent disrespect for a corpse is new to the films we have watched, and paints a picture of a much more brutal west.

Johnny Guitar, Two Mules

In Two Mules for Sister Sara and Johnny Guitar, we are given views of female characters that are stronger than typical portrayals of western women. However, these females are still portrayed as the “other” in the films, and continue to provide men with problems. The first of these problems is the need for being saved. Tompkins believes that westerns portray women as the weaker sex, and that women constantly need to be saved by the alpha male. In Johnny Guitar, we see the classic version of the male saving the female. When she is about to be hung, Johnny manages to swoop in and save the day. This is the typical way of thinking that females are always the people being saved, and bringing challenges upon the alpha male. In Two Mules for Sister Sara, we see a variation on this classic method. In the beginning of the film, Hogan does save Sara from the three rapists. He then also saves her from the French army. This follows the typical damsel in distress, making extra work for the alpha male stereotype. However, this stereotype starts to change when Hogan is shot by the Indians. On the ground, injured, Hogan is in a terrible position. The Indians are in the position to kill him. However, Sara holds up her cross, and one of the Indians is convinced to let them pass. Sara then helps pull the arrow out of Hogan, something he wouldn’t have been able to do on his own. By Sara saving Hogan’s life, the story is going completely away from the stereotype. The fact that both Sara and Hogan saved the other’s life promotes more of a mutually beneficial relationship than the one shown in Johnny Guitar.
Another clear way to show female characters creating a challenge for the alpha male in Johnny Guitar is the way that Johnny is dragged into a fight that he didn’t start at all. He had nothing to do with Vienna’s decision to open the saloon, or her plans to start her own town. Instead, Johnny must wander in to save the day. Johnny plays the knight in shining armor, coming in to finish a battle that he didn’t start. In Two Mules for Sister Sara, we start off with a similar situation. Hogan saves Sara from the French, which is a battle that he had nothing to do with. However, the situation then switches from Hogan helping Sara out in her battle, to Sara helping Hogan out in his. Hogan is trying to bring down the French garrison, and is helped along the way by Sara. She gives him the layouts of the garrison, tells him about the French holiday, finds out what the French are doing at the train station, climbs up the bridge to plant the dynamite, and gets Hogan inside the garrison. All of this help is for a battle that she didn’t start. This is another way that the film promotes much more of a mutually beneficial relationship between the alpha male and the female, compared to the one way relationship in Johnny Guitar.

Red River

In Red River, we see two main male figures, Matt and Dunson. In the beginning of the film, Dunson is clearly marked as the alpha male. However, as the film goes on, this title is questioned. Matt, who began the story, as a strong boy, ends the movie by becoming a strong alpha male. The presence of two alpha males seems new for a western film, but by looking at the actions of Dunson and Matt, it is clear that they both have the skill, ruthlessness, and grit for the title.
The film starts out with Dunson breaking away from the wagon train, leaving his love, and starting a new life. It is clear from the moment that he kills one of the two Mexicans who say the land belongs to their boss that he is both dangerous, and a man to respect. While running the wagon train, he shows the ruthlessness that Matheson describes as making a cowboy hardboiled. Dunson drives his men hard, kills anyone who disobeys him, and embodies the ruthless environment that he lives in. All these things make him the stereotypical alpha male.
When looking at Matt, it is clear that he does not start off as the alpha male. While he does have the talent, shown by him drawing faster than Dunson, he still plays a back seat to him. While he often doesn’t agree with everything Dunson is doing, it is clear that he is not willing to challenge him. Eventually, this starts to change. As the men become more and more restless, and rebelling against Dunson starts to quell up, Matt is forced from the alpha male’ apprentice to the role as the new alpha male. In the starting parts of the film, Matt was shown to be a hard cowboy, but never truly ruthless. This changes when Matt takes over the cattle against Dunson’s wishes. Matt sends an injured Dunson away, and takes his cattle. Matt does this to make sure that the cattle safely get to a place where they can be sold. By committing this ruthless act, Matt shows that he is adapting to his environment, with the goal of surviving in mind. Matt must be ruthless, and this involves going against the man who raised him.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

In The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, we are given a view of three male figures. The first, Stoddard, is an aspiring lawyer from the east. He is strong willed, but new to the west, and not built in the mold of the typical cowboy. The next, Doniphon, is a surly, older cowboy. He seems to care for justice and is inclined to doing the right thing, but at the same time is incredibly rough. The last, Liberty Valance, is a despicable, ruthless villain. He seems to lack any morals, and is quick with a gun. When looking at Matheson’s article, we clearly see that Doniphon and Liberty clearly match the hardboiled male belief, while Stoddard is obviously representative of changing times.
According to Matheson, the western setting is similar to a film noir setting. In film noir, the streets are dark and grimy, which reflects the dirty lifestyle that the characters live in. While the visuals in The Man who Shot Liberty Valance don’t quite reflect the ruthless world in which the cowboys live in, the world is still a dark and dangerous place. This is shown early in Stoddard’s flashback, where his stagecoach is robber by Valance. Stoddard witnesses an attempted robbing of an old lady, and is himself left for dead. This harsh world is exemplified by its criminals. Matheson talks about how callous and ruthless the criminals are, which is obvious in Valance. During the shootout scene between Valance and Stoddard, Valance tricks Stoddard, and gets in a quick shot before Stoddard realizes what is happening. This trickery goes along with Matheson’s belief that the best gunfighter might not always win, because it is the ruthless that survives in the harsh environment. In this sense, Matheson is completely correct in her assessment of villains, by how ruthless and merciless Valance is.
In the article, Matheson downplays the heroic nature of the alpha male. Matheson claims that the alpha male can’t always be the knight in shining armor, and must instead be as ruthless as the villains. Using this film, I completely agree with this assessment. Simply by looking at the shootout scene again, we see truth in this argument. Valance played a trick on Stoddard in order to get a cheap shot at him, and gain an advantage. This ruthlessness is expected from criminals. However, Doniphon also gets a cheap shot at Valance. By hiding in the dark, he gives Valance no chance. Doniphon doesn’t challenge him like Stoddard does. Stoddard tried to be honorable rather than ruthless, and that would have resulted in his death.
In the film, I do not believe that Stoddard is an alpha male. This is why he is not hardboiled. Stoddard is an idealist, believing that the west can be contained, and that law will prevail. He is also an idealist when it comes to morals. He challenged Liberty straight up to a fight, even when he knows he may lose. This may make him a good person, but it doesn’t guarantee his survival, like being ruthless would.