Abstract
ABSTRACT The essay examines three films that Hollywood director Delmer Daves made in the mid-1950s—Jubal, 3:10 to Yuma and Cowboy—all of which starred Glenn Ford. The pairing of Ford and Daves, the essay argues, allowed Daves to re-think the Hollywood Westerns of the 1930s and 1940s, especially regarding questions around gender identity and representation of genders, that of the Western man. In doing so, these three films present an anti-nostalgic view of the traditional mode of American Western masculinity as violent, non-verbal and threatening and instead embrace a version of American masculinity that is verbal, compassionate and considerate. Through a close analysis of the films, reviews of them and marketing, the essay demonstrates how Daves used his own family background to construct Westerns that featured more adult themes and addressing the larger societal concerns about the notion of American masculinity and manhood in the 1950s.
Published Version
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