Any number of people who write about these matinee Western movies gets around to mentioning that they were morality plays, for the most part. That they were, and as such, they were cultural snapshots.
Others have written, for example, about the cultural esprit before my time, specifically around the time of the arrival of the 20th century. There was a cultural happiness and optimism that completely changed with World War I. One can sample that spirit in the dime novels of that era.
Although it did in no way concern Western movies, I got a real sample of a by-gone era a couple of months ago. Turner Classic Movies ran a 1926 short filmed feature which introduced the first sound to motion pictures and to the viewing public. The Vitaphone Corporation was the first out with sound on disk recordings, which coordinated with the action on the screen. This short selection was to run with Don Juan, starring John Barrymore, the first full length feature to have a sound track. That sound track was symphonic music, not dialogue. The short feature, however, did have talking, singing, and music.
What was astonishing about this short feature was what was considered important to present to movie goers. There were operatic selections, popular music, dance, instrument solos, and symphonic compositions. These were de rigeuer for the day. None of the musical crap that assaults one today. None of the singing banalities. None of the poorly talented demonstrating their inabilities as we seem unable to escape today.
Similarly, the "B Westerns" of the 1930s and 1940s reflected a cultural morality that has long gone.
More on that next.
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