Western Films: 1929-1939 - Page 5

This list is derived from The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: The Western. edited by Phil Hardy. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press, 1995. Less important films are relegated to Appendix 8 and are included in a list of those titles. Hardy elected not to include silent Westerns and said that the genre was in decline, a mixture of budget requirements and roaring twenties attitudes, until In Old Arziona brought music and hints of sexuality to the genre, setting off a small wave of prestige Westerns led by Oscar-winner Cimarron, while Overland Bound launched the B Western with Herbert Yates's Republic Pictures filling the demand that the major studios were largely ignoring. While Republic reigned supreme for the decade, it never reached the respectability for which Yates hoped, even with occasional prestige pictures, mocked as "Repulsive Pictures" and "Poverty Row" by successful actors. John Wayne escaped the B Westerns just as the genre began to reach critical respectability.