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Dissertation Information for Andrew Brodie Smith

NAME:
- Andrew Brodie Smith

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Los Angeles (USA) (2000)

ADVISORS:
- Thomas S. Hines
- Norris Hundley Jr.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Nick Browne

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Shooting cowboys and Indians: Silent western films, American culture, and the birth of Hollywood

Abstract: This study revises conventional wisdom about the emergence of motion pictures, the establishment of Los Angeles as the center of American filmmaking, and the creation of popular screen images of heroic white men that so dominated American popular culture for much of the twentieth century. Historians have heretofore correctly looked to the silent era between 1894 and 1927 for the explanation of these developments but, in doing so, they have focused on the most commercially successful and technically and artistically innovative motion-picture firms of the first half of this period--Edison Manufacturing, Biograph Company, and Vitagraph Company. These businesses, however, were neither the leaders in the production of cowboy and Man pictures that popularized the stereotypical western ethnic and gender images nor the pioneers. in moving film operations permanently to the West. Using a wide array of primary source materials, my study demonstrates that these distinctions belong to Selig Polyscope Company, Essanay Manufacturing, and New York Motion Picture.

The westerns of these firms, and those of a dozen or more smaller and less influential manufacturers, dominated theater screens for much of the silent period. As the most heavily produced film, cowboy and Indian pictures were primarily responsible for the creation of the popular screen image of white men, and audiences and critics saw these characters as unique purveyors of American values. While the biggest manufacturers avoided the routine production of westerns, Selig, New York Motion Picture, and Essanay made such films weekly and so were in a special position to respond to the views of vocal fans, exhibitors, and industry reformers.

In its broadest sense, my study contributes to knowledge of the commercialization of the western past. By 1910, motion pictures had replaced dime novels and Wild West shows as the leading purveyors of popular images of the West. Therefore, knowledge of the medium is elemental to understanding how, in the context of market capitalism, Americans created dominant notions of regional history and identity as well as for understanding how these characterizations and stereotypes impacted the larger society as people sought to adopt, modify, or resist them.

MPACT Scores for Andrew Brodie Smith

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-09-11 21:34:37

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Students under Andrew Brodie Smith

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None