At a time when superheroes, franchises, and streaming dramas dominate popular entertainment, the Western can seem like a relic of another era. Yet Universal‘s retrospective at the MoMA demonstrates why these films remain essential to understanding both Hollywood history and American mythology.
The screenings are not simply a celebration of cowboys and frontier adventure. Instead, it traces the evolution of one of cinema’s foundational genres through the history of the studio that helped build it. From the earliest days of Universal City—where the Western street became the first permanent set on the lot—to the psychologically complex works of Anthony Mann and the genre’s later elegiac masterpieces, the series reveals how Westerns continually adapted to changing cultural anxieties and audience expectations.
‘Destry Rides Again’ (1939) Directed by George Marshall
Courtesy of NBCUniversal.
For much of the twentieth century, the Western served as Hollywood’s most flexible storytelling form. Questions of law and disorder, individual freedom, violence, morality, community, and national identity were all explored through stories set on the frontier. The genre provided filmmakers with a cinematic language that audiences immediately understood, allowing each generation to reinterpret the myths of the American West.
Among the many films in the program, several stand out as particularly influential milestones in the evolution of the Western. John Ford’s Straight Shooting (1917), one of the earliest surviving feature Westerns, helped establish many of the genre’s enduring conventions. Anthony Mann’s Winchester ’73 (1950) marked a turning point by introducing a darker psychological complexity with James Stewart in the titular role that would influence generations of filmmakers. The Far Country (1954) further refined Mann’s mature vision of the West, while Destry Rides Again (1939) remains one of the defining Westerns of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
‘The Last Sunset’ (1961) Directed by Robert Aldrich.
Courtesy of NBCUniversal
The series also charts the genre’s transformation and decline through revisionist classics such as High Plains Drifter (1973), Clint Eastwood’s haunting deconstruction of frontier mythology, and The Hired Hand (1971), a film about freedom, friendship, and the fading west directed and starring Peter Fonda.
Today, Westerns are no longer a dominant commercial genre, which makes their preservation and exhibition all the more valuable. Seen together, these films offer more than nostalgia. They provide a record of how American cinema evolved, how studios developed their visual styles, and how cultural myths are created, challenged, and ultimately reconsidered.
The Hired Hand (1971) Directed by Peter Fonda
Courtesy of NBCUniversal.
The Western may no longer be Hollywood’s frontier, but its themes, storytelling traditions, and visual vocabulary continue to shape the movies that followed.
MoMA will host a month-long screening series running from June 5 to July 3 in New York City.
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