The Rifleman is perhaps the most significant and intelligent of the
TV westerns from the late 1950s - an era when the western was the
dominant television genre. With its story of a single father
raising a son in 1880s New Mexico, ""The Rifleman"" offered many
alternatives to the conventions of the western. It also embodied
many of the genre's contradictions, setting its ideas about
domesticity and level-headedness alongside the gun violence adopted
by westerns as central to the settling of the West and the creation
of America. With its initial episodes written and directed by
celebrated auteur Sam Peckinpah, and the overall series produced by
veteran Dick Powell and the pioneering television production team
of Jules Levy, Arthur Gardner, and Arnold Laven, ""The Rifleman""
is distinguished by its stewardship of some of the most talented
minds of early television. In his succinct study of this television
milestone, Christopher Sharrett uses television studies,
psychoanalytic criticism, gender studies, and American studies to
place ""The Rifleman"" within the TV western genre and early
television culture. While discussing the intelligence and lasting
value of this series, Sharrett also challenges the reader to
consider the broader role of 1950s television in shaping the
consciousness of the postwar generation. ""The Rifleman"" remains
one of the great examples of the stalemates within American mass
culture: the struggle between reason and violence.
General
Imprint: |
Wayne State University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
TV Milestones Series |
Release date: |
November 2005 |
First published: |
December 2005 |
Authors: |
Christopher Sharrett
|
Dimensions: |
178 x 127 x 9mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
128 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8143-3082-1 |
Categories: |
Books >
Arts & Architecture >
Performing arts >
Television
Promotions
|
LSN: |
0-8143-3082-7 |
Barcode: |
9780814330821 |
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