Books in French are on www.livres-cinema.info
Shooting Scripts
From Pulp Western to Film
by Bob Herzberg
(0 vote)Average rating:
| 0 | rating |  = We can do without |
| 0 | rating |  = Good book |
| 0 | rating |  = Excellent book |
| 0 | rating |  = Unique / a reference |
Your rating: -
Book Presentation:
In their heyday, pulp westerns were one of America’s most popular forms of entertainment. Often selling for less than 50 cents, the paperback books introduced generations to the “exploits” of Billy the Kid and Jesse James, brought to life numerous villains (usually named “Black” something, e.g., Black Bart and Black Pete), and created a West that existed only in the minds of several talented writers. It was only natural that filmmakers would look to the pulps for stories, adapting many of the works for the big screen and shaping the Western film genre. The adaptations of seven of the pulps’ best writers—Ernest Haycox, Luke Short, Frank Gruber, Norman A. Fox, Louis L’Amour, Marvin H. Albert, and Clair Huffaker—are analyzed here. Insightful and humorous, the work looks at how the pulp novels and the movie adaptations reflected the times in which they were produced. It examines the clichés that became a part of the story: the rescue of the heroine, the gunfights, the evil banker or rancher ready to steal the land of the good, law-abiding citizens, and the harlot with a heart of gold. A critical examination of how the books were interpreted—or frequently misinterpreted—by filmmakers is included, along with commentary on the actors and directors who put the pulps on screen.
About the Author:
Writer, actor and comedian Bob Herzberg is the author of scholarly books and Western novels. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Press Reviews:
"Detailed…excellent…fascinating…impossible to put down…fills a long-needed requirement…insightful…amusing…read and enjoy"—Wrangler’s Roost
See the publisher website: McFarland & Co
> From the same author:
Hollywood and the Military Bureaucracy (2021)
Depicting America's Fighting Forces at Their Best and Worst
by Bob Herzberg
The Left Side of the Screen (2011)
Communist and Left-Wing Ideology in Hollywood, 1929–2009
by Bob Herzberg
Subject: Countries > United States
The FBI and the Movies (2006)
A History of the Bureau on Screen and Behind the Scenes in Hollywood
by Bob Herzberg
Subject: Countries > United States
> On a related topic:
The Superhero Blockbuster (2025)
Adaptation, Style, and Meaning
Comics and Pop Culture (2019)
Adaptation from Panel to Frame
Dir. Barry Keith Grant and Scott Henderson
Hell-Bent for Leather (2025)
Sex and Sexuality in the Weird Western
by Kerry Fine, Michael K. Johnson, Rebecca M. Lush and Sara L. Spurgeon
French Westerns (2024)
On the Frontier of Film Genre and French Cinema
Back
