A Generic Bend of the River

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how in Anthony Mann's "Bend of the River", the outlaw hero, the supportive female, and the frontier setting define the film as a Western genre. In particular, the paper looks at how the setting is the important semantic unit to the arrangement of the plot and how within the two settings in Mann's film, we can see the thoughts and actions of the characters change accordingly. The paper also examines how, through an examination of the supportive female character, Laurie Baile, "Bend of the River" can be semantically and syntactically accepted into the western genre as it deals with the issue of independence versus community.

From the Paper:

"Likewise, within the two typical settings for the Western (frontier and city), Laurie, the female counterpart, is defined as an extension of that setting. Within both the wagon train and Portland, Laurie takes a submissive role. Her actions are determined by the male characters, Emerson Cole or Glyn. Her essential strength of the female character comes from this capriciousness and acceptance of ideologies that goes with these settings. "The western thus takes place on the border between two lands, between two eras, and with a hero who remains divided between two value systems (for he combines the town's morals with the outlaw's skills)" (Altman 31). It shows through travel that the two competing American values of individualism and community that conflict so often can be found between the acceptance of the two realities, wilderness and wildness. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Altman, Rick. "A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre." Film Genre Reader. ed. Barry Keith Grant. University of Texas Press, Austin, 1986.

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