Last night I was just bullshitting and my unqualified contention was that Jaws had done it (more on that later).
But having just spent some time with google, here are some other ideas I found--

What think you?


MEL BROOKS?
Blazing Saddles--the western/satire that killed the western for nearly a generation .
http://www.moviehabit.com

LEONE AND THE I-TALIANS?
Melville disapproved of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns. "They killed the western," he complained.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,985428,00.html
Leone's tributes killed the western with kindness, and the flood of spaghettis buried it.
http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=36

PECKINPAH?
In the two hours it took him to tell the story of Pat Garrett killing Billy the Kid, Sam Peckinpah killed the Western. There has been a handful of great Westerns since - The Shootist (Siegel, 1976), Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992), Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1993), - but none of them have significantly developed the genre or taken it anywhere near as far as the heart of darkness Peckinpah reaches in this, his last Western.
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/13/garrett.html

I've also heard Wild Bunch touted as both a grand success and death knell.

THE REVISIONISTS?
Could the revisionist movement have made audiences uncomfortable and the genre short to live? . . . Director John Ford, the artist largely responsible for many of the Western rooted formulas, arguably started this new movement in 1956, with The Searchers. The film starred John Wayne as a ruthless, racist, sexist loner holding tight to an ideology that was rapidly changing in the Old West. This trend of presenting the cowboy hero as unglamorous, crude, and jingoistic is one of the central elements of the revisionist western. Also included are authentic portrayals of unclean lifestyles, bloody commentaries on the nature of violence, and such motifs and themes presented from the point of view of more marginalized characters, including Native Americans and women.
allmovie.com

GOD VIA JOHN WAYNE?
John Wayne's last film was 1976's The Shootist. His death three years later coincided with the genre's fall.
http://www.thezephyr.com/monson/johnwayne.htm

BUTCH AND SUNDANCE?
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was the film that killed the Western, at least in the form it was known at the dawn of the 1970s, with 10-gallon hats, train robberies and showdowns at high noon."
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/review/58786

MR. CLINT EASTWOOD
With Unforigven, Eastwood . . . had made his statement on the ugliness and hypocrisy of the Old West and he apparently found nothing further to say. However, with John Wayne dead, no other star or producer was capable of providing a film western which could add anything or challenge Eastwood’s movie. In effect, Eastwood had killed the western genre after 90 years of American success.
http://www.thezephyr.com/monson/eastwood.htm

THE TV CONNECTION?
About Western TV, with parallels surely: Finally, yet another factor that may have killed the Western was simply changing times. The A. C.. Nielsen Company's demographics for December 1967 have much to reveal about the viewers who watched TV Westerns. No Westerns appeared in the Top Ten for children aged ten to eleven. . . . As far as age is concerned, only the Top Ten for Adults over fifty featured more than one Western: Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and The Virginian all appearing. In the mid-Seventies the vast majority of the population, and hence the vast majority of the television audience, was between the ages of 12 and 30-the people least likely to watch Western TV shows. In other words, the Western TV series may well have died simply because the younger TV audience simply did not watch them. With such a large segment of the population tuning away from Westerns, the genre could hardly expect to get high ratings on television.
http://users.cvalley.net/canote/west.html

JAWS?
Jaws (1975) killed the Western. The special effects- centered, modern tale and summer blockbuster that changed the way studios market and when they release, also changed what they market and release, i.e. Westerns on the decline. (me)


WHO ELSE?


add-on question:

With two apaprently well-received recent films to add to the genre's "Book of Condolences", will these little every-so-often, under-the-radar pop-ups be the trend? Or could the American public and the film industry ever embrace the Western as it once did?



the two films:

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419294/

The Prpostion (2005) as noted by okp actualfact
http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=6&topic_id=144040&mesg_id=144040&page=
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421238/

I'd be curious to read more.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/issue/200601
Sexual politics killed the Western argues Edward Buscombe as he surveys a fistful of films from the days when cowboys saw themselves as partners for life

Tresvantsyism killed the western as we know it.

Let's say Hollywood actually decided to start making Westerns again... who could they cast? Mark Ruffalo in a re-make of Fistful of Dollars? Orlando Bloom as Shane? This reminds me of that post about James Bond no longer having chest hair... it all ties into the same thing. The "ideal man" is an ever changing thing, and these days, he tends to prefer spooning, eating Yoplait, and watching Rob Reiner movies in the dark to, you know, shooting first and asking questions later.

I could honestly see Westerns making a comeback very soon, especially with the Git-R-Done political mindscape that seems to have a huge chunk of this country on lock. But I can't think of too many actors who could really pull it off.

I can also see Westerns getting made again, especially with Anime shows such as Trigun and Cowboy Bebop doing so well. Besides that though, in regards to actors that could pull it off. Clive Owen could, w/ that 5 o'clock shadow, maybe like you mentioned Orlando Bloom, and perhaps Jason Stratham(Transporter Dude), though the last 1 might be a lil awkward.

>Tresvantsyism killed the western as we know it.
>

You need a man with sensitivity?

And there is always Russell Crowe who wasn't bad in The Quick and the Dead. Brad Pitt would be the obvious choice or possibly the Wahlbergs as the Earps. Johnny Depp could fit in (and was already in a Western). Granted, they'll try Ben Affleck as a Sheriff or something and it'll flop.

The problem isn't with the actors. It's just that nobody thinks to make Westerns anymore (or can get the funding).

Snow_Flow
That's Key Row G!

“keep tryna keep it real by keepin it raw while half of ya’ll still be keepin flawed and all the real heads scream ‘fuck hip-hop’ untill all this mediocre bullshit stops”--Jakki

Wanna know what Flow's doing?
http://myspace.c

>Tresvantsyism killed the western as we know it.
>
>Let's say Hollywood actually decided to start making Westerns
>again... who could they cast? Mark Ruffalo in a re-make of
>Fistful of Dollars? Orlando Bloom as Shane? This reminds me of
>that post about James Bond no longer having chest hair... it
>all ties into the same thing. The "ideal man" is an ever
>changing thing, and these days, he tends to prefer spooning,
>eating Yoplait, and watching Rob Reiner movies in the dark to,
>you know, shooting first and asking questions later.

speaking of remakes, i've wanted to see a Run Man Run remake for a while.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062825/

>I could honestly see Westerns making a comeback very soon,
>especially with the Git-R-Done political mindscape that seems
>to have a huge chunk of this country on lock. But I can't
>think of too many actors who could really pull it off.


http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_mesg&forum=6&topic_id=59512&mesg_id=59512&page=

They all turned gay.

FREE CHAI VANG!

Certified Grade A Coon - Inspector Abrock33

http://rjcc.stumbleupon.com - what I'm looking at

www.hdbeat.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Blaming other movies seems silly. No one is looking at other changes in culture or society that may have changed peoples viewing habits. Shit just becomes unpopular after a while.

Heaven's Gate hurt Westerns as did a number of network shows that tanked. But I think that it is the next genre to blow up, especially since the mix of redneck revival and the anti-establishment mentality that is rising makes them ripe for the making.

Also, a guy I know sold a Western/Horror film a couple of years ago and recently met with John Landis who wants to make a Western.

Manifest Destiny was called into question. Old hero types were undermined. Peter Fonda replaced Henry Fonda. The anti-Westerns of the late 60s/early 70s weren't a step forward, they were the logical last days of the genre.

>The
>anti-Westerns of the late 60s/early 70s weren't a step
>forward, they were the logical last days of the genre.

Peckinpah merely rode the changes in national attitude. No filmmaker was the cause of the death of the Western, some just adjusted better than others to it's decaying form.

Let's just say it didn't revive it.
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.

A bunch of brothers are getting their mother's house taken over by the government, so they become outlaws to pay for it or something like that?

Snow_Flow
That's Key Row G!

“keep tryna keep it real by keepin it raw while half of ya’ll still be keepin flawed and all the real heads scream ‘fuck hip-hop’ untill all this mediocre bullshit stops”--Jakki

Wanna know what Flow's doing?
http://myspace.com/otmakinguthinksince2004

The railway people want their land, they don't give, railway burns their house down, they get back at the railway by stealing their money, alot of hijinx and romance in between. It was pretty bad but I couldn't stop watching.
________________________________

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>The railway people want their land, they don't give, railway
>burns their house down, they get back at the railway by
>stealing their money, alot of hijinx and romance in between.
>It was pretty bad but I couldn't stop watching.

It was like a Disneyfied Young Guns

I think your Jaws statement is fairly accurate. I think part (and this is only part of the explanation, far from the complete answer) of the explanation results from the insane box office profit that came from Jaws and other blockbusters that followed. After 1975, Hollywood started really getting sucked into the notion of making movies that could appeal to everybody and make tons of money. This is not to suggest that studios before 1975 were not out to make money, but they didn't realize how high the gross ceiling was.

Despite their loyal following and their cultural impact, Westerns were never really cash cows. Looking at the top 5 grossing films for each year from 1939 through 1975, only 10 westerns managed to make the cut.

Jeremiah John (5th) - 1972
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1) - 1969
Bonnie & Clyde (4th) - 1967
The Alamo (5th) - 1960
Shane (4th) - 1953
Red River (2nd) - 1948
Duel In The Sun (3rd) - 1946
The Outlaw (3rd) - 1943
Santa Fe Trail (5th) - 1940
Jesse James (4th) - 1939

Westerns were solid investments, but they weren't cash cows. After Jaws established what a blockbuster could do, Hollywood had stars in their eyes.

Jaws in 75 (282 Mil)
Star Wars in 77 (421 Mil)
Grease in 78 (209 Mil)
Empire Strikes Back in 80 (308 Mil)
Raiders of the Lost Arc in 81 (252 Mil)
E.T. in 82 (498 Mil)
Return of the Jedi in 83 (366 Mil)
Ghostbusters in 84 (283 Mil)
Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom, Beverly Hills Cop, Back to The Future, etc....

This changed the complexion of the studio system. Big stars were funneled into movies with big potential. Westerns became fringe films and were seen as the films of your father. Couldn't appeal to the youth anymore, so Hollywood went with fresh ideas. This worked really well through the mid-90s, but then they got too deep into it and now you have the current situation where everything swings for the fences and busts.

I think another aspect has to do with the way the social landscape changed after Vietnam. But that's a whole other post.

Deadwood more or less has set it off I suppose. Of course, there's also Brokeback Mountain.

These are due out this year:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443680/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482857/

And western video games and comics are popping up.

Seems like a tough genre in which to find new ground.

but McTrigger got his revenge on them.

I don't think it's that hard to figure out -- the shit got tired and the hippies made it uncool to keep killing the redman all the time. Can't say I miss them that much.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067204/

Long story short:

Westerns were destroyed by two things - a) The lack of trust in goverment, and b)the fact that TV and film were no longer in their infancy (use the frontierism of westerns as a parallel to the "frontierism" of the new mediums of Cinema and television).

-- Nate

-- Nate

i'm not a grammar freak or anything . . .

I think it's on my old Mac. I'll check this week.

-- Nate