MoMA and Universal Retrospective Traces the Western Genre's Evolution Through Hollywood History

Summary

MoMA's new film series, in collaboration with Universal Pictures, revisits the history of the Western genre through the studio's extensive archive. The retrospective traces the evolution of Westerns from Universal's earliest days—where the first permanent Western street set was built—through landmark films by directors like John Ford, Anthony Mann, and Clint Eastwood. Rather than a simple celebration, the series positions the Western as a foundational genre essential to understanding both Hollywood's industrial history and America's self-mythology, examining how these films reflected and shaped cultural narratives about the frontier.