Synopsis

Directed by George Stevens, then one of Hollywood's most successful filmmakers, "Shane" (1952) is one of the most revered and imitated of all westerns. Starring Alan Ladd as a mysterious drifter who protects a fledgling community from a predatory gang, "Shane" is one of the definitive reimaginings of America's frontier mythology. This is, remarkably, the first substantial study of "Shane." In it, Edward Countryman and Evonne von Heussen-Countryman show, with reference to a wide range of historical and archival sources, how subtly the film treats some fundamental themes: family, the history of settlement and community in America, violence, and the culture of the gun.

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