By Lucie M. Winborne, ReMIND Magazine
How we ordinary folks love our action heroes! And next to being one ourselves, there’s almost no better way to raise the heart rate and indulge the imagination than a few hours with them at the movies. Here’s a look at some of the trends that dominated Hollywood over the decades.
1930s
Swashbucklers ruled! A good swordsman, whether on land or at sea, wasn’t hard to find. Think Errol Flynn in Captain Blood, falsely accused of treason, imprisoned and enslaved, but escaping to a new career of piracy and the eventual governorship of Jamaica. Or Ronald Colman as Rudolf Rassendyll in The Prisoner of Zenda, enjoying a European holiday when he discovers his uncanny resemblance to a king-to-be. Will he ward off a national crisis by assuming a royal identity?
1940s
America was at war, and the silver screen reflected it. In They Were Expendable, Lt. “Rusty” Ryan (John Wayne) is frustrated with Navy officials who are unconvinced that Lt. John “Brick” Brickley’s (Robert Montgomery) squadron of new PT boats is combat-worthy. But following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ryan gets to prove his point, as the vessels relay important messages and pick off a steady stream of enemies on the water and in the air. The Best Years of Our Lives, however, takes a far different look at the harsh realities of battle, through the eyes of three homecoming veterans and the new challenges they and their loved ones must now face.
1950s
In the golden age of that most American of movie genres, the Western, cinemagoers could take their cowboys a number of ways. Annie Get Your Gun highly fictionalizes the romance of star sharpshooters Annie Oakley and Frank Butler, but with an infectious soundtrack. Bob Hope plays the Harvard-educated son of a gunslinger, seeking to claim his inheritance in Son of Paleface, but he finds a heap of debt — and comedy — instead. And for those who liked their Old West with realistic grit, Gary Cooper delivered the goods in High Noon as retiring lawman Will Kane, who chooses to face down an old enemy before leaving town with his new bride.
1960s
Espionage was big and Richard Burton was weary as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. As if staging a defection to East Germany isn’t risky enough, Alec Leamas soon learns his “mission” is a sham and is entangled in a web of double-crossing plots. On the campier end of the spectrum, Sean Connery takes a third spin as James Bond in Goldfinger, out to save Fort Knox from contamination by gold magnate and smuggler Auric Goldfinger, establishing many famous Bond trademarks in the process.
1970s
Cool detectives and white-hot martial arts! Who can forget Richard Roundtree on the trail of a crime lord’s kidnapped daughter in the classic blaxploitation flick Shaft, or Bruce Lee kicking and chopping his way to revenge for his sister’s death via a kung fu competition in Enter the Dragon? Their philosophies and backgrounds might be as different as night and day, but their actions speak the same language. Bad guys beware!
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