William S. Hart was, perhaps, the greatest of all Western stars, for unlike Gary Cooper and John Wayne he appeared in nothing but Westerns. From 1914 to 1924 he was supreme and unchallenged. It was Hart who created the basic formula of the Western film, and devised the protagonist he played in every film he made, the good-bad man, the accidental, noble outlaw, or the honest but framed cowboy, or the sheriff made suspect by vicious gossip; in short, the individual in conflict with himself and his frontier environment.
Unlike most of his contemporaries in Hollywood, Hart actually 'knew something of the old West. He had lived in it as a child when it was already disappearing, and his hero was firmly rooted in his memories and experiences, and in both the history and the mythology of the vanished frontier. And although no period or place in American history has been more absurdly romanticized, myth and reality did join hands in at least one arena, the conflict between the individual and encroaching civilization.
Men accustomed to struggling for survival against the elements and Indian were bewildered by politicians, bankers and business-men, and unhorsed by fences, laws and alien taboos. Hart's good-bad man was always an outsider, always one of the disinherited, and if he found it necessary to shoot a sheriff or rob a bank along the way, his early audiences found it easy to understand and forgive, especially when it was Hart who, in the end, overcame the attacking Indians. Audiences in the second decade of the twentieth century found it pleasant to escape to a time when life, though hard, was relatively simple. We still do; living in a world in which undeclared aggression, war, hypocrisy, chicanery, anarchy and impending immolation are part of our daily lives, we all want a code to live by.
New words and expressions 生词短语
supreme
super
a. 首屈一指
超级
supreme court 最高法院
supreme people’s court 最高人民法院
intermediate 中级
supremacy
n.首屈一指 male supremacy 大男子主义 male supremacist 大男子主义者
grey mare 胜过丈夫的妻子 second to none 最高的
India is second to China in population.
second to 仅次于
protagonist n.主角
antagonist 反面角色
leading role 主角
supporting role 配角
extra 跑龙套 starring 领街
outlaw
n.亡命徒
outlaws in the green wood 绿林好汉
brigand 地匪，流窜犯
highway man 打劫的
fake 假的
framed
sheriff
vicious
fake 假的
venomous 恶毒的 heinous 恶毒的
malicious 邪恶的
gossipn. 流言蜚语
rumor 谣言，传闻
It is rumored that he robbed the bank.
gossip monger 传谣言的人
in short
总之
n 环境
in brief /in a word 总之
environment
surrounding 环境
under the environment 在……情况下
environment makes man.环境造就人
vanished
arena
a.消失了的
n.竞技场
absurdlyad 荒诞的
amphitheater 圆形剧场
political arena 政治舞台
anarchy
monarchy
lawless
impending
code n.准则
n.混乱
君主制
adj.非法的
chaos
n. 混乱
n.骚乱
deliver 给
a.遭到陷害的
n.司法长官
a.恶毒的
bullflighting 斗牛
encroaching
encroach 侵犯
American culture is encroaching globally.
penetratin 渗入
His speeh is penetrating.
India
n.印第安人
bewilder vt.使手足无措
wilder 迷茫 baffle/muddle 迷乱的
dizzy 昏的
alien
disorient 使……失去方向
a. 外来的
a.渐渐渗入的
alien product 洋货
alien word 外来词
eg.sofa,jeep,café,coolie,kotow；
alienate v.远离
taboo
n.戒律
forbidden words
disinherit vt.剥求……的继承权
damn it
inherit 继承
inheritance 继承权
undeclareda.未经宣布的
hypocrisy n.伪善
hypocrite 伪君子
hypocritical 过于挑剔
chicanery n.诈骗
chicane
v.骗（以-ry 结尾的名词没有复数
如 machinery,pottery,jewelery
cheat,deceive,hoax
cheat 骗钱财
deceive one’s feelings
hoax:play trick(哄小孩)
chaotic adj.混乱
imminent 迫近的
sacrifice n. 祭祀品
turbulence
a.迫近的 approaching 靠近
immolate vt. 杀
immolation n.杀戮
Notes on the text 课文注释
William s.Hart
William:first/given/Christian name
s.:middle name
Hart :last name
Western stars 西部片影星
for 因为
unlike 与……不同
appear in nothing but 仅仅出现于
nothing but 仅仅
He is nothing but liar.他是骗子。
He is anything but liar 他不是骗子
he is nothing but angry.他很生气
he is anyghing but angry.他不生气
Gary Cooper
Puritan 清教徒
comedy 喜剧
unchallenged=matchless
It was ……强调句式
1． vast west
2． Indians
3． hero.
devise=design
upright 正直
film maker 制片人
good-bad man 本质好，偶尔做坏事的人
tramp 流浪者
Chinese Amercian 美籍华人（根在前）
noble:1.rich
2.noble minded
out of impulse 一时冲动
cowherd/comman 牧童
suspect 嫌疑犯
He was made Chairman.他被选为主席
abuse power 滥用权力
rangy 落魄的人
minor figure 小人物
in short
in conflict with 与……有冲突
frontier 此处意思是广阔的西部
unwillingly
outsider 局外人
contemporary 同时代的人，当代的
modern 现代的
know sth. of 略有了解
关于“西部在消失”的背景常识
Jefferson
the declaration of Indepedence 独立宣言
Louisiana 路易斯安那
- 64 –
Mississippi 密西西比河
ambassador 大使
hire 租用
fight across 难以定夺
（将在外，君命有所不受）
gold rush 淘金热
hero 英雄
mythology 神话
although 让步状语从句
no……more……构成最高级
romanticized 此处指作成电影（浪漫化）
indelible effect 不可磨灭的印象
join hands=coexist 并存
solid basis 虚构
同位句
conflict 是 arena 的同位语
accustomed to 做后置定语
意思是 used to 习惯于
unhorsed 放弃戎马生涯
overcame 击退
comment 评论
relatively 相对的
do=find it pleasan |
