The Western comes roaring back at the Midtown Art Cinema

A new eight-week series traces the evolution of the American Western.

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Gabe Wardell and Eddy Von Mueller met way back in 1998. Wardell was the program director for the Atlanta Film Festival and Mueller wrote about film for Creative Loafing and conducted workshops for IMAGE Film & Video. Their paths have been intertwined ever since, and now they are officially collaborating on an upcoming film series for the first time.

“Revisiting Western Frontiers” is a new eight-week series tracking the evolution of the American Western. All screenings take place Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, beginning April 15 with John Ford’s 1956 classic The Searchers. Mueller and Wardell will trade off handling introductions and post-film discussions. The rest of the schedule includes Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Lone Star, Dead Man, Winchester ’73, The Quick and the Dead, Blazing Saddles and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Josh Rosenfield, general manager of the Midtown Art Cinema, has used both Wardell and Mueller as go-to speakers for Landmark-sponsored film events. He had to take a break from local programming as part of the theater chain’s 50^th anniversary last year, with uniform screenings at all locations throughout the country, so he is excited to bring an Atlanta-specific series back. When Rosenfield queried Wardell and Mueller for ideas, the Western motif made the most sense. “It’s a great welcoming back,” says Rosenfield. “I have not done Westerns (here) in 10 years.”

It was also important to plan an event-style experience that would drive audiences back to the big screen, says Wardell.

Although Westerns tend to be cyclical in terms of popularity, the genre is having a moment right now, according to Mueller. While Kevin Costner’s passion project Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 was a box office bust, TV series’ such as Yellowstone, Landman and American Primeval have attracted large audiences. “Every time they write the obituary for the Western and it is sent to Boot Hill, the Western comes roaring back,” he says. “If you look over the history of cinema, it’s interesting to see the ebb and flow of this genre’s popularity.”

Wardell teaches film appreciation at the University of North Georgia, while Mueller taught cinema classes at both Georgia State University and Emory University from 1997 to 2017. Discussions of Westerns were part of Mueller’s offerings, and he calls the genre the throbbing core of American cinema.

Fleshing out the lineup alongside Rosenfield was fun for the two. “The Western does have its canonical films, so we have a John Ford and Peckinpah, the greatest hits, but we wanted to mix it up enough so you get the classics but also represent the range and nuance,” Mueller says. It was also important to include some revisionist Westerns that critiqued the genre. Also in the mix is a Mel Brooks comedy — Blazing Saddles.

As a frequent film moderator, Wardell is always surprised by the interactive Landmark audience. He calls himself a purist, someone who has seen many of these same Westerns on the big screen when they opened, and feels he is not alone. “At Landmark, you get a combination of students but there is a core group called the cinephiles or cineastes,” he says. “We get first-generation viewers and parents and kids, which is exciting because I bring my son to screenings all the time now. There are film students but also curious people. Multiple times we also have celebrities who are shooting in town who come to these screenings, and that is the coolest thing.”

Mueller, who is also a filmmaker and is wrapping up his book Synthetic Cinema, which takes a look at the impact animation has had on modern cinema, thinks that gatherings such as these are critical components of generating a complete film culture. “I think there is a real appetite in our culture for this,” he says. “It is so great to have repertory screenings.”

Since Covid-19, Wardell has seen a shuttering of events such as the Key Sunday Cinema Club, which brought together cineastes for screenings for lively early morning discussions. “We think there has been a void, and we have been trying to find ways to fill that void,” he says. “One of our visions is to do something like this as well.” He’d love to re-ignite that kind of series. “I think there is a gaping hole in the scene right now and nobody’s filling it. These kinds of conversations and events around movies are really where it’s out now. Seeing movies at home, on TCM or going to Videodrome isn’t the same as being in a room with an audience and having a conversation about what you’ve just watched.”

Where & When

“Revisiting Western Frontiers” begins April 15 and continues weekly through June 3. $7-$13. Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive NE, Atlanta. 404-879-0160.

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Jim Farmer is the recipient of the 2022 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Theatre Feature and a nominee for Online Journalist of the Year. A member of five national critics’ organizations, he covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival, and lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig.