Bad Guys Black Hats(Ed DeRousse) When hearing the words “Western movie” many think of people like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. They also think of riding horses, saving “damsels in distress”, and gunfights… And Bad Guys. Every time you watch a villain humiliating and goading an innocent man into drawing his gun, an action which will surely leave him dead, you are watching the typical Western film bad guy.
Westerns movies have been around for well over 100 years. The bulk of the genre’s films were released through its “golden age” (1940s through 1960s). Because of the sprawling landscapes of the American West and compelling hero-villain dynamics, movie goers became addicted to the cowboy movie. During that time frame, the number of Wild West productions, in fact, outnumbered all other genres combined.
In its early days, the western genre presented filmmakers with a structure clearly exploring stories of good versus evil. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, though, that structure became more complex. Directors like Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Corbucci brought a rougher, bloodier vision of the Old West to the screen. Their films featured morally ambiguous antiheroes. The heroes had villainous qualities that blurred the line between good and not so good.
The Western, whether on the big screen or the small screen, are known for the use of scenery, old fashioned gun battles, and character development. Character development sometimes even for the villains. Great villains, after all, make for great westerns. To me, many of the best bad guys in cinema are in Westerns. Old West films have no shortage of them. They range from ruthless outlaws to scheming greedy industrialists. A memorable villain can elevate a good western to classic status.
What makes a great villain? First and foremost, he must be a worthy opponent. A hero can be no more heroic than his villain is villainous.
The Western bad guy stood out for his or her corruption, conniving, and brutality; a characteristic obviously, required to fit the harsh condition of the American frontier. They earned their reputation as a bad guy by looting, murdering innocent people, and terrorizing town folks. True justice, when it came, typically came swiftly to these intimidating outlaws.
In Western movies, the "bad guy" archetype sometimes embodies wealthy land barons or outlaws characterized by greed, violence, and a disregard for the law. The Western movie bad guy draws inspiration from real-life figures of the American West. Those outlaws and corrupt businessmen, evolved over time to reflect changing societal concerns and the genre's narrative needs.
Here are some other characteristics of the good guy and bad guy in Western movies:
THE HERO
The hero is often a model that embodies a classic warrior characterized by individualism with physical prowess and a variety of unique habits and tools. Many of the heroes in the “golden age” of Westerns wore broad-brimmed hats, neckerchief bandanas, and cowboy boots with jangling spurs. He or she must be triumphant at the end of the film and remain isolated (riding off into the sunset) so the hero can defeat future villains. The heroes have their own code to follow which they use in their conquest over the villain.

THE BAD GUY
The villain often uses manipulation and control to influence a person's attitude, beliefs, and behaviors to achieve a desired outcome. The outcome is obtained through scheming, a hunger for power, cruelty, violence, unpredictability, and self-serving vengeance. The villain opposes the protagonist's goals and desires.
Usually, you can tell the villain by his wardrobe. They typically emphasize dark colors, sharp lines, and details that suggest a sense of danger and extravagance, like a black hat with a wide brim, a long black duster coat, ornate silver buckles, a fancy but worn leather vest, and boots with high, pointed toes. The villain often came equipped with a menacing facial expression and a flashy, expensive firearm.
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When you watch a Western, there are always those character actors who as soon as you see them, you know bad things are going to happen around them or because of them. Those actors made their living playing the bad guy. Some made a good living but never became a major star. A number of them were able to escape the bad guy image and become major good guy stars. For example: Henry Fonda, Lee Van Cleef, Richard Boone, Walter Brennan, Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Hackman.
Lee Van Cleef is often suggested as the most memorable Western villain actor of all time. Even with no dialogue, his scowl and unblinking eyes made him frightening. In an interview with Johny Carson Lee Van Cleef was ask: “Do you ever get tired of playing the bad guys in motion pictures?” His Answer: “No, they’re pretty good characters, actually. They’ve got a lot of depth, some of ’em, if you can get some sympathy mixed with the horrible things you’re supposed to be doing.”
In 1972, Bruce Dern, after a decade of playing them, wasn’t technically a bad guy anymore. He had become a leading man. But in 1972 he was told by his agent he absolutely had to take two days off to play a small but important role. He was to be the guy who kills John Wayne. In The Cowboys, Dern was brilliant as the insecure bully, eager to push around small children, and killing Wayne’s character. Some movie goers have never forgotten his character nor forgiven Bruce Dern for his dastardly deed.

Black Hats
In Westerns good guys wear white hats and bad guys wear black hats. That is the general assessment by us older folks, anyway.
In the early days of Hollywood, the greatest Western villains wore black (or dark hats). The good guys wore lighter shade hats. In those early days of Western films virtue and righteousness were related to whiteness while immorality and wickedness were related to blackness.
The black hat image can actually be traced back to the 1903 twelve minute silent film The Great Train Robbery. Edwin S. Porter, an American film pioneer, shot the film in Milltown, New Jersey, far from the actual West. In the film’s twelve minutes, a gang of bandits hold up a bank, rob a train, and eventually receive their just reward from the good guys. The black versus white hat image helped audiences easily distinguish the heroes from the villains.
There is a moment in the film that most likely could be credited with inspiring the black hat bad guy image. At the end of the film the camera clearly shows the face of one of the bad guys, in a close-up, and pointing his gun at the audience. He shoots. One, two, six times. He’s wearing a black hat.
Others say the 1930s low-budget western may have been where the perception of the black hat vs white hat started. Early Western stars like Tom Mix and Gene Autry wore them. When color was finally added to film, it didn’t make sense to stop the trend because it had already become wildly popular.
There are some exceptions to this tradition, such as William Boyd, who wore dark clothing as Hopalong Cassidy, and Robert Taylor in the 1958 film The Law and Jake Wade.
Regardless, whether wearing a black hat or not, great Western movie villains, such as El Indio For a Few Dollars More), Calvin Candie (Django Unchained), and Frank (How The West Was Won), are capable of leaving a lasting impression and overshadowing the heroes. The presence of a memorable bad guy can elevate a good western to classic status.

The Western genre gives the audience some of the most memorable characters in cinematic history. It is a great setting for true justice. And justice which comes swiftly to the foul villain. The dastardly bad guys sometimes are so charismatic that audiences are both repelled and fascinated by them. They bring an unforgettable sense of danger and suspense to every film they appear in.

The Western Bad Guys and Black Hats have indeed left a lasting impression to this day.

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