
To supplement my presentation at SAMLA in 2019, I put together a Letterboxd list of Westerns written, directed, or edited by white women from 1910-1970. The list currently contains over 260 entries, making it interesting but a little unwieldy (and still not comprehensive).
Here is a shorter list of important Westerns with women in key creative roles, most of which are available to watch online or on DVD.
Adapted from the work of women writers
- Ramona (1910; 1916; 1928; 1936), from the novel by Helen Hunt Jackson
- The Wind (1928), from the novel by Dorothy Scarborough, adapted by Frances Marion
- Cimarron (1931; 1960), from the novel by Edna Ferber
- Giant (1956), from the novel by Edna Ferber
- The Hanging Tree (1959), from the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), from the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson
- A Man Called Horse (1970), from the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson
Written by women
- The Half-Breed (1916), scenario by Anita Loos
- The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926), written by Frances Marion, edited by Viola Lawrence
- Stars in My Crown (1950), co-written by Margaret Fitts
- True Grit (1969), co-written by Marguerite Roberts
Directed by Women
- Greater Love Hath No Man (1911), directed by Alice Guy-Blaché
- Algie the Miner (1912), directed by Alice Guy-Blaché
- ’49-’17 (1917), directed by Ruth Ann Baldwin
- Something New (1920), directed by Nell Shipman
Edited by Women
- The Squaw Man (1931), edited by Anne Bauchens
- Stagecoach (1939), edited by Dorothy Spencer
- My Darling Clementine (1946), edited by Dorothy Spencer