# Name some Great Easterns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 2, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721 "2009-04-02T16:17:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/1 "2009-04-02T16:17:49Z")
Westerns are their own genre, known as such, and there are hundreds to thousands of examples. Many movies have been made with Southern themes and set in Southern locales, replete with Southern accents, no shoes, and the lack of any redeeming social value. I guess the Canadian and Alaskan themed things could be seen as Northerns. But what are some of the better Easterns? (USA, not Europe or Asia) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/2 "2009-04-02T16:21:29Z")
I think a few minor filmmakers have made films set in New York City. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/3 "2009-04-02T16:31:21Z")
_Hair_, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/4 "2009-04-02T16:35:19Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I think a few minor filmmakers have made films set in New York City. Quite true. A large percentage of those would be “present day” (whenever they were made) and somewhat lacking in any of the period texture that many Westerns have had. Maybe if we exclude the crime dramas of present day settings, we could get more of the Eastern flavor. Either that or move away from NYC to some degree. Maybe avoid the big cities, too, like Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, and such. By comparison, very few Westerns take place in the bigger cities, unless you go to counting Tombstone, Dodge City and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/5 "2009-04-02T16:43:36Z")
_Manhattan_ _Annie Hall_ _Radio Days_ . . . pretty much most of the Woodster’s films. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/6 "2009-04-02T16:53:44Z")
Last of the Mohicans Witness On Golden Pond Sleepy Hollow ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/7 "2009-04-02T17:09:01Z")
Rocky Groundhog Day Dead Poets Society Shag Runaway Bride My Fellow Americans ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/8 "2009-04-02T17:12:07Z")
I thought Bedford Falls from “Its a Wonderful Life” is set in upstate New York (well, upstate of NYC anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/9 "2009-04-02T17:13:28Z")
1. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/10 "2009-04-02T17:16:06Z")
For nineteenth-century New York City, how about: _The Age of Innocence_ _Gangs of New York_ ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/11 "2009-04-02T17:20:24Z")
The War of the Worlds ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/12 "2009-04-02T17:21:27Z")
All of the John Waters movies set in Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/13 "2009-04-02T17:26:58Z")
_Drums Along The Mohawk Captains Courageous_, which is getting a bit far east ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/14 "2009-04-02T17:30:01Z")
Conrack: The Water is Wide A Few Good Men The American President Thank You for Smoking Pocahontas The Patriot Martin Guerre: The Return of the Soldier Sommersby ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/15 "2009-04-02T17:42:13Z")
Just something to consider when ascribing the Eastern designation: 1. How far west can you go before it quits being Eastern? 2. How far south do you go before it’s more Southern than Eastern? 3. Does the time frame help differentiate Eastern from Southern? Civil War era maybe? Is the Mississippi River a fair demarcation point for Eastern vs. Western? Are the Confederate states the Southern area? Just asking. No response needed. Just make sure Eastern is the dominant geographical consideration. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/16 "2009-04-02T17:51:09Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > A large percentage of those would be “present day” (whenever they were made) and somewhat lacking in any of the period texture that many Westerns have had. Quoted for emphasis. “Western” generally applies to a film set in the American West during the period of westward expansion. There are exceptions, but they usually incorporate tropes common to the historical western. Not every film set West of the Mississippi is a “western.” By analogy, an “eastern” should be a film with set in a location east of the Mississippi during a period of historic transformation. > [@](#): > > Either that or move away from NYC to some degree. Maybe avoid the big cities, too, like Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, and such. > > By comparison, very few Westerns take place in the bigger cities, unless you go to counting Tombstone, Dodge City and the like. That seems to me an unnecessary restriction. Westerns don’t avoid big cities, they take place in a setting in which city life was not the norm (although perfectly good Westerns have used a bustling San Francisco as a setting). The history of the East, however, is largely the story of the growth of cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. **Gone with the Wind** ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/17 "2009-04-02T17:56:49Z")
[The Great Eastern](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Eastern), of course. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Batman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@The\_Batman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Batman)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/18 "2009-04-02T17:59:34Z")
Once Upon a Time in America Also, if it’s based in a Stephen King book then it happens in New England, possibly Maine. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/19 "2009-04-02T18:06:13Z")
Nobody’s Fool Empire Falls The World According to Garp ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721/20 "2009-04-02T18:22:17Z")
I came in to say _Last of the Mohicans_, but was beaten to it. Let me elaborate and say that it is a great “Eastern Western”. It takes place in the days of westward expansion, but when the Appalachian Mountains were the western frontier. It has all the elements: the beleaguered and increasingly desperate natives whose lifestyle is already extinct, but they don’t know it yet. The frontiersman. The Ladies in Distress. The unruly, and yet sympathetic, villain (Wes Studi knocked Mogwa out of the park). Gunfights, brawls, scenery. Everything. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-some-great-easterns/491721.md?page=2)