Out West (4 Mar. 1980)

The development of the uniquely American film genre, the Western, is shown from its inception with archival footage and interviews with surviving artists.

Directors:

Kevin Brownlow, David Gill

Writers:

Kevin Brownlow, David Gill

Stars:

James Mason, Karl Brown, Yakima Canutt

Cast

Episode credited cast:
James Mason	...	Himself / Narrator (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Karl Brown	...	Himself
Yakima Canutt	...	Himself
Olive Carey	...	Herself
Iron Eyes Cody	...	Himself
Lefty Hough	...	Himself
R.L. Hough	...	Himself (as 'Lefty' Hough)
Al Hoxie	...	Himself
Henry King	...	Himself
Jesse Lasky Jr.	...	Himself (as Jesse L. Lasky Jr)
Tim McCoy	...	Himself (as Colonel Tim McCoy)
Colleen Moore	...	Herself
Harvey Parry	...	Himself
Blanche Sweet	...	Herself
John Wayne	...	Actor 'The Searchers' (archive footage)

Storyline

The development of the uniquely American film genre, the Western, is shown from its inception with archival footage and interviews with surviving artists. the work of such genre icons as William S. Hart, Tom MIx, and Harry Carey are covered.

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Plot Keywords:

interview | conestoga wagon | native american | reference to john wayne | filmmaking | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 1980 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thames Television

Technical Specs

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Features The Return of Draw Egan (1916)

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Soundtracks

Cowboy's Lament" ("Streets of Laredo")
Traditional american cowboy ballad based on 18th Century British folk song
Instrumental version heard during clip from "Return of Draw Egan"

User Reviews

Hollywood Episode 9

Hollywood: Out West (1980)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

This is a pretty unique entry in the documentary. I'm sure most people will know that the Western genre has always been one of the most popular and this was certainly true in the silent era. This film covers various cowboys ranging from Tom Mix to William S. Hart but it also tells an interesting story of real cowboys who found themselves out of work as the Old West began to fade away so many of them went to Hollywood looking for jobs. Once in Hollywood they'd find themselves working as extras or at least hired hands to help out with stunts and making sure things were authentic. I think the documentary makes an interesting connection in the fact that the Old West really was fading away as movies were coming into play so those longing for such a thing would have to see it in the movies. There's a funny bit about the real cowboys really enjoying Hart's films and there's an even better story told about how Hollywood bars were torn apart by these cowboys coming in and destroying things in their drunken brawls. As usual, we get all sorts of clips from the various Westerns and once again they'll really give you a burning desire to try and track down some yet it's sad to sad that 30-years after the release of this movie we still have many of them sitting in vaults unreleased. Yakima Canutt, stuntman Harvey Parry, Tim McCoy and the one and only John Wayne are interviewed here and all add nice stories. We even get mention of a few of the early John Ford silents including THE IRON HORSE.