List of Western films before 1920 explained

A list of the earliest Western films, by decade, released before 1920.

1890s

1894

These exhibition films are silent shorts directed and produced by William K. L. Dickson at Thomas Edison's Black Maria studio, with William Heise as cinematographer. The performers in each film were members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show with Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill themselves exhibiting their rifle shooting skills.[1] The two dances featured members of the Sioux nation who are believed to have been the first Native Americans to perform on film. The lasso thrower was Vicente Oropeza and the stuntmen staging the knife fight were Pedro Esquivel and Dionecio Gonzales. Two real-life rodeo riders, Lee Martin and Frank Hammitt, featured in Bucking Broncho, which was filmed outside the studio.[2]

1895

Both of these films, which were scenes only, are believed lost. They were made by Alfred Clark for the Edison Manufacturing Company.[3] [4]

1899

This is a two-minute silent film drama shot in Blackburn, Lancashire, England by Mitchell and Kenyon. It is the earliest known dramatic work in the genre.[5]

These two films were produced by Edison's Black Maria and have been argued to be the first Western films.[6]

Filmed by Frederick S. Armitage for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, this depicts a poker game.[7]

1900s

1901

1903

1904

1905

1906

1907

1908

1909

1910s

1910

1911

1912

1913

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Leal, Juan Felipe . 1901: Segunda parte. El cine se difunde: Anales del Cine en México, 1895–1911 . Jablonska . Aleksandra . Juan Pablos editor, S.A. / D.R. Voyeur . 2010 . 201–202, 218, 262.
  2. Web site: Bucking broncho . Library of Congress . 1894 . 1 July 2021.
  3. Book: Musser, Charles . Before the Nickelodeon . University of California Press . 1991 . Edison and the Kinetoscope . 56 . 978-05-20060-80-7 .
  4. Web site: Early Film Pioneers: Alfred Clark and the Birth of the Historical Reconstruction Film . Bond . David . 28 August 2018 . Films by the Year . 1 July 2021.
  5. News: First western was shot in Blackburn, claims researcher . Low . Valentine . The Times . 31 October 2019 . 1 July 2021.
  6. Book: Edgerton, Gary R. . Westerns: The Essential 'Journal of Popular Film and Television' Collection . 2013-09-13 . Routledge . 978-1-135-76508-8 . 9–10 . en.
  7. Book: Simmon, Scott . The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half Century . 2003-06-30 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-55581-4 . 7 . en.