Riding the Old Hollywood Trail, Creating the Western Myth in Film
(Room Encanto A)
04 Jul 19
1:30 PM
-
2:45 PM
The Western film genre has been a mainstay of movies and television for more than 100 years. Many of us have learned what we know about the wild frontier from these media, and yet much of the knowledge acquired is complete myth. Beginning at the turn of the 20th century, when movie studios were based on the East Coast, their knowledge of the West came mainly from the highly dramatized dime novels. Productions such as 1903’s The Great Train Robbery, filmed in Chicago, were representative of this fictionalized frontier. By 1912, filmmakers began moving to the West Coast, taking advantage of a milder climate, where they continued their tales of a mythical West, much of which is still with us today. This session will separate fact from fiction in the Western film genre. For more information, visit silverscreencowboyz.com or email azfilmhistorian@gmail.com or ridingtheoldhollywoodtrail@gmail.com.