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.