Tom Mix, who would become the future Western film super star, appeared in his first movie, Selig Studio's "The Cowboy Millionaire" as a (naturally) cowboy. The October 21, 1909 release had Mix play one of several cowboys seen throughout this short movie. Mix's expertise in riding and roping came in handy for his bit part, which was filmed at Selig Studio's home base in Chicago.
Mix had worked a series of odd jobs before he hooked onto being a cowhand at a sprawling Oklahoma ranch. This particular ranch had a Wild West show that toured around the country showing off the skills of its most accomplished cowboys. Mix had a special ability to ride horses and rope steers, winning several national contests. It were these skills that Selig Studios hired him to play the part of a cowboy. "The Millionaire Cowboy" would be the first of almost 300 movies Mix would appear in during his career that spanned into talkies.
I'm not quite sure who Mix is among the cowboys since they all look alike. But for the movie itself, after a long sequence of cowboy displays with livestock, The Cowboy Millionaire's plot finally lurches forward with the protaganist who inherits a fortune from his uncle traveling to Chicago, leaving his rustic friends to live the urbane life. Things are pretty much a yawner until he invites his Western friends to the city for a reunion. One historical aspect I love seeing is this was filmed in Chicago before asphalt roads were common. The city streets that the cowboys with their horses ride through are dirt, dusty roads. Director Francis Boggs uses one of movie's first "tracking" shots with his camera on the back of a flatbed truck filming the cowboys as they race through town.
William Stowell, another future silent movie star, also made his film debut here.
Mix had worked a series of odd jobs before he hooked onto being a cowhand at a sprawling Oklahoma ranch. This particular ranch had a Wild West show that toured around the country showing off the skills of its most accomplished cowboys. Mix had a special ability to ride horses and rope steers, winning several national contests. It were these skills that Selig Studios hired him to play the part of a cowboy. "The Millionaire Cowboy" would be the first of almost 300 movies Mix would appear in during his career that spanned into talkies.
I'm not quite sure who Mix is among the cowboys since they all look alike. But for the movie itself, after a long sequence of cowboy displays with livestock, The Cowboy Millionaire's plot finally lurches forward with the protaganist who inherits a fortune from his uncle traveling to Chicago, leaving his rustic friends to live the urbane life. Things are pretty much a yawner until he invites his Western friends to the city for a reunion. One historical aspect I love seeing is this was filmed in Chicago before asphalt roads were common. The city streets that the cowboys with their horses ride through are dirt, dusty roads. Director Francis Boggs uses one of movie's first "tracking" shots with his camera on the back of a flatbed truck filming the cowboys as they race through town.
William Stowell, another future silent movie star, also made his film debut here.