User Reviews

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.

My Great Uncle, ARTHUR ARLO LONG, Nickname: "Pat", 1883-1968, was the first white person to bulldog a steer in the movies and he did it in a motion picture filmed in Chicago, IL. in 1909. The silent movie was "The Millionaire Cowboy" staring Tom Mix. It is said he (Pat) saved a woman on a run away horse in that same movie. Pat also toured with W. A. Dickey's Circle D Ranch Wild West Show and it is said he learned to bulldog steers from Bill Picket a black man who bulldogged the first steer.

Tom Mix was born in 1880 in Pennsylvania and he served in the Spanish-American War. He eventually moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma. Later, after trying his hand as a bartender, he worked as a hand with Zack Mullhall's 101 Ranch. While working at the 101 he began his movie career. This is probably where he met Pat Long. Pat was a working cowboy on many of the large ranches in Osage, Rogers and Washington County,Oklahoma, serving as foreman as he gained experience. Pat also appeared in the movie "Boar War". After his short movie career he went back to "punching" cows.

For a short time, around 1911, Thomas E. Mix served as Marshall in Dewey, Oklahoma, which is the site of the Tom Mix Museum. It houses items from his personal collection. His movie career spanned 26 years - from 1909 through 1935. He made 336 feature films, produced 88, wrote 71 and directed 117. Tom made only 9 sound feature films.

Tom Mix died in a car accident in 1940 between Tuscon and Florence, Arizona. Pat's last years were spent at Callie Flannagan's boarding house in Claremore, Oklahoma; he died in 1968.

An overlong comedy that opens and closes with interminable shots of cowboys rodeo-riding horses and virtually breaking the necks of bulls in an attempt to wrestle them to the ground. Not exactly edifying viewing, and the story in-between about a cowboy who has come into an inheritance finding it difficult to assimilate into polite society is too dull for words.

If a good cowboy picture is wanted, Selig is the one to produce it. His company can make a cowboy play seem like the real thing, and this film is no exception. The cowboy who becomes a millionaire is a novelty which will prove attractive, because it is out of the ordinary. His life in his luxurious city surroundings palls on him. and for the fun of it he sends for the whole outfit from Circle D ranch, and when they arrive the fun begins. It is rough-house, but is picturesque, filled with vigorous action, and therefore pleasing to a majority of the audiences. The fortunate man sees the comparison and loses his longing for the old life of the plains and the bucking bronchos. - The Moving Picture World, November 6, 1909