''Bucking Broncho'' is an 1894 American black-and-white
silent film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
from
Edison Studios
Edison Studios was an American film production organization, owned by companies controlled by inventor and entrepreneur, Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films, as part of the Edison Manufacturing Company (1894–1911) and then Tho ...
, produced by
William K. L. Dickson with
William Heise
William Heise (c. 1847 – February 14, 1910) was a German-born American film cinematographer and director, active in the 1890s and credited for more than 175 short silent films. Heise filmed a "We All Smoke" skit promoting Admiral Cigarettes in ...
as cinematographer. Filmed on a single reel, using standard
35 mm gauge, it has a 32-second runtime. One of the earliest known films in the
Western genre
The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...
, it is preserved by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
and available in the DVD collection ''
More Treasures from American Film Archives'' (2004).
The film features Lee Martin who was an actual cowboy "
bronco
A bucking horse is any breed of horse, male or female, with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock.
The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for ro ...
rider" and a member of ''
Buffalo Bill's Wild West
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age o ...
'' show. Martin's part was uncredited and it was his only film. Also appearing is Frank Hammitt, another star of the show, who is standing on the fence and firing his revolver. The film is a demonstration of Martin's expert horse riding before a crowd of onlookers although the horse, who was called Sunfish, unseats him at the end of the clip.
See also
*
List of Western films before 1920
References
External links
*
*
{{William Kennedy Dickson
1894 films
1894 short films
1894 Western (genre) films
1890s American films
American black-and-white films
Articles containing video clips
Edison Manufacturing Company films
Films about horses
Films directed by William Kennedy Dickson
Silent American Western (genre) short films
Surviving American silent films
Thomas Edison