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Serials and Otherwise
HE cowboy in pictures is the very backbone of the industry
— because Westerns are the most popular form of ehter
A tainrnent on the screen today. Westerns, according to the popular notion, consist of some well-known star of this form of play, a few riding thrills, a romance, and a lot of excitement. And the star gets the credit as a rule. People have come to look on the band of cowboys behind the Western star as mere "atmosphere" and seldom if ever differentiate between the cowboy and the ordinary extra.
The cowboy is in a sense an extra — atmosphere — but to qualify for this form of extra work he must be a specialist — an expert in horseflesh. There are very few Western stars who can do half the things on horseflesh that their cowboys can do. There are very few Western stars who know how to look after their horses; who can cure them when they're sick, and keep them healthy when they're well.
I would be nowhere without their help and their teaching. I have to throw myself on the mercy of Bill Gillis, with his knowledge and riding skill; I have to listen avidly to such pearls of wisdom as Slim Cole or Frank Rice can, out of friendship, let drop for me ; I have to hunt up Art Manning, that king of range riders, when I am in a quandary; and so with the rest of the ranch riders. Luckily for me the boys are my friends and help me — otherwise I wouldn't be long in Western pictures.
The Western star who wasn't trained on the range may be a great hit in pictures — but the cowboys behind him are the men to whom he owes his success. The men behind the Western play are such men as Bill Gillis, Alton Stone, Jack McGirvin, "Goober" Glenn, Jim Whittaker, Slim Cole — the boys whose names aren't on the cast, but whose riding does the real work.
And, incidentally — in the "Hunchback of Notre Dame", the big thrill was the army of armored horsemen who dashed into the square and saved the Cathedral from the mob. And those riders — who made the biggest thrill in the biggest play in history— those were the same cowboys who make Western pictures what they are !
WILLIAM DESMOND
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