Fact Amid Fiction: Discovering the Real Wild West in Silent Film

The University of Arkansas and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will host a conference and public lecture on Monday, Oct. 1, about the treatment of the American frontier in early film featuring the distinguished British filmmaker, silent film historian, and Academy Award recipient, Kevin Brownlow.

As part of the conference, Crystal Bridges will host two panel discussions between 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. that focus on how historians separate fact from fiction in art relating to the history and myth of the Wild West. Seating for the conference panels at Crystal Bridges is limited. Free online reservations can be made at the Crystal Bridges lecture site. Following the panels, conference attendees are invited to visit the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville, from 3 to 5 p.m. The conference will conclude with a talk on the silent western by Kevin Brownlow at 8 p.m. at Giffels Auditorium in Old Main, on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

Kevin Brownlow began collecting silent films at the age of 11, made his first film at 14, and at 18 co-directed his influential independent feature, It Happened Here. In 1968 Brownlow was the editor for Tony Richardson’s epic motion picture The Charge of the Light Brigade, and achieved international acclaim for his groundbreaking book on silent film history, The Parade’s Gone By, which featured his interviews with pioneer filmmakers. Brownlow’s documentaries Hollywood (1980), Unknown Chaplin (1983), and Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987), to name a few, are among the finest examples of film scholarship relating to their given subject. Kevin Brownlow was presented with a special honorary Academy Award in recognition for his contributions in preserving the art and history of silent cinema on Nov. 13, 2010. 

Considered by many to be the foremost silent film historian in the world, Brownlow will join the conference in exploring the premise that facts about the real west can be found in fictional representation. Brownlow posited this idea in his 1979 book The War, the West, and the Wilderness, which was the first major study to explore the historical association gunfighters and Native Americans had with the earliest motion pictures.

Crystal Bridge's first panel at 10:30 a.m., “Separating Fact from Fiction,” will feature a presentation by Crystal Bridges assistant curator Manuela Well-Off-Man and curatorial assistant Ali Demorotski, on how important artworks at Crystal Bridges can be analyzed for what they tell us about the realities and myths of the American West. Elliott West, Distinguished Professor in History at the University of Arkansas, will follow with a discussion concerning how historians separate fact from fantasy in studies of the frontier. This panel will conclude with Brownlow sharing how he, as an Englishman, developed an appreciation for the history of the West from its representation in silent film.

The second panel, “Preserving and Interpreting America’s Western Past,” will be held from 1:30-3 p.m. Historian Robert Myers will share the difficulties he faced in separating fact from fiction in the 1980s while interviewing the confessed liar Albert Beck, who robbed banks with the notorious Cherokee outlaw Henry Starr. Steven Gragert, curator of the Will Rogers Memorial Museums, will describe how his institution preserves and presents a 20^th century legend and his films in the 21^st century. The panel will conclude with the distinguished American film preservationist David Shepard talking about the challenges he faced when preserving the classic 1922 silent documentary Nanook of the North for future generations.

Following a 3-5 p.m. visit to the Museum of Native American History, one of the finest private collections of Native American artifacts on exhibit to the public, conference attendees are invited to hear Brownlow’s presentation on silent westerns at 8 p.m. in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main, at the University of Arkansas.  

All presentations are free and open to the public. Free online reservations for the panels at Crystal Bridges can be made by visiting the Crystal Bridges lecture site. For more information, contact Frank Scheide at fscheide@uark.edu.

This program is supported by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; the Museum of Native American History; Buster Keaton Celebration of Iola, Kansas; Mr. Keith Goering; University of Arkansas Programs Committee; Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; Artists and Concerts Committee; Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies; Department of Communication, Department of History, Department of Journalism, Department of English; Honors Film Association; Native American Student Association; Heritage of the West, Branson, Missouri; and Arkansas Images.