From the Book Cover:
The film Western has had many great stars, from Tom Mix to John Wayne to Clint Eastwood, but William S. Hart (1865-1946) is still regarded as probably the most important Western star ever. He was the box office rival of such favorites as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks; he did more than anyone else to make the adult, authentic Western come into being; and he created, in his films, the mythic Western hero that has come to be a part of our public consciousness - the strong, silent, physically accomplished hero who uncompromisingly pursues and dispenses justice.

During his brief, successful career (1914 to 1925), Hart made about 20 short films and nearly 50 feature films. This lavishly illustrated filmography provides stills (with occasional background photos), credits, synopses and reviews (from contemporary trade journals) for each of the films, including a few on historical or urban subjects. Beginning with His Hour of Manhood and ending with Tumbleweeds, the films include: The Bargain, The Grudge, The Man from Nowhere, Pinto Ben, a Knight of the Trails, Hell's Hinges, The Dawn Maker, The Devil's Double, The Square Deal Man, The Silent Man, Selfish Yates, The Border Wireless, The Money Corral, The Testing Block, The Whistle, White Oak, and Wild Bill Hickok. The over 200 stills selected from the films illustrate main characters and central situations; they have been chosen with great care, and equal care has been taken to obtain reproductions of unsurpassed clarity. Many of these stills have never before been seen.

The author, a well-known contributor to film scholarship, has furnished an informative introduction, with additional illustrations. She indicates why Hart was such a key figure in movie history and provides many illuminating details about his early life, stage career, and films. No one interested in the early years of filmmaking, and the early Western in particular, can afford to pass up this remarkably comprehensive volume about one of the silent film's truly great stars.

"Hart brought to the melodramatic commonplace of the 'Goodman-Badman' role unprecedented personal charisma. His physical appearance incarnated Western virtues: he was tall and lean (6'2," 180 pounds), he wore the rumpled bulky costume of the cowhand or prospector or faro dealer with authority and grace, he could ride and shoot pretty well. His face was a most extraordinary icon: its hard planes evoke both the wild wolf and the Puritan forefather. It was a face made for expressing dark emotions." - from Diane Koszarski's Introduction

Original Dover (1980) publication. 256 illustrations. Introduction with illustrations. Print Sources. Picture Credits. Alphabetical List of Films. Basic arrangement is chronological by film. xxiv + 152 pp. 81/4 x 11. Paperbound.