Bucking Broncho
About Bucking Broncho
Lee Martin, a bronco rider with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, tries to stay on the horse Sunfish while a crowd watches. Frank Hammitt stands on the fence and fires a revolver to stir horse and rider. Sunfish throws Martin.
Cast & crew
More about Bucking Broncho
William K. L. Dickson produced it and William Heise photographed it for the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1894. It is a single 35mm shot lasting 32 seconds. Martin, whose only film this was, is uncredited. Hammitt, another Wild West performer, is the man on the rail with the gun.
Themes
Background
Buffalo Bill's show was in or near New York when Edison's crew recorded performers from it. This reel is one of the earliest Western subjects on film, shot a year before the projected cinema.
Making
Edison filmed the act as a demonstration of riding, in one setup, with the crowd and the fence inside the frame. The throw at the end is the clip's last event, not a cutaway.
Look
William Heise photographed the single setup: rider, horse, fence, and the man firing from the rail.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
Preserved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Notes
- The horse's name is Sunfish.
- Martin was a working bronc rider in Buffalo Bill's show, not an actor hired to imitate one.
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences preserves a print.
- It was included on the DVD More Treasures from American Film Archives (2004).
Scenes
- Hammitt fires from the top rail while Martin rides Sunfish.
- The horse unseats Martin at the end of the shot.
Also available
- DVD: More Treasures from American Film Archives (2004)
