Flickers

As Texas told it, she was riding a horse on stage when an agent for a West coast film company approached her about appearing in a silent movie. (They were all silent back then, youngsters!) Her initial film, The Wildcat (1917) introduced America's first movie cowgirl. She was soon the pistol packing, barrel riding Queen of the West. The greater number of them were "two reelers," but she also made a few full length features. In 1921, she formed Texas Guinan Productions. She gave marriage another try, with Julian Johnson (a scenario editor in Hollywood). But her love affair with Hollywood was fading. She closed up shop in 1922 and headed back to New York.

Her other films included:

She also made a few talkies, taking advantage of her noteriety by playing herself!

Copies of South of Santa Fe (LC Control Number: 97521102) are currently in the film collection of the Library of Congress. The catalog states they may be viewed "by appointment only." I suspect they are picky about who they let view these, but if you live in the area you might want to give it a try.



New! As an experiment, we've posted a ten second clip of a silent movie for online viewing. Go here if you have time to wait for it.

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