Customer Reviews

When Cowboys Were King (History Channel)

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If you are a big fan or even a casual fan of westerns this DVD is for you. It traces the evolution of the western from one-reel silent movies to the modern era and documents how they have changed over the years in both presentaion and theme. The old footage alone of John Wayne as a singing cowboy and the story of how many of the early stars often had to do dangerous stunts in their films alone is worth seeing. So if you are a western movie person don't miss this wonderful documentary!

I really didn't expect much from this, given the fact that it was from the History Channel. Too often their DVDs are superficial and contain a plethora of rhetorical questions rather than facts. However, this turned out to be a very fine overview of the western movie, and TV program from the first oater by Edison, to the glut of the genre on TV in the 1950s, to the present day.

Anyone who has ever enjoyed these American morality dramas (that's what westerns really are) should enjoy this. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers ride again, along with a good many other hombres and sidewinders who are almost forgotten now.

For all of us who LOVE Westerns, particularly the "B" Westerns, this is a great peak at the history and names that made the West come alive on our local movie screens or TV screens. The only problem is that there is so much to cover and so little time. Based on the limits the producers had to have, they did a great job and would recommend this DVD. Nice to pop it in and remember what it was like back when we all wanted to be straight shooters like our heroes on the screen.

"When Cowboys Were King" is a wonderful piece of nostalgia for those of us to whom these "Kings" were friends in the 40s and 50s. Those "shoot-um-ups" are still fun to watch--good clean entertainment that drew a clear line between good and evil; the good always prevailed. We knew, even then, that was not always the case, but the reality of things did not diminish our enjoyment of this fine entertainment. God bless 'em everyone.