Kit Carson (1903 film)

Kit Carson
CinematographyWallace McCutcheon, Sr.
Production
company
Distributed byAmerican Mutoscope and Biograph Company
Release date
  • October 1903 (1903-10)
Running time
21 minutes[1][2]
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSilent
English intertitles

Kit Carson is one of the earliest Western films,[3] being released by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in October 1903. (According to silentera.com, portions may have been released the month before.[4]) Part of the footage was reused in The Pioneers, another Western short also released by Biograph in October 1903.[5][6] Both films were shot on location in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.[7]

Plot

Kit Carson and another trapper are attacked by Indians in the wilderness; Carson is taken prisoner and his companion killed. He escapes, but is recaptured and taken to his captors' village. There, a maiden takes pity on him and cuts his bonds, enabling him to escape again and return home to his loving family.[4]

References

  1. ^ Tim Dirks. "The History of Film / The Pre-1920s / Early Cinematic Origins and the Infancy of Film / Part 2". Filmsite.org.
  2. ^ Aquila, Richard (April 16, 2015). The Sagebrush Trail: Western Movies and Twentieth-Century America. University of Arizona Press. p. 15. ISBN 9780816531547.
  3. ^ Dar Haddix (November 27, 2003). "Feature: A century of Western movies". United Press International.
  4. ^ a b "Kit Carson". silentera.com.
  5. ^ "The Pioneers". silentera.com.
  6. ^ "Kit Carson (1903): Notes". Turner Classic Movies.
  7. ^ Gomery, Douglas; Pafort-Overduin, Clara (February 28, 2011). Movie History: A Survey: Second Edition. Taylor & Francis. p. 23. ISBN 9781136835254.