When we first meet Texas Guinan in The Gun Woman – a character nameless except for the moniker “The Tigress” – she is outside of her saloon at night, lingering half in the shadows, lighting her cigarette. Pre-Dietrich and pre-Noir, Guinan has femme fatale written over every inch of her body — yet this was made in 1918, and it is a Western. The cinematic predecessors that influenced film noir (namely German Expressionist and American hardboiled literature, both of the 1920s) were years away from being developed. Yet there she is, a deadly, dangerous woman, lurking in the darkest corners of the Old West – our lady Tex, “The Gun Woman” herself.Read the full review of The Gun Woman here at Not Coming to a Theater Near You.
Before I post a few stills from the movie, I just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone for their kind words and enthusiasm for the series. Very much appreciated, I assure you. Now, on to the images!
Ever notice how beautiful everyone looks in black and white. There is something so pure and clean about them. I know that must sound strange, but if you really study them and remember at the same time that they didn't have all the commerical make-up and things they have now. It sort of makes you wonder why we seem to place so much value on getting all "gooed" out... pardon my words. I mean it was simple and they still turned out beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI know this has nothing to do with your review and for that I offer my apologies. The review was good though.
T
Cullen, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that loves early cinema. I enjoyed your post and learned much I didn't know. Gracias.
ReplyDeleteDrop me a e-mail when you get a chance. paladin-1@hotmail.com
I've done a lot of research on her. She claimed to have made over 300 silent westerns, but so far I've only been able to document 55 of them. Of those ony about 10 still exist. I've collected seven of them and transferred them to DVD and have them for sale on Ebay. I also have a number of ther rare silents available there. If any one can add any info please contact me at tguinan@aol.com
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