Category Archives: motion picture history
In Memoriam: Dick Moore, September 12, 1925 – September 7, 2015
Born John Richard Moore, Jr., “Dickie” made his silver screen debut at eleven months old when he portrayed the infant Francois Villon (fifteenth-century poet and scoundrel) in the silent film The Beloved Rogue (1927). Cast for his resemblance to the … Continue reading
Jacques Kapralik and the Art of Film Promotion
The American Heritage Center is fortunate to hold the papers and artwork of Jacques Kapralik. Kapralik was a commercial artist and caricaturist whose art was used in the promotion of motion pictures throughout Hollywood’s Golden Era of the 1930s-1950s. Born … Continue reading
From Spurs to Screen: Wyoming Boy Makes It Big In Hollywood
Sometimes those “film cowboys” featured in Westerns in the 1920s-1950s were actually real cowboys. One such authentic cowboy-turned-Hollywood star is Wally Wales (also known as Hal Taliaferro). Wally Wales was born Floyd Taliaferro Alderson in 1895 in Sheridan, Wyoming. His … Continue reading
Hopalong Cassidy: Cowboy Hero and Franchise Empire
One the most popular collections at the American Heritage Center is the papers of William Boyd, who played cowboy Hopalong Cassidy for many years on radio, television, and film. Hopalong Cassidy was originally created by author Clarence E. Mulford in … Continue reading
Sky High in Wyoming
In a press release written to accompany the release of her film, Sky High in Wyoming, the documentary filmmaker Mildred Capron (whose papers reside at the American Heritage Center) states: An easterner by birth and background, 14 years in China … Continue reading
Al Christie Papers Document Silent Film
The Cannes Film Festival winner and Oscar contender The Artist is a black and white silent film. The film was released in 2011, but draws inspiration from the original era of silent films (1894-1929). The American Heritage Center holds significant … Continue reading
From the Director: On Science Fiction
Each fall the University of Wyoming Art Museum generously provides one of its exhibit galleries to the American Heritage Center for a display focused on AHC collections and collection materials. This fall, to more than usual local acclaim, co-curators Rick Ewig … Continue reading
