Real West DVD

THE REAL WEST was the first program to present a true portrait of the historic West, debunking the glamour and contrived romanticism of network series and Hollywood films. In fact, Billy the Kid was a homicidal moron from the New York slums. Wyatt Earp never made it above assistant marshals. Wild Bill Hickok lived in back of a bordello and invented his own legend. The viewer partakes in the conquest of the frontier by cattle ranchers, prospectors, railroad builders, and farmers through stunning images of historic locations and mesmerizing close-ups of rugged faces. The camera techniques used here to breathe life into still images have rarely been so masterfully applied. The story is conveyed with a mixture of tart observation, bite and humor through the understated drawl of narrator Gary Cooper, who considered this his most satisfying work.

USA, 1961, B&W, 60 minutes.

NTSC Region 0 encoding (Entire World)