London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
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Rodeo Cowboys in London
Scenes both comic and daring, as American cowboys arrived in London ahead of their landmark performances at Wembley Stadium for the Empire Exhibition.
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Overview
The cowboys, in London for the Empire Exhibition, arrive in a stretched, open-topped car. We then meet Tex Austin, the “rodeo boss”, Maud Elder, a laughing cowgirl, and “Skeeter” Bill Robbins, who acted in Westerns and here impersonates an Englishman, with monocle and cigar. The rest of the film consists of dramatic footage of cowboys riding bulls and bucking broncos to demonstrate “the sort of thrill that tingles the blood at Wembley”.
The cowboys made an impact as soon as they arrived in London, when one, sitting on bonnet of a car, yelled, "I want to rope a red-headed girl" before lassoing a blonde. Hats of passing Londoners were also lassoed. The show was spectacularly popular, drawing 40,000 twice a day, but caused some controversy – and cost the promoters a few dollars – when the RSPCA alleged cruelty after an animal’s leg was broken during steer roping. The cowboys were forced to take to court to defend their show.
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