January 20: Singing Cowboys

In Old Arizona, the first talkie movie shot outdoors (and the first to feature a “singing cowboy”), was released on this date in 1929. It was based on an O. Henry story about the Cisco Kid and was co-directed by Irving Cummings (Camisky), a popular actor-turned-director (Raoul Walsh, the original director, was injured in a car accident during pre-production). The film received five Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director. Cummings was an actor in Buster Keaton’s first silent feature, The Saphead, as well as in the silent film that introduced the “flapper” to America, Fred Niblo’s Sex.

“On his way the Kid suddenly experienced the yearning that all men feel when wrong-doing loses its keen edge of delight. He yearned for the woman he loved to reassure him that she was his in spite of it. He wanted her to call his bloodthirstiness bravery and his cruelty devotion.” —O. Henry