''The Great American Cowboy'' is a 1973

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

about the sport of rodeo. The film, which was directed by

Kieth Merrill Kieth W. Merrill (born May 22, 1940) is an American filmmaker who has worked as a writer, director, and producer in the film industry since 1967. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America ...

, is notable for its use of experimental editing and camera techniques. The film focuses on the 1973 battle for the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)

all-around The All-Around is an award given to a rodeo competitor who is most successful in two or more events. Most individual rodeos and championships determine the winner of this award at the conclusion of the other events or championships. Championship ...

world championship race between seasoned veteran rodeo star

Larry Mahan Larry Mahan (born November 21, 1943) is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He won six all-around world championships and two bull riding world championships in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit at the National ...

and more recent champion

Phil Lyne Phil Lyne (born January 18, 1947) is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Lyne was the RCA Rookie of the Year in 1969. Two seasons later at ...

. Voiceover narration is provided by Hollywood actor

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

.TCM.com
/ref> The film won the 1974

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

References

External links

''The Great American Cowboy''
at the ''

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

'' *
Douglas Kent Hall official Web siteAn interview with Keith Merrill about the making of the film
1973 films American sports documentary films Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners Films directed by Kieth Merrill 1973 documentary films Rodeo in film Cowboy culture 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{Rodeo-stub

See also

References

External links