The Wild and Woolly Biography of the Outlaw who became a Movie Star.
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University of North Texas Press
From Gentleman Bandit to Movie Star
and Back Again
In 1921, headlines across the country announced the death of Henry Starr, a burgeoning silent film star who was killed while attempting to rob a bank in Harrison, Arkansas. Cynics who knew the real Starr were not surprised. Before becoming a matinee idol, Starr had been the greatest bank robber of the horseback bandit era.
Born in 1872, Cherokee outlaw Henry Starr had survived shootouts and death sentences and lived long enough to witness the invention of moving pictures. In 1919, after Starr was released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, a hotshot movie producer convinced him he had the looks, charisma, and “wild and woolly” life story to become the next big movie star.
When filming began in 1920, powerful organizations aligned to censor Starr, attempting to prevent him from exposing Oklahoma’s corrupt legal system and the government’s mistreatment of the Cherokee. The Women's Christian Temperance Union pressured theater owners to ban his film, state and federal lawmakers drafted legislation to stymie theatrical distribution, and police and district attorneys threatened to send him back to prison.
Starr's only film, the biographical movie A Debtor to the Law, is lost to history, but through surviving memorabilia, newspaper accounts, and interviews with people who worked with him on set, author Mark Archuleta traces how the reformed Gentleman Bandit attempted to use the power of cinema to reframe his life story and redeem himself in the eyes of the public, his family, and the Cherokee Nation.
The Reel Thrilling Events of Bank Robber Henry Starr is about more than heists and Hollywood glamor. Starr’s journey is about the American myth of reinvention, recidivism, and the founding of the motion picture industry when racial tensions were simmering to a boil.
Meet the Writer
MARK ARCHULETA is an Emmy-winning screenwriter, journalist, and performer. A fifth-generation Coloradoan of Spanish Basque descent, he grew up steeped in the history of the American West and the colorful characters who inhabited it. Mark earned his B.A. in English Literature from the University of Colorado. He lives in Green Valley, California, with his wife, Mimsey, and their dachshund, Kenzie.
Reviews
What renowned Western authors and film historians are saying about The Reel Thrilling Events of Bank Robber Henry Starr
"Captivating"
“This captivating narrative illuminates the porous boundary between banditry and showbiz in the post-frontier period. Alternating between brazen bank heists and Hollywood stardom, Henry Starr gave moviegoers the authenticity they craved in an increasingly mediated culture. In bridging the divide between the Wild West and modernity, Starr and other gentleman bandits spawned an entertainment genre that has never lost its resonance. Thanks to Mark Archuleta for bringing us the reel thing.”—Michael J. Hightower, PhD, author of Banking in Oklahoma Before Statehood and Banking in Oklahoma, 1907–2000
"Fascinating"
“A fascinating and well-researched account of a Western outlaw and moviemaker who lived on the border between myth and history.” —Richard Slotkin, author of A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America and Regeneration through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600-1860
'When Wild West Myth and Reality Collided'
“Archuleta’s biography of Henry Starr, one of the most prolific bank robbers in the nation’s history, will transport you to a time when the Wild West of myth and reality collided. This enigmatic Cherokee outlaw moved seamlessly from robbing banks to producing and starring in a biographical silent movie about his most colorful exploit. Starr’s life and death instantly became entwined in myth and legend. He had made the transition from the days when outlaws rode horses to a time when they arrived at banks in swift motorcars and wore tailored suits.”—Michael Wallis, author of Belle Starr: The Truth Behind the Wild West Legend
"Art Imitating Life and Life Imitating Art"
This is a well-written and engaging story about art imitating life and life imitating art in the later part of the silent period of American filmmaking. The story cuts back and forth between Starr’s ‘real’ and ‘reel’ lives. Archuleta’s book is highly readable and appropriate for a general audience, but it is also useful to specialists in the field of cinema history, US mass culture in the early twentieth century, and the depiction of Native Americans in popular culture. It is creative and thoroughly researched, citing extensive primary and secondary resources.”—Andrew Brodie Smith, author of Shooting Cowboys and Indians: Silent Western Films, American Culture, and the Birth of Hollywood
Events
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THE REEL THRILLING EVENTS OF BANK ROBBER HENRY STARR
Product details
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ASIN : B0F6BKPGTF
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Publisher : University of North Texas Press
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Publication date : July 15, 2025
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Language : English
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Print length : 320 pages
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ISBN-10 : 1574419781
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ISBN-13 : 978-1574419788
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Item Weight : 1.74 pounds
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Dimensions : 5.98 x 0.98 x 9.02 inches
Film Rights and Option Available
Currently seeking producing partners for the award-winning screenplay, The Outlaw Henry Starr.
