Approximately 15 minutes into the movie, telling the epic story of James Butler Hickok (better known as Wild Bill Hickok), we see him drift east from Abilene, KS, to New York, and accept his friend Buffalo Bill Cody’s invitation to join his theatrical production titled "Scouts of the Plains."
The front drop for "Scouts of the Plains," a play by Hiram Robbins. The actual premiere of the show was in Buffalo in October 1873. We're up in the balcony at the State Theatre. Note that we can see a bit of the auditorium's paint job at the time. The word is that the valance we see was created for the production. It was then left up in the theatre.
A wider shot telling us the production is playing the Bowery Theatre in New York. Evidently the show toured in different versions for about ten years. On the right just outside the proscenium note the speaker cabinet on the wall, quite unusual for the time period.
Carradine and Bridges onstage in the production. Wild Bill was seemingly quite dreadful as an actor, missing cues and fluffing lines, at least from the evidence of this recreated performance. Note the smoking footlights atop the State Theatre's real footlights.
Another shot from the brief sequence at the State.
Thanks to Mike Hume for investigating the film, doing the research, and taking the screenshots. Visit his Historic Theatre Photography site for photos and data about the many theatres he's explored. He, of course, has a page devoted to the State Theatre.
See the Los Angeles Theatres pages on the State Theatre for a history of the 1921 vintage vaudeville / film house and many, many photos.
On IMDb: "Wild Bill"
More information: The World History Project has a page on the play "Scouts of the Plains." The show is also discussed on a Buffalo Bill Center for the West page about Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill.
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