Montana State Fair (1914) watch online HD

This collection of clips about the Montana State Fair is directed by by longtime Vitagraph director Rollin Sturgeon. Calling him the director seems a bit odd to the modern viewer, since it seems unlikely that when the bull-riding comes up, Mr. Sturgeon told the bull when to leap up in the air. However, in that era, the role of the director was not as well defined as it came to be, and could well include such modern film-making jobs as producer or editor or even set designer.

When this movie was made, Ince was just inventing the assembly-line method, in which one specialist would choose the costumes and another would decorate the set. A director might wear many modern hats in making a film, including editor. This sort of general designation still exists in animation, where a cartoon's director might more properly be called a producer or supervisor -- but isn't.

In any case, this compilation of clips from a Montana State fair shows a combination of animal judging and a rodeo. There are some interesting shots in it and at four minutes on the Eye Institute site on Youtube, is typical of its era.