As Hell On Wheels Film Analysis

So often when we thought of the west as a young child and even as a young adult there may been scene in our mind that represented the American West. Whether this was from Marty McFly’s adventure to the western town of Hill Vally in 1885 or the Lone Ranger and his Indian partner Tonto, we all are mesmerized by Hollywood’s version of what the American West is. This is not to say that the screenwriter is not accurate, however there is quite a lot of “artistic freedom” that is allowed in this shows and films. We all understand that watching the tracks as they were laid for the Transcontinental Railroad as it happened would not make great filmmaking. However, films such Iron Horse (1924), Union Pacific (1939) and the more current television …show more content…
These little “towns” consisted of tents represented by saloons, churches, barbershops, mercantile stores and whorehouses. Although, AMC producers took great liberty with this portion of the film, they depicted churchwomen, mothers, children, and numerous other women within the confines of the towns. Of the few women in these towns and those were there mostly prostitutes. Wyoming historian T.A. Larson speaks in regards to the Wyoming Territory were the Union Pacific was coming through, which would have been typical for most of these, Hell on Wheel towns. Larson stated. “ The scarcity of women was a striking characteristic of territorial Wyoming. In 1870 there were six men aged twenty-one or over forever women aged twenty-one or over”. It is obvious that Hollywood, wants to ensure that we have enough equal billing for everyone, however who still must ensure that we are presenting a historical accurate film The AMC television program used a great deal of “artistic liberty” with this portion as they. There may have been towns that grew and size as did the demographic of women and children but these early days as the railroad was being built the numbers were swayed toward the male