The first sound western is a tad difficult to answer since there were early variations on sound --- i.e. sound effects and musical scoring vs. full talking pictures.

By the late 1920s, the studios and production companies were beginning their sound film work, and some of the earliest talkies (westerns included) included sound effects and musical background.  And some early films were released in both silent and sound versions to accomodate theaters that had not installed the new sound equipment. In those early days, there was basically two forms of "sound" - Warners Vitaphone utilized separate sound records/discs that required synching to the film via a turntable that was connected to the projector; others such as Fox used an optical soundtrack on the film itself. By 1933 or so, the "sound on disc" approach was discontinued and optical sound was the winner.

The earliest talking westerns and outdoor adventures included Rin Tin Tin in LAND OF THE SILVER FOX (Warners, 1928), IN OLD ARIZONA (Fox, 1929) with Warner Baxter as the Cisco Kid, and Gary Cooper in THE VIRGINIAN (Paramount, 1929).  The first full-fledged B western talkies included Leo Maloney and Jack Perrin in OVERLAND BOUND (Raytone, 1929) and WEST OF THE ROCKIES (Davis, 1929) starring Art Mix. Then came BEYOND THE RIO GRANDE (Biltmore/Big 4, 1930) with Jack Perrin; BAR L RANCH (Big 4, 1930) with Wally Wales; WESTWARD BOUND (Syndicate, 1931) with Buffalo Bill, Jr. (Jay Wilsey) and Buddy Roosevelt; and several more starring Wilsey --- THE CHEYENNE KID (West Coast Pictures, 1930) and TRAILS OF THE GOLDEN WEST and PUEBLO TERROR (both West Coast/Cosmos, 1931).

Remember that during the transition period from silents to sound, studios and production companies released several versions of their films. For example, Ken Maynard starred in a series of eight at Universal for 1929-1930 - some were silents, some were part-talkies, and some were released in both silent and talkie versions. Western movie heroes who successfully worked both silents and talkies included Tim McCoy, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, Tom Tyler, Bob Steele and Tom Mix.

As to the end of the Hollywood B western, that too is a tough question to answer, and requires some explanation.

• Republic's last western series concluded with Rex Allen in THE PHANTOM STALLION (Republic, 1954), and that film might be the appropriate reference point to mark the end of the low budget sagebrush adventure.

• TWO GUNS AND A BADGE (Allied Artists/Monogram, 1954), which starred former Warners contract player and World War II Navy flying hero Wayne Morris, is often credited as the last film in a B western series.

• Concluding these statistics with the year 1954 is arbitrary, and you may not agree.  We could stretch it out to 1955 or '56 as there were some B-westerns produced during those years (such as several starring John Carpenter).

Regardless of whether you agree with 1954, or a year or two later, the viewing public had other things to do besides B westerns at a Saturday matinee.  Kids (and their parents) were busy watching TV, and Roy and Gene already had their own half-hour shows on the small screen. And if kids and adults went to the theaters, it was to see sci-fi adventures like THEM (Warners, 1954) with James Arness and James Whitmore, or Desi and Lucy in THE LONG, LONG TRAILER (MGM, 1954), or Jimmy Stewart in THE GLENN MILLER STORY (Universal, 1954).

The low budget cowboy film wasn't the only form of American entertainment that had swooned by the mid 1950s.  The Charlie Chan films were no more.  Mickey Rooney was no longer Andy Hardy.  Even the Bowery Boys came to an end.  The 'Big Band Era' had come and gone, replaced by singers such as Patti Page, Dinah Shore and Perry Como.  Radio was also changing --- Jack Benny and Bob Hope moved to TV ... the last new Lone Ranger radio show aired in '55 ... and Amos & Andy, The Great Gildersleeve, Fibber McGee & Molly, and other programs were on their last legs.  And 'Rock & Roll' was just beginning.

The entertainment industry wasn't alone as there were many other changes to the U. S. lifestyle and businesses during this period.  Examples include: the growth of the airline industry (at the expense of the once dominant passenger trains); the building of single family subdivisions and the migration of the family to suburbia; and veterans were given G. I. Bill money to attend college.

Times were changing ... rapidly.  If you wish to read and learn more about the fade of the B sagebrusher, there is a section devoted to that issue on the Old Corral --- go to the menu item marked The End of the Trail ... the B western bites the dust.

Les Adams ran his trusty database on westerns by year and by studio/production company.  Les' database includes A and B westerns, as well as western themed shorts and serials.  During the years 1930-1954, approximately 2700 western films were churned out.  Les and I put together the following numbers and graphs for those of you into trivia or nitty-gritty statistics.

(From Old Corral collection) Above is the title lobby card for THE PHANTOM STALLION (Republic, 1954), with autographs from Rex Allen and Carla Balenda. This was Rex Allen's nineteenth and last film for Republic Pictures ... and the last series westerns that was done by Republic. Allen was under a Term Players Contract(s) at Republic, from March, 1949 to October, 1953.

82	90	112	97	79	148	133	134	117	118	129	126	121	104	97	81	99	99	112	117	134	103	106	90	68
1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954

7	21	33	27	26	30	31	31	28	27	23	26	25	22	24	30	21	17	13	6
1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954

17	18	17	17	7	5	0	7	17	17	24	23	18	15	17	15	15	16	21	21	17	19	21	19	11
1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954

6	10	18	13	4	11	16	13	20	16	15	15	18	13	10	12	17	17	20	23	20	20	19	16	11
1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954

16	2	9	14	8	9	9	9	10	7	11	13	12	7	12	9	7	4	2	4	10	7	9	15	12
1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954

• Includes A and B westerns, western shorts, and western-themed serials
• Reliable, Supreme, Big 4, World Wide, Tiffany, Allied, Grand National, and Screen Guild have their own columns.
• The 'Indies' column includes anything that isn't represented by a column of it's own such as Kent, Victory, Colony, Mascot, et al.
• The Supreme westerns that went out under the Republic logo are under Republic.
• Lippert productions released through Screen Guild are under Screen Guild.  Lippert releases, after Screen Guild folded in 1949, are included in 'indies'.
• Column explanations and inclusions:
  • Monogram=Monogram as well as Syndicate, Raytone and Allied Artists
    
  • 'Indies'=as defined above
    
  • PRC=Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), Eagle Lion, and the earlier PDC
    
  • Fox=Fox and 20th Century Fox
• Highest quantity of releases for a given year shown in red