City slicker dreams of cowboys, gets staged Wild West show. Real bandits strike, slicker turns hero.

Wild and Woolly, a 1917 silent comedy directed by John Emerson, is a playful deconstruction of genre through physical humor.

The film stars Douglas Fairbanks as an easterner obsessed with romanticized Wild West stereotypes. The townspeople, aware of his fantasies, put on a show of frontier chaos, complete with staged bar brawls and phony shootouts. This satirical approach dismantles the myth of the Wild West, exposing its absurdity through humor.

Wild and Woolly also experiments with slapstick in a way that pushes the boundaries of silent film. Fairbanks's athleticism is on full display as he performs acrobatic stunts and utilizes props in unexpected ways. The film's breakneck pace and reliance on physical humor create a unique cinematic experience that stands out from more conventional comedies of the era.

While not a radical departure from filmmaking norms, Wild and Woolly's playful experimentation with genre, narrative, and physical comedy make it a noteworthy example of how filmmakers were pushing the boundaries of silent cinema in the early 20th century.