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Rating: 
Summary: Katchmerites Rejoice!
Review: The late George Katchmer of Millersville, PA, was beloved by the readers of Classic Images. And no wonder. For more than a decade Katchmer profiled the stars, villains, heroines, supporting players and even riding extras in silent westerns. Yes, SILENT westerns, a niche in film history covered by hardly anyone at all. Month after month, the reader could find career profiles of everyone from Walter Ackerman to Chief Yowlachie. According to his legion of fans, Katchmer was meticulous to a fault. That, however, remains debatable. In this writer's opinion, George sometimes gave up a wee bit too soon. As the time, to list but one example, when he announced that "nothing could be found" concerning data on starlet Virginia Lee who, unbeknownst to Katchmer, was still alive and interviewed in the very same issue of Classic Images. (Blame for this faux pas, however, probably rightfully belongs to the editor of the magazine). Sadly, such caveats reappear in "A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses," a complete collection of Katchmer's thumb-nail bios through the years. We learn, for example, that 2-reel cowboy star Curley Witzel "is a question mark." But in reality, Witzel has been profiled in such magazines as "Wrangler's Roost" and by this writer ... And, once again, "nothing could be found" regarding Virginia Lee, who, in fact, was interviewed for a very recent McFarland book, Boyd Magers and Michael Fitzgerald's "Ladies of the Western." Why the three stars, then, I hear you ask. Well, because this handsome book comes with literally hundreds of portraits and scene stills of the profiled actors and actresses, making identification so much easier for further research. George Katchmer, his son John and McFarland should be heartily congratulated for including this many wonderful and quite rare illustrations. In fact, George even scared up a remarkable photo of the apparently so elusive Mr. Witzel!
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