Der weiße Indianer

The story of Buffalo Bill (Joel McCrea) is showed basically in two parts, beginning in 1877: in the West, when he meets his future wife Louisa Frederici Cody (Maureen O'Hara), his friendship with the Indians, specially with Yellow Hand (Anthony Quinn), and his work, as an explorer of the wild West, ending when his wife returns to the East with his baby son and with a battle against the Cheyenne. The second part begins when he moves to the East, loses his son, separates from his wife, defends the Indians in the civilized society until his retirement. I liked this movie a lot: the battle scenes are fantastic, the story has action, romance, drama and is not corny. I do not know whether the facts are correctly presented or not, but as a movie, it is a great entertainment, recommended for all audiences. Maureen O'Hara's beauty is stunning. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): `Buffalo Bill'

All the action in this movie is mostly towards the beginning-the indian vs calvary battle which bestows the famous reputation of indian-fighter on the main character, Buffalo Bill. The battle scenes are enhanced by the large numbers of real indians who were wearing real eagle feathers, and even the participation of a young indian woman in the battle(a similarity to the Custer battle, where indian women also participated). Staging a battle with large numbers of horses in the middle of a river must have been challenging. The indians would have probably chosen a much better site, but the storyline said they were in a hurry to get through a vital pass and so the clash.Buffalo Bill summarized his feelings for the indians by saying,"they were all my friends." the rest of the movie focuses on his personal life and tragedies. His final speech to his fans gave the viewer a feel for the about-to-be-lost glory and grandeur of the old west.It made me think of how far beyond anything C.B. DeMille ever did the true west really was.

If William F. Cody had lived until 1944 he would have loved this film. Most of all he would have approved of the casting of Hollywood's most straight arrow hero Joel McCrea as himself. That's the image Cody liked to convey even if it wasn't exactly the truth.

The real Cody was a brave enough hero all right and this film does mention some of the highlights of his real life, the buffalo hunt with Grand Duke Alexei of Russia, the hand to hand fight with Yellow Hand at War Bonnet Gorge, and the formation of his wild west show.

The trouble was the real Cody got into show business and he was ballyhooed out of all proportion to his real accomplishments. And Cody was lent himself admirably to exploitation.

The movie is the kind of ballyhoo that Cody would have approved. Cody's chief publicist in real life was Ned Buntline who is faithfully portrayed here by Thomas Mitchell. Maureen O'Hara is Louisa Frederici Cody and she's the faithful, but eastern bred wife. No hint of the real marriage problems that plagued the Codys.

Linda Darnell and Edgar Buchanan are in this film and I don't really know why. Darnell is an Indian school mistress and Buchanan is a grizzled old army trooper. No real reason for either of them in the film. Darnell is killed at War Bonnet Gorge and she must have been the first squaw who rode into battle. Buchanan's character is also left hanging in the air. Anthony Quinn is Cheyenne chief Yellow Hand and is Cody's worthy adversary on the screen.

Buffalo Bill Cody's real contribution was the wild west show. Cody had many imitators, but he was the original. Until Hollywood took over with the making of the first silent westerns, these shows created the myths surrounding the winning of the west. Sadly that part of Cody's life is given short shrift.

But Buffalo Bill would have loved this film. Whether today's audience would is open to speculation.

A lavish Technicolor potboiler shot by Leon Shamroy, who later collected that year's Oscar for colour cinematography for 'Wilson'; although here the most spectacular scenes are obviously the work of Otto Brower's second unit, with the close ups of the leads shot back at the studio.

It commendably takes the side of the American Indian (represented here by Anthony Quinn and Linda Darnell, the latter wearing lots of makeup and the former very little of anything) against the vested financial interests back East, and also gives the plight of the buffalo a nod.

Maureen O'Hara thought her first western "would be forgettable, but it turned out to be one of the biggest moneymakers 20th Century-Fox had that year" and that Joel McCrea although "a very nice man, a good actor, but not rugged like Duke or Brian Keith". He's likeable, however and as usual gives the film heart.

This is an entertaining chronicle of the noted frontier explorer . A simple story of William "Buffalo Bill" F. Cody (Joel McCrea) , legendary westerner , whose adventures made him a hero , this is a fictionalized account of the life and career from his days as an army scout or frontier hunter , his marriage to Louisa Frederici Cody (Maureen O'Hara) , to his later activities as showmanship . There happen sad events , as a lot of Buffalos had been exterminated , as hordes of eager hunters pursued the Buffalo herds in mass attacks and newspapers publicized special excursions to Buffalo grounds , including ¨the Great Russian Duke hunt¨ . Bill participated but also denounced these deeds . His hat along with a small part of his scalp was shot off by the Sioux Indians with their chief Crazy Horse and Cheyennes tribes , as in 1869 took place the action leading to a stunning victory over the Cheyenne at Summit Springs , Kansas . And there occurred his fight against ¨Yellow Hand¨ (Anthony Quinn) . Bill inspired dime novelist Ned Buntline (Thomas Mitchell) to write a serial featuring him and he began escorting hunting parties for rich men . The movie describes his rising and fall when Bill assaults an editor , denounced fraud , evicted from Astor ; though Bill , finally , accused Monied interests of instigating Indian wars . After winning a Congressional medal of Honor for bravery , then Cody left scouting and headed East to begin a theatrical career . Bill , subsequently , becomes a wealthy owner of a Wild West show , as a showman made him a legend.

Good biographic movie portraying the famous Wild West role . Well and lavishly directed by William A. Wellman with a great all-star-cast as Joel McCrea , Maureen O'Hara , Anthony Quinn , Linda Darnell , Edgar Buchanan , among others . Being emotionally right on the mark and there's precious action . The picture has an excellent Mise-En-scene with spectacular battles , big production design , thrilling score by David Buttolph and spectacular cinematography by Leon Shamroy .

During his 72 years Bill (1846-1917) enjoyed one of the greatest careers in Western history . Bill started early , by the age of 14 , he had already worked as drover , prospector , trapper and Pony Express rider . While grading track , and hunting Buffalos for the Kansas Pacific Railroad , after the Civil War , 21-year-old William F. Cody allegedly received the nickname ¨Buffalo Bill¨ after bringing down 11 of the beasts with 12 shots . Like his friend , ¨Will Bill Hickock¨ whom he met during the Civil war , Cody scouted for the Union in its wartime campaign against the Plains tribes and continued operating against Indians in the service of General Sheridan , General Carr's 5th Cavalry and other commanders . The dime novels and other popular entertainments of the time had already begun to be filled with rather fanciful accounts of Cody's exploits . And coming west on the newly completed transcontinental railroad . Shortly thereafter, the celebrated scout moved to Fort McPherson , Nebraska . In 1875-1876 he returned briefly to scouting in the Sioux Wars where he distinguished himself yet again . From then until his death in 1917 , Bill divided his time between ranching and producing Wild West Shows , in which Bill was cheered by crowds of enthusiastic citizens that made him wealthy and secured his everlasting fame .

Other films about ¨Buffalo Bill¨ are the followings : ¨Battling with Buffalo Bill¨ (1931) by Ray Taylor with Tom Tyler , ¨The Plainsman¨ (1936) by Cecil B. De Mille with Gary Cooper , James Ellison , Jean Arthur , ¨Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory¨ by Bernard Ray with Clayton Moore , Chief Thundercloud , ¨Buffalo Bill rides again ¨ (1947) by Bernard Ray with Richard Arlen , ¨Buffalo Bill¨ by Mario Costa with Gordon Scott , Mario Petri and the historical pastiche as well as perennial underrated ¨Buffalo Bill and the Indians¨ (76) by Robert Altman with Paul Newman who appears as a charlatan and shameless exemplar of encroaching imperialism .