Pony Express

Charles Marquis Warren is one of the worst western scriptwriters.Responsible(also for directing it) for the very mediocre -and a bit racist- "Arrowshead"-which featured Heston as well,he wrote an even more dreadful story here.Will Cody must be turning in his grave! The story is incoherent,every sequence seems to be the beginning of the film,there's the de rigueur (check "Arrowshead") Heston/Indian fight,and Jan Sterling's part is so thin it's a wonder she can do something with it(This actress found her best role in Wilder's masterpiece "the big carnival").Only the last sequences of the mail might redeem that,but the "writer" wanted a "moving" ending so he spoils everything .

You'll always be better off with Cecil B.De Mille's "the plainsman"(1936)with Gary Cooper ,Jean Arthur and James Ellison,as far as Buffalo Bill is concerned.Hickock 's character is also featured,and on top of that ,Calamity Jane in the flesh.

As the Civil War looms in 1860, Buffalo Bill Cody (Charlton Heston) and Wild Bill Hickok (Forrest Tucker) team-up to help establish the Pony Express from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, enabling mail to get from East to West in 10 days rather than 3 weeks by stagecoach. But they have to deal with Separatists who seek to stop the speedy new service (e.g. Rhonda Fleming & Michael Moore), as well as hostile Indians led by chief Yellow Hand (Pat Hogan).

"Pony Express" (1953) is an entertaining enough Western with gorgeous Technicolor and a quality cast. How can you go wrong with the formidable Charlton Heston and stunning Rhonda Fleming? Winsome Jan Sterling is also on hand as a Calamity Jane-like woman with eyes for Buffalo Bill.

The Pony Express only ran for a year and a half between April, 1860, and November, 1861, wherein it was the most direct means of east-west communication before the transcontinental telegraph was completed by Western Union in late October, 1861, making the Pony Express obsolete. Despite being a financial flop, the Pony Express delivered 35,000 pieces of mail and was vital for linking the new state of California with the rest of the USA.

As usual with Hollywood (especially back then), history is mixed with fantasy or legend. While Buffalo Bill Cody almost certainly worked as a messenger boy at Leavenworth, Kansas, for the owners of the Pony Express (which is different from being a rider), he was only 14 at the time, not 29, which Heston was during shooting. Cody of course claimed to have served as a rider in his autobiography, but historians haven't been able to find proof of this (keep in mind that Cody's livelihood later in life depended on a constant larger-than-life public relations campaign). Meanwhile Cody did fight & kill Yellow Hair, but that wasn't until 1876, sixteen years after the events in the movie. I guess that's why the writers changed the name to Yellow Hand for the movie.

As for Hickok, he worked for the Pony Express at the age of 23 as a stableman at the Rock Creek station in eastern Nebraska.

Yet the movie drives home the historical reality that working for the Pony Express was a risky business as some 16 employees were killed at relay stations during the Pyramid Lake War of 1860 in Nevada (aka the Paiute War). Meanwhile 8 riders died during the 19 months the Pony Express was in operation: four were slain by hostile Natives; one was hanged for murder after he killed a man while drunk; one died in an unconnected mishap; and two froze to death. To be respected, the movie throws in an honorable cameo of mountain man Jim Bridger (Porter Hall) who discovered the Bridger Pass in south-central Wyoming in 1850, which was used for the Pony Express.

While the story could've been more compelling, "Pony Express" is relatively entertaining, lacks goofiness, and spurs viewers to look up the real history.

The film runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was shot in Kanab, Utah; Arizona; and Paramount Studios, Hollywood.

GRADE: B-

In 1860, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok joined their strength to establish a communication route with the East through a fresh and fast relay stations of young riders on horseback...

Charlton Heston plays the legendary mountain man, buffalo hunter, U. S. Army Scout and Indian fighter and backer of the 'Pony Express' from St. Joseph to Sacramento in only ten days... Forrest Tucker plays his friend Wild Bill Hickok, an U. S. Marshal who brought order to the frontier with many encounters with outlaws among them Michael Moore (Lance Hastings) and Henry Brandon (Cooper) whose plans are to destroy the relay stations and ambush the express riders...

The film is loaded with action scenes and amusing moments...

• When Heston stops a stagecoach and tells the coachman: 'I'm Buffalo Bill Cody.' 'Sure, and I'm Wild Bill Hickok,' replies the driver... Coming alongside and smiling, Heston says: 'Nope, You're not that ugly!'

• When Heston meets Tucker arriving in town... Their courteous words are replaced by a shooting game, a rare but funny expression of friendship, putting holes in each other's garments including Tucker's nine dollars expensive hat... 'It's fancier than shaking hands,' expresses Jan Sterling to Rhonda Fleming from the window of her hotel...

-When Jan Sterling comes into the presence of the famous 'Pair of Bills,' wishing to increase her impression on Buffalo Bill with a fancy pink dress... Seeing her, Heston notes: 'Why not you go back and put some clothes on!'

Rhonda Fleming plays Evelyn Hastings, the ravishing wealthy redhead, who falls in love with Heston, leaving alone her brother who never wanted the 'Pony Express' to get through..-

Jan Sterling plays the sincere pretty blonde who loves so much Buffalo Bill...

Filmed in Technicolor, this enjoyable Western, based on factual account, is adequately entertaining...

Just because "Pony Express" is a western and the Indians are characterized as the bad guys, does not mean it is without merit. Certainly viewers who insist that their movies must be politically correct learning experiences or must have educational value like a two hour university lecture will abhor its lighthearted approach and historical inaccuracy. Yet it is precisely this lighthearted approach that makes this movie so much fun.

The four principals, Charlton Heston (Buffalo Bill Cody), Forrest Tucker (Wild Bill Hickok), ravishing Rhonda Fleming, and hoydenish Jan Sterling serve up a potpourri of good-natured banter (and seem to have a lot of fun in doing so) that makes the running time of 101 minutes and incidental plot just whiz by. If nothing else, this movie serves to remind us that most people do have a sense of humor and that life is not all a funeral dirge.

California, led by a group of businessmen, wants to secede from the union and become an independent republic, citing the country's general apathy towards it as the primary reason. Eastern businessmen and politicians, on the other hand, feel that, by improving communications between Washington and California, they can discourage the citizens of that remote state from making such an irrational move. To this end they seek the help from Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok to organize a "pony express" which will deliver mail and news from East to West and visa-versa in double-quick time. In attempting to implement the scheme, the two friends must first overcome violent opposition from the owner of a stagecoach line who stands to lose a cross-country mail contract if the plan succeeds, hostile Indians who see the advent of the white man as yet another encroachment to their way of life, and the California businessmen themselves whose interests extend beyond Californian independence.

Of course, the story is full of historical inaccuracies. Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, for instance, barely knew each other. Hickok handled a six-gun much better than Buffalo Bill. "Pony Express" riders were mostly teenage orphan boys who had to be "willing to risk their lives every day" (Even in those days, businessmen knew how to protect themselves against lawsuits.). But so what? I first saw this movie when I was eight years old and loved it so much that I immediately went to the library to read up on these historical characters and events. Was I upset when I found that so much of the plot had been fabricated? Not in the least. I was grateful that the story was interesting enough to have piqued my interest in this specific chapter of American history. Any movie that induces you to want to learn something more cannot be a bad movie.

On the plus side, it does have some good action sequences (this was in the days before horses learned to gallop in slow motion), and uses the Indians as enemy only for dramatic effect and not as a source of derision. In fact, the chief, represented by white man, Pat Hogan, is probably the film's most admirable character. "I have never known Yellow Hand to lie or go back on his word," says Cody at one point and it is not without good reason that he shows some remorse after he is forced to kill him.

It also gives us a look at a young Charlton Heston, before he became a staple of the large, big budget biblical epics. At this point in his career, Heston was still experimenting, trying to find himself as actor by taking on such varied roles as a circus boss, President Andrew Jackson, a South American plantation owner, a soldier of fortune, or a surgeon. Just the fact that he doesn't have to deliver each line as if he were speaking from a pulpit makes his work here more interesting, if not necessarily better.

Best of all, it was here that I saw Rhonda Fleming for the first time. I fell in love with her immediately and wanted to marry her when I grew up. When I watch this movie today, I still think it was a good idea.

Despite its overall low ratings, I cannot help but like "Pony Express". It has amiable characters, snappy dialogue (which emphasizes just how much modern screenwriters have lost their sense of humor) and a plot that moves briskly to its predictable conclusion. If the movie hearkens back to simpler, more clear-cut times, it is at least nice to see heroes who genuinely like each other and who can get the job done while having some fun doing it, rather than today's friendless, dour-faced loners with chips on their shoulders who spend every waking minute searching for "the truth."

A spectacular and mighty adventure in the early 1860s when America's destiny rode in the saddle bags of the Pony Express . As the Pony Express was a mail service delivering messages , newspapers , mail, and small packages from St. Joseph, Missouri, across the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento, California, by horseback, using a series of relay stations . During its 19 months of operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days . When replaced by the telegraph, the Pony Express quickly became romanticized and became part of the lore of the American West . Its reliance on the ability and endurance of individual young, hardy riders and fast horses was seen as evidence of rugged American individualism of the Frontier times . Pony Express logo was used by stagecoach and freight company Wells Fargo, which provided secure mail service . Buffalo Bill (Charlton Heston) and Wild Bill Hickock (Forrest Tucker) work to establish the short-lived Pony Express and fight Indians along with stagecoach station owners and California Separatists who seek to destroy it . Meanwhile , they fall in love for two beautiful damsels , Evelyn Hastings (Rhonda Fleming) and Denny Russell (Jan Sterling) , Calamity Jane lookalike role .

This traditional Western of the founding of mail routes westward contains thrills , rousing nice action , shootouts , Sioux Indian attacks and exuberant outdoors . Dealing with the glamorous Pony Express mail route between Saint Joseph , Missouri, and Sacramento , California during ten days , in which brave riders battling hostile Indians , cutthroats attempting on robbing , bad weather , astute bandits and many other things . As Pony Express became from April 3, 1860, to October 1861, the West's most direct means of east–west communication before the telegraph was established and was vital for tying the new state of California with the rest of the United States . The main protagonists result to be two Western legends , both of them historical figures , Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickock , and it doesn't check every fact . Although , the real Buffalo Bill , William F. Cody, and Wild Bill Hickock claimed to have won their spurs as young Pony Express riders, there is no evidence that they ever worked for the company ; in fact , concerning great adventures , bigger than they were in life , as the real Buffalo Bill was only 14 when the Pony Express was established . The film displays a colorful cinematography by veteran cameraman Ray Rennahan . In addition , thrilling and evocative musical score by Paul Sawtell.

The motion picture produced by Nat Holt was decently directed by Jerry Hopper , but with no enthusiasm . Hopper firstly worked for Paramount , them he crossed to Universal and immediately proved himself on more intimate subjects , particularly those with veins of comedy or sentiment . Hopper directed all kind of genres such as Western : ¨Madron¨, ¨The Bull of the West¨ ; gritty Thriller : ¨Naked alibi¨ , ¨The Atomic City¨ , ¨The square jungle¨ ; Comedy : ¨The private war of Major Benson¨with Charlton Heston ; Adventures : ¨Alaska seas¨ , ¨The Sharkfighters¨ , ¨The secret of Incas¨ and ¨The Missouri traveler¨, it was the best of Hopper's later movies before he became entrenched in television . As Jerry Hooper also filmed a great quantity of TV episodes such as ¨Voyage to the bottom of the sea¨ , ¨The fugitive¨ , ¨Perry Mason¨ , ¨Shenandoah¨ , ¨Adams family¨ , ¨Caravan¨ and ¨Gunsmoke¨.