Le triomphe de Buffalo Bill

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¨.

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.

I'll be brief here. This is what we called "inspired by real events" in the film production world, which I spent 29 years. The only thing in this movie that is NOT fiction, is the event, the creation of the Pony Express, and a couple of names, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok. In reality, Cody was 14, not Heston's age of 29. And Hickok was 15, not Forrest Tucker's 34. And their colorful names had not yet been established. Two fictional characters in the film are the Hastings siblings who opposed the Pony Express when in reality, the B. F. Hastings building was the western terminus in Sacramento, California. And while there were indeed issues with bandits and Indians, the Pony Express ended after only 18 months because it wasn't financially feasible and the telegraph was finally completed to the west coast. Still, if you like westerns, it worth watching at least once just to watch Heston, Tucker. Jan Sterling and Ronda Fleming.

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-

Rhonda Fleming and Jan Sterling seem an unlikely pair but here they are cast in this mythical Western. I say mythical not as a compliment, but it must have got audiences in to see Charlton Heston as Buffalo Bill and Forrest Tucker as Wild Bill Hickok. Both are adequate in the roles but the great ( yes, great and underrated actress ) Jan Sterling does her very best to save this mediocre film. Not as conventionally beautiful as Fleming she takes the actor honours here while Rhonda Fleming lets her. Fleming was utterly wasted in most films, but it is Jan Sterling who overcomes the waste of her talent by sheer force of presence. She has short hair and dresses like a man, and does not succumb to a dress until the approaching end. Surviving in an awful pink dress she looks ridiculous, but like a really committed actor she ignores the change. She could do anything. The cameo role in ' The High and the Mighty ' is an example of standing out above the rest, including Claire Trevor. Watch it and do not care about the plot as it is barely worth describing. But there are lots of Buffalos, lots of ' bad ' Native Americans and of course phallic gunplay between Heston and Tucker. All that was needed in 1953 for the adolescent mind.