The White Buffalo

To understand the failure of WHITE BUFFALO, one has to explain what moviegoers and critics were expecting when the film was released back in 1977.

WHITE BUFFALO was released in the late 1970s, in between KING KONG and ORCA, which were all produced by Dino de Laurentiis. WHITE BUFFALO was seen then as part of this unofficial "Big Animal on the Rampage" trilogy de Laurentiis produced. This is unfortunate because amongst the three movies, WB is the best and, clearly, the most misunderstood movie of the bunch, and one of the most misunderstood movies ever made. Timing is everything and in WHITE BUFFALO's case, everything went against it.

After the spat of spaghetti westerns made during the 1960s and early 1970s, audiences grew tired of them. They wanted something else. By the early 1970s to mid 70s, the number of westerns was dwindling fast and western stars like Charles Bronson needed to make a transition away from the tired genre. In 1974, Bronson starred in DEATH WISH, which became a huge hit all over the world. Bronson was suddenly seen as a contemporary action hero (Clint Eastwood also made the same transition from western star to action hero with the Dirty Harry series around the same time).

By the time WHITE BUFFALO was released, Charles Bronson had made a couple of modern-day action movies and his new audience (that made DEATH WISH such a smash) expected to see the Charles Bronson they knew and liked in contemporary action roles and were disappointed with what WHITE BUFFALO had to offer in terms of action, violence and sex.

But then the people who still remembered Charles Bronson as a western movie star were also disappointed with WHITE BUFFALO because the role Charles Bronson played, the legendary Wild Bill Hickok, was so different from the type of roles he did in his previous westerns that they didn't warm up to this strange shoot 'em up.

And then there are the horror/sci-fi fans, who went to see KING KONG or JAWS, and expected to see another type of "Big Animal on the Rampage" film, and were clearly disappointed with WB because it is NOT a JAWS-like movie (even if there are some scary JAWS-like moments in WB). This is due mainly to the terrible advertising from the studio, which had NO idea how to sell this odd western, and decided to sell WB as a "Big Animal on the Rampage" film because of the theme present in the title and story.

So, when one looks at all of this in hindsight, one can clearly see that WHITE BUFFALO simply had NO chance of succeeding, with critics or at the B.O., regardless of how good or bad the movie was in itself. There were too many misleading and conflicting factors outside of the film itself for anyone to have a clear and objective view of it. This is why it's always good to look at a movie decades after it was made when all the hype and/or expectations are by now forgotten or gone and one can (hope to) view a movie for what it was, not necessarily for what people, critics or even movie studios and stars expected it to be. So when I watched WHITE BUFFALO recently (I had already seen it back in the 80s and always remembered it), I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is much better than what anyone thinks of it.

I'm the first to say that Dino de Laurentiis is a hack. And that director J. Lee Thompson is not a very good director. And that Charles Bronson is not the best actor in the world. But even with all these seemingly negative elements, WHITE BUFFALO is pretty good. It's obvious that Bronson and Thompson saw an opportunity to create something that was close to their hearts and basically created an "artsy" kind of western, most likely without Dino being aware of this. Yes, there are several problems with WHITE BUFFALO but the good qualities of the movie overshadow the bad ones. And watching the movie today, one can clearly see that the film is supposed to be seen, first and foremost, as a MYTHICAL ALLEGORY (It's no wonder United Artists had no idea how to sell this movie. How do you promote an allegorical film?) The white buffalo; the meeting of Wild Bill Hickok and Crazy Horse, etc. The dream-like atmosphere is what makes WHITE BUFFALO so memorable. The conflicting narratives, between the standard western and the one with allegorical elements, give the latter even more power because as we watch the movie, one sorta forgets that the film has a white buffalo in it and when it finally arrives, the whole thing seems even more unreal. Imagine a western directed by David Lynch.

Aside from the couple of shots where you can clearly see the track on which the mechanical buffalo is mounted on, the buffalo itself is okay. There isn't any scene in WB that last long enough with a clear view of the mechanical animal to have a really good idea how it looks like. The scenery is beautiful and the music by John Barry is excellent. And there is a strange, foreboding claustrophobic mood that permeates the whole film. And Jack Warden gives an excellent performance as Bill's partner. His performance anchors the dream-like film. WHITE BUFFALO is NOT the disaster that everyone claims it to be. And it definitely has a cult following.

...with shades of Moby Dick thrown in. Wild Bill Hickok has nightmares about a giant white buffalo (a foreshadowing of his own death?) which he feels can only be eliminated by hunting down a giant white buffalo that is striking terror in the Black Hills. Will Sampson plays Crazy Horse, also seeking the same creature after it rampaged through his village and killed his child.

It's all pure fiction, of course, and Charles Bronson's casting as Hickok is laughable, historically speaking, but, I suppose, no more so than that of half a dozen other actors over the years being cast as Hickcok. One historically accurate aspect of the film is that, rather than wearing a holster, Bronson wears a scarlet sash around his waist in which he tucks his guns, as did the real Hickok at times.

The performances are quite good, and there is a colorful supporting cast of familiar faces including Jack Warden in a sizable role as a one eyed Indian-hating frontiersman who goes on the buffalo hunt with Bronson as well as smaller guest star appearances by Kim Novak, Clint Walker, John Carradine, Stuart Whitman and Cara Williams. J. Lee Thompson (Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear, Mackenna's Gold) was the director.

The white buffalo is presented as an almost legendary larger than life destructive force, not unlike a lumbering four legged version of Melville's great white whale, one that causes rocks to tumble down the sides of mountains when it lets out a giant bellow and can charge though walls of ice and snow. At one point, in fact, in a direct parallel to Herman Melville's tale, Crazy Horse will leap on the animal's back to repeatedly stab it with a spear.

The problem for the film, though, are in those pivotal scenes involving the buffalo in which, unfortunately, the creature looks exactly like what it undoubtedly was, some kind of animatronic construction, lacking any sense of reality. It's far more effective when he frighteningly bellows in the mountains than when we actually see him. No amount of fast editing can hide the artificiality of those scenes with the buffalo. The poster advertising the film said "You Won't Believe Your Eyes." That's true, but, unfortunately, not in a good way.

The thing about the White Buffalo itself is pretty hokey, the buffalo is really not scary enough to give anybody nightmares. What makes this movie a standout are the supporting roles by Stuart Whitman, Kim Novak, Jack Warden, etc. Also it's great to see Will Sampson as Crazy Horse. However the best thing about this movie is the language. Words like "flummoxed" appear. It's how I imagine people in the 1870's would have talked in the American West. I cannot recall another Western where language has been put to better use.

In september 1874, Wild Bill Hickcok (Charles Bronson) returns to the old West under the alias James Otis. He is haunted by the image of a buffalo that symbolizes his fear of death. He awakens every time he tries to sleep from the same nightmare. He knows he must face his nightmare, or go insane.

Oldtimer (and Indian hater) Charlie Zane (Jack Warden), also known as "Oneye" - the great white warrior of Sand Creek - himself an famous Indian hunter in his younger days, go with Wild Bill Hickok to hunt down the White Buffalo.

The old Indian warrior, Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson), is looking for the White Buffalo for different reasons. For him, the hunt is sacred, and if he doesn't succeed, he cannot live with himself. His dead little daughter (killed by the White Buffalo) will be "forever tortured in the other world," until he has avenged his child's death. This he must do in the old way.

The realistic locations makes the film chilling indeed. It was filmed on scenic locations in Canon City, Colorado, with interiors at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot. The scenes showing mountains of bleached white buffalo bones are harrowing, as are the cruelty by both whites and Indians.

Great supporting roles by Slim Pickens as a vocal stage driver, Stuart Whitman as a slimy gambler, Cara Williams as the gambler's loumouthed girlfriend, John Carradine as a undertaker, the monstrously big Clint Walker as the murderous trapper "Whistling Jack Kileen," Bert Williams as a barkeeper who helps Wild Bill Hickcok from being killed and finally, Kim Novak made an outstanding return to the screen as Wild Bill Hickcok's old love, and one-time hooker Poker Jenny, now turned respectable.

This is a strange, mythical and murky film. Forget the bad special buffalo effects, and the bad monster. The screenplay in this movie is the thing. The language in this movie is very realistic. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the way the tough, hard people up in the Black Hills really talked back in the 1870s.

I'm proud to call this my favorite western of the 1970s. Not because it was the best, but simply because of it's dark, mythical tone. I've had this on video for a very long time, and have seen it numerous times.

When you see a film over and over again, you notice all the little details, missed by the ones who saw it only once.

In the 1970s, only Sam Peckinpah's westerns were as, or more, interesting. Not to forget Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone. A matter of taste, of course.

I know a lot of people are not too impressed with this film. However when i first saw this about 14 years ago the images and atmosphere and chilly locations made an impact on my mind. I have seen this film several times and agree it is not one of Charles Bronson's best efforts but I still love watching this film regularly. The hunt for the white buffalo in the Black Hills is presented as a psychological battle in the mind of Wild Bill Hickok (Bronson) and a spiritual one for Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson). Sure the creature itself may look unrealistic,but the concept of battling your nightmares and the teaming up of two racial enemies as well as the dark cold almost sinister locations make this an interesting experience in my view. I also feel the dialogue is extremely appropriate with the use of 'Gold Diggers slang'. I am sure I am in a minority when I say I like this film so much.