Buffalo Bill

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 .

"Buffalo Bill" is a highly romanticized picture of 'Buffalo' Bill Cody. While IMDb is correct that most of the things in this biopic are actually based on Cody's real-life exploits, most of the relationship between him and his wife was pure hooey. Sadly, there was no great love in Cody's life--or if there was, it wasn't his wife! Most of their life was spent apart by his choice--and there were other women in his life. But, this image of Bill would not have gotten past censors back in 1944, so the studio fictionalized this aspect of his life. The rest, however, is reasonably accurate--something that surprised me as I watched the film. He was a scout for the US Army in the west, he fought in the Indian wars and he did start up an incredibly successful Wild West Show.

Another aspect of the film that struck me was its treatment of the American Indians--particularly the Cheyenne. It was odd, as the major roles of the 'Indians' were played by Linda Darnell and Anthony Quinn!!! This insensitivity was pretty much the way American Indians were portrayed in American films through the 1950s. HOWEVER, despite this insensitivity, the film did correctly assert that the Indian wars were forced on these people due to how they were treated by the government. And, in this way, the film was much more balanced than many westerns of the day.

Overall, a somewhat inaccurate film that looked nice and featured the excellent acting, as usual, by Joel McCrea. Worth seeing--just not exactly the Gospel! And, the final line of the film might make you throw up--so when that little kid in the audience stands up, PLUG YOUR EARS!!!

By the way, the film made one HUGE mistake. General Sherman NEVER said "The only good Indian is a dead Indian". This quote was actually from General Sheridan--though it's not exactly what he said. When he was asked what a good Indian was like, he said very succinctly "...a dead one".

Big, splashy spectacle benefits from absolutely beautiful photography and a truly outstanding finale that has hundreds of cavalrymen and Indians battling in the middle of a river. Joel McCrea's performance is okay--overacting is something he was never accused of--and Maureen O'Hara tries hard but is miscast (not, however, as badly as Linda Darnell, who is breathtaking to look at but totally wasted as an Indian maiden). The script takes liberties with the facts, which is to be expected, but its point of view is quite a bit more sympathetic to the Indians' plight than that of most westerns of the period. Overall it doesn't hold up all that well, but if you've never seen it it's worth a look.

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.

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'