Let's say from the outset that this is no great movie, but it's got some great features. I confess I'm prejudiced since my dad and two brothers appear in it--they're in the credits. I remember the making of the film.
Casey Tibbs managed to bring together enough talent and money to get the movie made, but some decisions seem downright bone-headed. Along with the great narration by Slim Pickens and Henry Fonda, there's good film of moving a herd of horses up along the Missouri River, where the plan was to swim across, but weather plagued the filming. One of the most dramatic scenes in the filming was where Casey manages, barely, to make it across the river by hanging on to his horse's tail as wind and rain pounded the river. Waves and wind kept everyone in the houseboat where the cameras were supposed to be filming, so the dramatic moment when Casey emerges from the river is a bad reenactment. Too bad.
Clips of elk and pine trees appear in the film, but they don't belong in this movie set in the river breaks. It does include some footage from the Ft. Pierre 4th of July Rodeo, along with some Native American dancers.
If you're interested in history of this area, central South Dakota, and its history and characters, you'll see some of them in this flawed but fun film.
