The Plainsman (1936)

Wild Bill Hickok attempts to stop an Indian uprising that was started by white gun-runners.

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers:

Waldemar Young (screen play), Harold Lamb (screen play),

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, James Ellison

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Cooper	...	Wild Bill Hickok
Jean Arthur	...	Calamity Jane
James Ellison	...	Buffalo Bill Cody
Charles Bickford	...	John Lattimer
Helen Burgess	...	Louisa Cody
Porter Hall	...	Jack McCall
Paul Harvey	...	Yellow Hand
Victor Varconi	...	Painted Horse
John Miljan	...	General George A. Custer
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	Abraham Lincoln
Granville Bates	...	Van Ellyn
Frank Albertson	...	A Young Trooper
Purnell Pratt	...	Captain Wood
Fred Kohler	...	Jake - A Teamster (as Fred Kohler Sr. in End Credit)
Pat Moriarity	...	Sergeant McGinnis (as Pat Moriarty)

Storyline

With the end of the North American Civil War, the manufacturers of repeating rifles find a profitable means of making money selling the weapons to the North American Indians, using the front man John Lattimer to sell the rifles to the Cheyenne. While traveling in a stagecoach with Calamity Jane and William "Buffalo Bill" Cody and his young wife Louisa Cody that want to settle down in Hays City managing a hotel, Wild Bill Hickok finds the guide Breezy wounded by arrows and telling that the Indians are attacking a fort using repeating rifles. Hickok meets Gen. George A. Custer that assigns Buffalo Bill to guide a troop with ammunition to help the fort. Meanwhile the Cheyenne kidnap Calamity Jane, forcing Hickok to expose himself to rescue her.

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Plot Keywords:

rifle | repeating rifle | buffalo | calamity jane | wild bill hickok | 

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Genres:

Biography | History | Romance | War | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Held der Prärie

Filming Locations:

Birney, Montana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An excellent horseman from his youth in Montana, Gary Cooper did most of his own riding stunts, including the shot where he rode "hanging" between two horses.

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Goofs

On the evening of Lincoln's assassination Van Ellyn and his associates are discussing the supposedly then current John Soule editorial, "Go West, Young Man." Lincoln was murdered in 1865. Soule wrote that famous line in 1851.

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Quotes

Van Ellyn associate: But we can't sell rifles to the Indians!
Van Ellyn: I think we can... to peaceable Indians.

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Connections

Referenced in Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Yankee Doodle"
(uncredited)
Music traditional - English origin (ca. 1755)
Whistled by James Ellison

User Reviews

Scripting with Forked Tongue

At the close of the US Civil War, girl-shy Gary Cooper (as "Wild" Bill Hickok), fellow frontiersman James Ellison (as "Buffalo" Bill Cody), and feisty blonde Jean Arthur (as "Calamity" Jane Canary) battle Native American Indians and greedy gunrunner Charles Bickford (as John Lattimer). Mr. Ellison handles himself exceptionally well alongside Mr. Cooper, already a huge box office star, and young Helen Burgess (as Louisa) does well in the debut of her unfortunately brief film career. Speaking with forked-tongues, young Anthony Quinn and George "Gabby" Hayes have small but notable roles as an Injun and victim.

The film starts by helpfully disclaiming, "The story that follows compresses many years, many lives, and widely separated events into one narrative - in an attempt to do justice to the courage of The Plainsman of our west." This film is far from historically accurate. While mannered and obvious, the handsome production benefits from beautiful visual framing by director Cecil B. DeMille and the Paramount studios crew.

****** The Plainsman (11/16/36) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, James Ellison, Charles Bickford