weezeralfalfa A mix of reasonably accurate historical details relating to Bill Cody, and pure fiction. He did have a long suffering wife named Louisa, whose often rocky marriage is pictured as better than it actually was. Of course, Maurine O'Hara makes a lovely wife for him. Joel McCrea makes an OK, but not spectacular, Bill. Thomas Mitchell plays the newspaper and dime novel story teller: Ned Buntline: another genuine historical person. Ned is also correctly portrayed as the instigator of the idea of Bill heading a traveling wild west show. Anthony Quinn plays the Cheyenne chief Yellow Hand(incorrectly translated. Should have been Yellow Hair), who interacts with Bill periodically until he is killed by Bill in a grapple in a river, in front of a large number of troupers and braves. Historically, this was known as the Battle of Warbonnet Creek, herein called Warbonnet Gorge. In the film, this is followed by an exciting hand-to-hand battle between the 2 cavalries, largely taking place in a wide shallow river. Historically, this 'battle' didn't happen. After Yellow Hand's death, the Cheyenne dispersed back toward their camp, in view of the large number of cavalry they saw. Historically, Bill killed Yellow Hand with a bullet , not a drowning, and scalped him, shouting "First scalp for Custer", in relation to the recent extermination of Custer's cavalry company.Like many of the other scouts for the armies in the Indian Wars, Bill Cody had an ambiguous relationship with the Native Americans, scouting for the army in pursuing them, and slaughtering the bison they depended on for practically everything. Yet, he was interested in their cultures and often friendly with them, including them in his wild west shows. Whether true or not, in his speech an a banquet honoring him with the Congressional Metal of Honor, he blasted the "the only good Indian is a dead Indian" mentality of too many, suggesting that the only Indian they cared about was the Indian on their pennies.Thus, this film provides a rare, for the times, sympathetic treatment of Native Americans, some years before the overrated, in this respect, "Broken Arrow". It's also a rare, for it's times, Technicolor western.Thomas Mitchell, as Ned Buntline, imparts occasional humor, as does Edgar Buchanan, as an old army sergeant, who gets his walking papers and vanishes. Beautiful Linda Darnell has a strange ill-defined peripheral role as a Cheyenne maiden, who is sometimes the school teacher, but rides off to join the warriors at Warbonnet gorge, where she is killed during the ferocious battle. Bill carries her body, and someone asks if she was a friend "They were all my friends" Bill laments.A particularly clever bit of writing went into the marriage proposal by Bill to Louisa. They are in a shed next to the stable for Bill's horse. The horse rubs its head on Louisa's shoulder and gives her a 'kiss'. Louisa asks about a blanket on the wall. Bill says its a Cheyenne courting blanket for maidens. He shows her how it is worn. She asks how the brave responds. If he accepts, he plays a special tune on a small flute, as Bill demonstrates. How does the maiden then respond? She opens the left side of her blanket, beckoning the brave to enter. Bill does this, and they kiss.

Tim Kidner This bright and cheery western has a great sense of the outdoors, helped by good colour cinematography and locations.William F Cody "Buffalo Bill" (Joel McCrea) as the legend tells us was an army scout who then later rescues a Senator and his beautiful daughter, who he marries. He also came to be firm friends with Yellow Hand, who later became chief of the Cheyenne. Cody takes the side of the Indians when modern 'civilisation' moves in over the plains where the buffalo grazed, wiping out both the beasts and the habitat. He later took his Spirit of the Wild West worldwide with his Show, for which he gained international notoriety.McCrea is OK as Cody and as others have said, Anthony Quinn, now, looks faintly ridiculous as Chief Yellow Hand. Then, as a relative unknown, I suppose this gross miscasting wouldn't have mattered as much. However, it is the beautiful Maureen O' Hara as Cody's wife who holds the interest for many, as her loveliness radiates through from the screen.It's also been said that this William A Wellman directed biopic is fictionalised and cannot be considered accurate. That aside, there's plenty of good fighting action, battles on horseback and plains where real buffalo roam. All in all, a modest little western that's quite watchable, if you take it for what it is.

frankfob 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.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) When this film was made, people were still in love with cars, freeways and bringing progress to the west. So it was quite an achievement to bring to the screen a divided hero, who from one side admired the Indian way of life, and who understood that the killing of the buffaloes would bring misery to the natives, but at the same time arranged buffalo hunts for people of the east, and as a scout helped the army fight the Indians. When he goes east and see stories written about him by Ned Buntline we know that it is impossible for him (as for any human being) to live up to them, and he is bound to end up in ridicule. People nowadays are more ecology conscious and that makes this film more meaningful than in 1944. The first part of the film shows the west and the war with the Indians with excellent battle scenes and great color. Maureen O'Hara is more beautiful than in any other film I've seen her and so is Linda Darnell. The second part is when Buffalo Bill goes east, and that is when the film is at its best.