I still have the copy my parents gave me of Cecil B. DeMille's autobiography and he does go into some detail about the research done for his films. I'm wondering if Paramount decided to save money on the research for this one.
The action of this film takes place from the end of the Civil War until Wild Bill Hickok is shot dead in Deadwood which was 1876. Now that's eleven years that if you took this film literally is compressed to about three months. I found that a wee bit too much to swallow.
But DeMille knew how to fill the screen with some slam bang entertainment. The battle with the Cheyenne Indians is exciting, almost an early version of 3-D. I'm suspecting a lot is lost by only seeing it on television.
Gary Cooper is at his laconic yup and nope best, Jean Arthur is a fine Calamity Jane. The rest of the cast does well also. One tragic note is that Helen Burgess who plays the bride of Buffalo Bill died shortly after completing this film at the age of 19. I think a wonderful career was cut short.
Good entertainment, but any resemblance to western history is purely coincidental.
The action of this film takes place from the end of the Civil War until Wild Bill Hickok is shot dead in Deadwood which was 1876. Now that's eleven years that if you took this film literally is compressed to about three months. I found that a wee bit too much to swallow.
But DeMille knew how to fill the screen with some slam bang entertainment. The battle with the Cheyenne Indians is exciting, almost an early version of 3-D. I'm suspecting a lot is lost by only seeing it on television.
Gary Cooper is at his laconic yup and nope best, Jean Arthur is a fine Calamity Jane. The rest of the cast does well also. One tragic note is that Helen Burgess who plays the bride of Buffalo Bill died shortly after completing this film at the age of 19. I think a wonderful career was cut short.
Good entertainment, but any resemblance to western history is purely coincidental.