There's good news and bad news here.
Let's start with the bad news. Like many Hollywood biopics of the day, this one apparently strays a bit from being an authentic biographical sketch of WIlliam F. Cody. And it gives little more than lip service to the latter part of his life when he became the toast of half the world (his traveling shows are covered in less than ten minutes at the end of the film in a fairly meaningless way).
But there's plenty of good news here, too. For example...a movie about cowboys and Indians where most of the Indians were played by real Indians (except for the two main Indian characters played by Anthony Quinn and Linda Darnell). Nevertheless, the rest of the Indians seem to be real Indians...not white guys with heavy makeup. That's pretty impressive. And, the movie is relatively favorable to the plight of the Indians, something that was not yet in style in the mid-1940s. The scenery -- in Utah -- is quite beautiful, although the quality of the print shown on TCM indicates a real need for a restoration.
Joel McCrea was a fine actor, although I don't think that was his best performance. He's satisfactory. Maureen O'Hara is lovely as ever, although she didn't have enough really good scenes. Linda Darnell's role as an Indian girl is rather stereotypical. Thomas Mitchell is Thomas Mitchell, if you know what I mean. Edgar Buchanan has an interesting role as a veteran army man. And it's interesting to see Anthony Quinn as a hunky Indian at the age of 29.
The film was directed by William Wellman. I can't help but think that he must have wished he had had a bigger budget. This film could have been top-notch. It still has its positive attributes, but it doesn't do the man justice.
Let's start with the bad news. Like many Hollywood biopics of the day, this one apparently strays a bit from being an authentic biographical sketch of WIlliam F. Cody. And it gives little more than lip service to the latter part of his life when he became the toast of half the world (his traveling shows are covered in less than ten minutes at the end of the film in a fairly meaningless way).
But there's plenty of good news here, too. For example...a movie about cowboys and Indians where most of the Indians were played by real Indians (except for the two main Indian characters played by Anthony Quinn and Linda Darnell). Nevertheless, the rest of the Indians seem to be real Indians...not white guys with heavy makeup. That's pretty impressive. And, the movie is relatively favorable to the plight of the Indians, something that was not yet in style in the mid-1940s. The scenery -- in Utah -- is quite beautiful, although the quality of the print shown on TCM indicates a real need for a restoration.
Joel McCrea was a fine actor, although I don't think that was his best performance. He's satisfactory. Maureen O'Hara is lovely as ever, although she didn't have enough really good scenes. Linda Darnell's role as an Indian girl is rather stereotypical. Thomas Mitchell is Thomas Mitchell, if you know what I mean. Edgar Buchanan has an interesting role as a veteran army man. And it's interesting to see Anthony Quinn as a hunky Indian at the age of 29.
The film was directed by William Wellman. I can't help but think that he must have wished he had had a bigger budget. This film could have been top-notch. It still has its positive attributes, but it doesn't do the man justice.