The Plainsman poster & wallpaper

Anthony Quinn, Charles Bickford, Gary Cooper

Just maybe the most shamelessly enjoyable of Cecil B. DeMille's pseudo-historical epics, this rumbustious frontier saga offers a three-for-one Western legends combo--Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cod...( read more  read more... )y, and Calamity Jane, all cutting up in the 1870s, with George Armstrong Custer and Abraham Lincoln thrown in for good measure. (Wait a minute, Lincoln was assassinated in 1865--oh, never mind.) Truth to tell, Buffalo Bill doesn't really pull his weight, since (1) he is hopelessly distracted by virtue of having recently married and (2) he's played by James Ellison, an eternal juvenile normally relegated to second-banana duty in Paramount's Hopalong Cassidy series. However, Gary Cooper's Wild Bill and Jean Arthur's Calamity supply enough star power to light up the Dakotas and parts of Missouri.

Every once in a while, DeMille and his small army of writers stumble upon an actual historical fact. Bill Cody did fight to the death with an Indian chief named Yellow Hand. George Custer and James Butler Hickok did both buy the farm in the summer of 1876. (Custer's Last Stand is handled imaginatively, if cheaply, as a vision narrated by a wandering Cheyenne warrior--none other than C.B.'s son-in-law Anthony Quinn in one of his earliest screen appearances.) Jack McCall (veteran weasel Porter Hall) did find himself in Deadwood, South Dakota, at the same time Wild Bill was drawing aces and eights in a poker game ... though McCall was not necessarily affiliated with DeMille's favorite villain, Charles Bickford, in the business of running guns to the Indians. --Richard T. Jameson

Flixster Users

51% liked it

1,194 ratings

Unrated, 113 min.

Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille

Release Date: November 16, 1936

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 1, 2004

Stats: 31 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

The Plainsman
Upload a Photo |

View All The Plainsman Photos (1)

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (31)

  • cterry2215
    July 16, 2009
    cterry2215
    Add a review (optional)...
  • wilmothoudini
    March 4, 2009
    wilmothoudini
    Enjoyable mess despite the rating.
  • beachpeach
    October 28, 2008
    beachpeach
    Excellent lead,and i liked Calamity Jane, but i hated the ending!
  • sibinet
    March 14, 2008
    sibinet
    ust maybe the most shamelessly enjoyable of Cecil B. DeMille's pseudo-historical epics, this rumbustious frontier saga offers a three-for-one Western legends combo--Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill
  • daviddickey221
    December 7, 2007
    daviddickey221
    A Cecil B. DeMille spectacular. Gary Cooper's greatest movie role.
  • hmstiger
    September 26, 2006
    hmstiger
    Good good good. Built around historical events out in the Dakotas. It's just really good. No reason not to like it. Why isn't it more well known!?

View All The Plainsman Reviews

Critic Reviews

No recent reviews.

Comments

This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "The Plainsman" !

Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Official Trailer

View Larger The Plainsman Trailer

Cast

More Like This

This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

The Plainsman : Watch Free on TV

The Plainsman Trivia

  • What famous woman was portrayed by Yvonne de Carlo (1949) and Doris Day (1953) in movies bearing her name? Jean Arthur also played her in The Plainsman (1937), Frances Farmer played her in Badlands of Dakota (1941), and Jane Russell in The Paleface (1948).   Answer »
More The Plainsman Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for The Plainsman. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add The Plainsman to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?