The Plainsman
| The Plainsman | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Cecil B. DeMille |
| Produced by | Cecil B. DeMille |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Courtney Ryley Cooper |
| Based on | "Wild Bill Hickok, the Prince of Pistoleers" 1934 stories by Frank J. Wilstach |
| Starring | |
| Music by | George Antheil |
| Cinematography | Victor Milner |
| Edited by | Anne Bauchens |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Plainsman is a 1936 American Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. The film presents a highly fictionalized account of the adventures and relationships between Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, and General George Custer, with a gun-runner named Lattimer (Charles Bickford) as the main villain. The film is notorious for mixing timelines and even has an opening scene with Abraham Lincoln setting the stage for Hickok's adventures. Anthony Quinn has a role as an Indian. A remake using the same title was released in 1966.
With the end of the American Civil War, military industrialists are left with an oversupply of weapons. Some of the more unscrupulous ones view the Indians as possible new customers.
Wild Bill Hickok (Gary Cooper) has just been discharged from the Union Army and is making his way back west. On a paddle steamer, he bumps into his old army scout colleague, Buffalo Bill Cody (James Ellison) and his new bride. Later, Calamity Jane (Jean Arthur) is the driver of their stagecoach to Hays City, Kansas.
John Lattimer (Charles Bickford), an agent for the gun makers, has supplied the Cheyenne Indians with repeating rifles, which enable them to kill half of the troopers at a United States Cavalry outpost. Hickok discovers the rifles and reports it to General George Armstrong Custer (John Miljan). Custer sends out an ammunition train to the fort with Cody as guide. Hickok tries to locate Yellow Hand (Paul Harvey), the Cheyenne chieftain, to find out why the Indians have gone to war.
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