''Pony Express'' is a 1953 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Jerry Hopper, filmed in Kanab, Utah, and starring

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten ...

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years ...

Forrest Tucker Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided fund ...

Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement ...

, Jan Sterling as a

Calamity Jane Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Lat ...

-type character, and Rhonda Fleming. The story is largely based on the 1925 silent film '' The Pony Express'' while the threat of a Californian secession is taken from ''

Frontier Pony Express '' Frontier Pony Express '' is a 1939 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and starring Roy Rogers, Lynne Roberts (as Mary Hart) and Noble Johnson as the lead villain. Plot At the start of the American Civil War in 1861 the Pony Expre ...

'' (1939). The film is an historical account of the formation of the

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pike ...

rapid transcontinental mail delivery in the United States in 1860–1861. Although it gives no credit to the real founders of the Pony Express, Buffalo Bill Cody did ride for them, having signed up when he was 15 years old.

Plot

In 1860,

and

join forces to establish a mail route from St. Joseph,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. On the way, they battle the weather, hostile Indians and California secessionists intent on shutting the operation down to encourage California to secede from the Union.

Cast

as William Frederick 'Buffalo Bill' Cody * Rhonda Fleming as Evelyn Hastings *

* Jan Sterling as Denny Russell *

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

as Rance Hastings *

Porter Hall Clifford Porter Hall (September 19, 1888 – October 6, 1953) was an American character actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s. Hall typically played villains or comedic incompetent characters. Early years Hall wa ...

Jim Bridger James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...

* Richard Shannon as Red Barrett * Henry Brandon as Joe Cooper * Stuart Randall as Pemberton * Lewis Martin as Sergeant Russell *

Pat Hogan Pat Hogan (born Thurman Lee Haas; February 3, 1920 – November 21, 1966) was an American actor. He mostly played Native Americans over the course of his career. He was best known for his portrayal of Chief Red Stick in the film '' Davy Crocke ...

as Chief Yellow Hand * Eric Alden as Miller * Howard Joslin as Harvey

Production

Charlton Heston did a film

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prop ...

advertisement for

Camel cigarettes Camel is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in the United States and by Japan Tobacco outside the U.S. Most current Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish tobacco and Virg ...

. Parts of the film were shot in Kanab Creek, Kanab movie fort, the Gap, and Johnson Canyon in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

References

External links

* * * 1953 films 1953 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Cultural depictions of Buffalo Bill Cultural depictions of Wild Bill Hickok Films directed by Jerry Hopper Films shot in Utah Paramount Pictures films Sound film remakes of silent films Works about the Pony Express Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{1950s-Western-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links