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Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is an entertaining Western, but my impression is that it's fairly lacking any real historical accuracy. But, that's Cecil B. DeMille (director).Gary Cooper (as Wild Bill Hickok) is an off-and-on romantic interest to Jean Arthur (as Calamity Jane). They are both friends with James Ellison (as "Buffalo Bill" Cody). Charles Bickford is the bad guy here (as usual in this type of film he is selling guns to the Indians). And, watch closely and you'll see Anthony Quinn as an Indian.Shoot 'em up! To the extent that during a battle with the Indians, Hickok and Cody kill an unbelievable number of Indians...and I mean ridiculously unbelievable. But, despite its historical inaccuracies (a major character dies in a way that was totally inaccurate to the facts), it's fun, and well worth watching.Cooper and Arthur are excellent here, although this isn't the kind of role we usually think of for Jean Arthur. I wasn't familiar with James Ellison, but he was also quite good (this film was the pinnacle of a rather thin career), and there's good chemistry between Cooper and Ellison. So if you want to have fun, tune in. If you want to learn about Western history, don't.

The master of movie spectacle Cecil B. De Mille goes West. Using three legends of the old west as its protagonists (they probably never met),Gary Cooper is portraying Wild Bill Hickock,James Ellison as Buffalo Bill and Jean Arthur does make a nice Calamity Jane. The story serves only for De Mille to hang some marvelous action sequences on, like the big Indian attack.Scenes like that are extremely well done.If you don't mind the somewhat over-the-top performances of the cast this is an very entertaining western.Look out for a very young Anthony Quinn essaying the role of an Indian brave who participated at the battle of Little Big Horn.This part got him at least noticed in Hollywood.

The Plainsman is an entertaining western, no doubt a classic, which is actual even today. Gary Cooper is Wild Bill Hickok, ideal for the role, together with John Wayne and James Stewart, they were the best actors that played western heroes in their generation. Jean Arthur is great as Calamity Jane, nobody that I know played it better than her. Even if might not be historically accurate, the film manages to capture the most important about Hickok and about the time it takes place. Sometimes you have to sacrifice History to make your point and that is what DeMille does here. The friendship of Hickok with Buffalo Bill, the selling of rifles to the Indians by a great manufacturer to compensate for the losses he would have because of the end of the civil war, Custer and Little Big Horn, the uneasy relationship between Buffalo Bill's wife, a religious woman, with Hickok a man who had killed plenty, also the unusual love affair between Hickok and Calamity all this makes 'The Plainsman' a non conventional and interesting film. Anthony Quinn has a very short appearance, that already shows what a great actor he was going to become. A lot of care was taken to show the original guns of that time.

This movie has Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill and General Custer all together. Gary Cooper plays Wild Bill and Jean Arthur plays Calamity Jane and Charles Bickford plays the bad guy who sells weapons to the Indians and you can hardly recognize him. This was the first time Cecil B. DeMille and Gary Cooper worked together and the next movie the made was basically the same but set in a different time. This movie starts out with Lincoln's assassination and it also deals with an Indian war. Calamity Jane is in love with Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill has gotten married and now wants to stay home. This movie also deals with Custer's last stand and is far from accurate. Gary Cooper is good as usual and i usually don't like Jean Arthur but i liked her here.