MOVIE · 1936

The Plainsman

DramaRomanceWarWestern113 min

As the frontier edges toward war, Wild Bill Hickok rides into a tangle of rivalries, old loyalties, and a growing gun-running threat. The story folds together Hickok’s bond with Buffalo Bill Cody, his uneasy connection with Calamity Jane, and General Custer’s campaign against Native tribes, while a dealer named Lattimer keeps weapons moving toward bloodshed. What begins as frontier adventure turns into a struggle over who is arming whom and how far Hickok can push back before open conflict erupts. Gary Cooper anchors the action as Hickok, with Jean Arthur in the shifting, often prickly relationship at the center of the film’s romantic side.