Product Information
Pony Express (1953) Charlton Heston, Rhonda Fleming
Director: Jerry Hopper
Co-stars: Jan Sterling, Forrest Tucker
101 minutes, Technicolor
DVD-R: Region ALL
A fast and furious western actioner which is loosely based on the epic 1925 silent of the same name and directed by the legendary James Cruze. Heston, in the role of the flamboyant Buffalo Bill Cody, travels through the dusty Utah trails and meets up with Fleming and her brother, Michael Moore. Heston, however, is unaware that they are part of a movement to split California from the rest of the Union. Fleming and Moore, though loyal Californians, wrongly believe that state will be better off if it secedes because of its distance from the capitol in Washington, DC. The actual masterminds behind the secession plot are Henry Brandon, a stagecoach company owner, and Stuart Randall, a foreign agent who hopes to profit when California is purchased by a foreign government. Brandon engineers a Sioux Indian war by supplying chief Pat Hogan with an arsenal of weapons. Indian attacks make it difficult for Heston to extend the Pony Express route into California. He meets up with Tucker, portraying Wild Bill Hickok, and the pair engage in a friendly show of sharpshooting before heading to Sacramento to establish the Pony Express station. Along the way, Heston is captured by the Sioux and forced into a tomahawk battle with the tribal chief, from which Heston emerges victorious. The climactic battle has Heston surviving an ambush attempt and ultimately saving both California and the Pony Express. While far from being a factual account of Cody and Hickok, PONY EXPRESS does convey the romance of the era. The plot merely serves as a springboard off which Heston and Tucker can bounce their clever dialog and their undeniable energy. Instead of understanding why and how the Pony Express evolved, the viewer comes away with an understanding of the myth that surrounds Cody and Hickok.
/Western/Pony Express (1953) DVD
