Not usually listed high in the rankings of Robert Altman’s work, BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS, OR SITTING BULL’S HISTORY LESSON is still a sly skewering of the myth of the Wild West and the falseness of celebrity.
Paul Newman plays Buffalo Bill Cody, who, we learn from writer Ned Buntline (Burt Lancaster, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY), is less a true legend of the Wild West and more of a concoction of show business. Cody’s famed Wild West Show is abuzz with the impending arrival of their latest celebrity Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts). At first the performers mistake Sitting Bull’s large spokesman William Halsey (Will Sampson, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST) as the legendary chief. Buffalo Bill is quite baffled by the quiet and short chief, who has only joined the show so he can meet the president. Even worse, Sitting Bull isn’t there to have Cody take advantage of him, demanding his rightful cut.
Cody is a blowhard, who has a whole host of yes-men surrounding him, including his partner Nate Salisbury (Joel Grey, CABARET), dutiful nephew Ed Goodman (Harvey Keitel, PULP FICTION) and press (more like propaganda) agent Major John M. Burke (Kevin McCarthy, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS). In a very satirical way, the film lampoons the grand exploits of the cowboys, showing that the legends are nowhere near the truth. Cody even fires Sitting Bull when the chief wants to actually reenact a cavalry slaughter of his unarmed people. Only Anne Oakley (Geraldine Chaplin, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS), his top act, threatening to leave, compels Cody to keep Sitting Bull.
In addition to the ample opportunities for satire, Altman relishes in accurately re-creating the Wild West Show performances and all around showmanship. In its time, this kind of entertainment was the most popular in America. Altman even gets in some nice political jabs when President Grover Cleveland (Pat McCormick, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT) shows up for a private night performance.
Newman is great as the pompous and self-deluding Buffalo Bill. The detail of the sets and costumes are wonderful. Paul Lohmann’s cinematography captures all the pomp and circumstance of the Wild West Shows effectively. Despite more modern sounding dialogue, the film still seems to be routed in its 1880s setting. And one must at least mention the ending, which is pitch perfect and multi-layered. BUFFALO BILL is a far better film than some make it out to be and serves as a nice, more comical companion to Altman’s MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER, which also broke down the mythos of the Western.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
