Pony Express Days (1940)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

B. Reeves Eason

Writer:

Charles L. Tedford (original screenplay)

Release Date:

13 July 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Action | Adventure | Biography | History | War | Western

Plot:

A youthful Buffalo Bill Cody joins the newly-formed Pony Express as a station hand and replaces the regular rider when he is shot by Southern sympathizer.

Plot Keywords:

Pony Express | Archive Footage | California | Violence | Nebraska

Cast

George Reeves	...	Bill 'Billy' Cody aka Buffalo Bill
David Bruce	...	Johnny Frey
Frank Wilcox	...	Bolliver Roberts
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Nevada Jim (as J. Farrell McDonald)
Joe King	...	Colonel Joseph Randall (as Joseph King)
Addison Richards	...	Tipton Walton

Also Known As:

Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express (USA) (original script title)
Wild West Days (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #6269)

Filming Locations:

Burro Flats, Simi Hills, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Included as a special feature in Warner Home Video's 2005 DVD release of the TV series "Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season".

Quotes:

[last lines]
Nevada Jim: [to Johnny] I'm goin' back to huntin' buffalo where a man can use his brains. My young friend Buffalo Bill is comin' along with me.
[to Bill]
Nevada Jim: Ain't yuh, hunh?
Johnny Frey: [to Bill] So, you've been believin' ol' Nevady's lies all along?
Nevada Jim: Hunh?
Bill 'Billy' Cody: Buffalo Bill Cody? It's got kinda a nice sound, doesn't it, Johnny?

Soundtrack:

Gwine to Rune All Night (De Camptown Races)

PONY EXPRESS DAYS (B. Reeves Eason, 1940) **1/2

Included on the First Season Warners DVD of the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN TV series, this Technicolor Western short stars the future "Man Of Steel" himself, George Reeves, as another legendary character - "Buffalo Bill". Directed by second-unit expert B. Reeves Eason (he was responsible, among other things, for the legendary chariot race sequence in the Silent version of BEN-HUR [1925]), the film details the short-lived long-distance mail service provided by the Pony Express company. It's set immediately prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, with the rough-riding but dedicated company employees commissioned to deliver pressing news of the delicate situation from one state to the other by horse - an arduous and risky journey which takes a number of days and necessitates them to make several stops at strategic points along the way in order to exchange horses. Invariably, they also have to contend with enemy agents determined not to allow these vital messages to go through - so that, in the meantime, agitators can insidiously work on the population of neutral states so as to rally them to their particular cause! Reeves's Bill Cody is a wannabe Pony Express rider who gets his chance when one of the men is wounded in an ambush and can't complete his journey. Intriguing, action-packed and boasting rich colors, the film is pleasant and unassuming entertainment of the kind they don't make 'em like anymore.