Pony Express (1953)

“[Seeing Denny in a fashionable dress] It’s not the get-up, Shorty. It;s just that you can’t make a racehorse out of a jackass.” – Wild Bill Hickok

Number of Times Seen – 1 (4 Apr 2019)

Brief Synopsis – Fictionalized retelling of how the Pony Express came to be through the efforts of Wild Bill Hickock and Buffalo Bill Cody.

My Take on it – I was really looking forwrad to seeing this movie since I’ve always been fascinated by the premise of the Pony Express.

Unfortunately, they do a really pathetic job here with this story and it resonates so poorly throughout.

The depictions of Cody and Hickock are bland and even with the help of Charleton Heston in the lead, this film doesn’t manage to keep things interesting at all.

The action scenes are poorly conceptualized and the fight scenes with the Indians and the Secessionists are laughable at best.

the special effects are done extremely horrendously and even the scenes featuring inclement weather look really fake and unrealistic the whole way through.

As a kid, I was a big fan of the TV show The Young Riders which showed a much better depiction of how these young men who would later help forge the future of the West managed to come together and bring an important service to the community (and nation) by being able to effectively deliver messages across vast distances in short spans of time depsite the dangers abound.

Bottom Line – Pretty pathetic look at how Cody and Hickock started the Pony Express. Even having Heston in a prominent role doesn’t help make this film work and it feels quite lackluster throughout. The action scenes featuring Indians, Secessionists and even the inclement weather is all presented really poorly and tales so much away from the way one might perceive the story being told here. The TV The Young Riders does a much better job showing how the Pony Express was created and how it struggled, yet persevered.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Although the real Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) and Wild Bill Hickock claimed to have won their spurs as young Pony Express riders, there is no evidence that they ever worked for the company. (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (3/10)