Light as well as colorful mini-biopic about the mythical hero taking on Indians and Cheyenne chief Yellow Hand . This ¨Buffalo Bill¨ by Mario Costa boasts a nice Italian/German cast with Hans Von Borsody , Roldano Lupi , Mario Brega , Ingeborg Schöner , Mirko Ellis as Yellow Hand and Gordon Scott as Buffalo Bill . This is an entertaining chronicle of the noted frontier explorer , nowadays as an Army high officer . A simple story of William "Buffalo Bill" F. Cody (Gordon Scott) , legendary westerner , whose adventures made him a hero , this is a fictionalized account of the life and career from his days as an army Major . Buffalo confronts renegade Indians , and smugglers (Mario Brega) who are selling weapons . Bill must battle hostile Indians and some outlaws intent on gunrunning . As Buffalo Bill is sent to stop the arms trading and avert an Indian war led by Chief White Fox (Fiodor Chaliapin) . Along the way Bill delivers justice by confronting nasties and brawls at the Gold Dust saloon , whose owner is the suspicious Monroe (Jan Hendriks) . Later on on , there occurs his famous fight against ¨Yellow Hand¨ (Mirko Ellis). Average Pasta Western plenty of shots , go riding , assaults , up and downs pace , thrills and passable direction . However , it results to be a very mediocre Spaghetti-Schnizel Western mostly produced by Italy and German secondary participation ; it doesn't follow the Sergio Leone wake and being proceeded in American style . Being emotionally right on the mark and there's precious action . The film packs shootouts , noisy action , high body-count and overwhelming Indian attacks . It's a thrilling western with spectacular outdoors and breathtaking confrontation among badly-dressed Indians and soldiers . Acceptable action sequences with rousing Indian attacks against a Yankee fort and little realistic shootouts . The picture has a decent Mise-En-scene with bustling battles , so-so production design , spectacular outdoors and moving score by Carlo Rustichelli . Lousy cinematography filmed by Massimo Dallamano who also directed Westerns , being necessary a right remastering ; filmed on locations in Colmenar Viejo , La Pedriza, Manzanares el Real (Madrid) , as usual , and El Lacio , Rome , Italy . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Mario Costa , under pseudonym , J. W. Fordson . He was a craftsman who directed several adventure movies "Cavalier in Devil's Castle" , "Conqueror of Corinth" , ¨The son of the sheikh ¨, ¨The black pirate¨ ,"Gladiator of Rome" , "Karim, the Sheikh's Son" , "The Queen of the Pirates" , ¨The kings of France¨ and Westerns as ¨La Belba¨ and "Buffalo Bill, Hero of the West" ; many of them starred by Gordon Scott . Other films about ¨Buffalo Bill¨ are the followings : ¨Battling with Buffalo Bill¨ (1931) by Ray Taylor with Tom Tyler , ¨The Plainsman¨ (1936) by Cecil B. De Mille with Gary Cooper , James Ellison , Jean Arthur , and the best ¨Buffalo Bill¨ by William A. Wellman with Joel McCrea , Thomas Mitchell , Mauren O'Hara and Anthony Quinn as Yellow Hand . Furthermore , ¨Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory¨ by Bernard Ray with Clayton Moore , Chief Thundercloud ; ¨Buffalo Bill rides again ¨ (1947) by Bernard Ray with Richard Arlen , "Seven Hours of Gunfire" (65) by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Rik Van Nutter as Buffalo Bill Cody , Adrian Hoven as Wild Bill Hickok and Gloria Milland as Calamity Jane and the historical pastiche as well as perennial underrated ¨Buffalo Bill and the Indians¨ (76) by Robert Altman with Paul Newman who appears as a charlatan and shameless exemplar of encroaching imperialism .

Released in 1965 and directed by Mario Costa, "Buffalo Bill, Hero of the West" stars Gordon Scott as the title character who is commissioned to avert an Indian war by stopping renegade Indians, led by Yellow Hand (Mirko Ellis), who are illegally sold guns by Big Sam Donaldson (Mario Brega). Roldano Lupi plays the rigid colonel of the local fort and Ingeborg Schöner his beautiful daughter while Feodor Chaliapin Jr. plays Chief White Fox and Catherine Ribeiro his daughter, Silver Moonray.Gordon Scott's acting career only lasted a dozen years from 1955-1967. He was tall with a lean waist but with muscular bulk and a likable, almost innocent disposition (think Brendan Fraser with big muscles). He's perhaps best known for playing Tarzan six times in as many years from 1955-1960, but also known for sword & sandal roles, like Goliath, Samson, Remus and Hercules. I was curious to see how he'd do in a Western and was pleasantly surprised. While this is a Spaghetti Western, it was made in 1964 and Sergio Leone's Man With No Name trilogy was just starting to skyrocket to popular success. As such, don't expect the items usually associated with Spaghetti Westerns, except badly dubbed dialogue, Spanish locations substituting for the American West and Spaniards playing Native Americans. Beyond these factors, this is more akin to American Westerns, like John Wayne ones and, of course, 1944's excellent whitewashing of the same Western icon, "Buffalo Bill," where Joel McCrea played the hero. Unlike that movie, which is biopic, this version is a slice-in-the-life of Buffalo Bill. Actually, the character of Yellow Hand was taken from that earlier movie, being based on the real-life Cheyenne chief Yellow Hair whom Cody shot, stabbed and scalped three weeks after Little Big Horn (!), or so he claimed.At any rate, this ain't no cheapo flick. Yes, the Native dialogue is a tad stereotypical, but that was typical at the time and it's not as bad as you would think, like, for instance, in Elvis' "Flaming Star" (1960). The locations and sets are excellent, such as the Western town and the fort; and the costuming is quite good as well. On top of all this, Scott shines as the winsome protagonist and you'll find yourself rooting for him and his sidekick. Not to mention the two women are quite fetching. The only problem I had with this movie is the poor dubbing and the washed-out (non) colors of the public domain DVD I viewed. To add insult to injury it's a pan & scan version where one person talking in a scene might be totally off camera but, thankfully, I only really noticed that in one scene near the end. I would love to see a widescreen version with brighter colors. The movie runs about 90 minutes and was shot in Spain and Elios Studios, Rome. GRADE: B-

Former "Tarzan" star Gordon Scott swapped his loin cloth for Levis and joined a short list of famous actors who have portrayed the legendary frontier scout and showman. "Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West" epitomizes the Italian western before Sergio Leone revolutionized the genre. Indeed, most of the pre-Leone westerns resembled conventional 1950s era Hollywood horse operas, and "Buffalo Bill" proves no exception. Mind you, Scott is more than rugged enough for the larger-than life role and his goatee imparts a roguish appearance. Our buckskin clad hero is investigating the illegal sales of Winchester repeating rifles to renegade redskins. For the record, this was "Gladiator of Rome" director Mario Costa's first and only cavalry versus the Native American epics. Costa doesn't let his actors stand around and chew the scenery. He stages quite a bit gunplay, and "A Fistful of Dollars" lenser Massimo Dallamano makes everything look spectacular. The big showdown at the end of the action takes place in a cavalry fort with the Indians scaling the walls and giving our heroes hell to pay. The chief suspect is an obnoxious hulk named Sam (Mario Brega of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly") and at one point, he trades blows with brawny Scott. Reportedly, Brega smashed Scott's nose and neither man got along with the other. Unlike later Spaghetti westerns, Scott is not working for himself to obtain vast sums of money like the bounty hunters who would come to dominate the genre. Instead, he is on a mission of mercy authorized by the President to root out injustice. The scenery, the dames, and the tough dudes all look exciting. This made-in-Spain shoot'em up boasts lots of action, but everything is formulaic with few narrative surprises. My chief complaint is the voice that they have used to dub Scott so that he sounds like an older man. Our hero has no romantic love interest, but he runs into several pretty ladies. Gordon Scott fans will savor this sagebrusher.

Although "Buffalo Bill, Hero Of The West" is a western made by European filmmakers, it isn't quite like what you usually associate with spaghetti westerns. The movie plays out like it was made by American filmmakers, from the standard western plot right down to the musical score. That doesn't mean that spaghetti western fans won't find anything to enjoy here. For starters, this movie clearly had a budget; there are dozens of extras, as well as a complete replica of an army fort built. Also, the action sequences, from hand-to-hand combat to gun battles, are pretty well done. However, the story, despite the presence of the colorful wild west figure Buffalo Bill, is often kind of flat and predictable. Still, if you are a spaghetti western fan, the movie has enough interesting elements to make it worth a look. However, if you do decide to watch it, seek out a copy that presents the movie in its true widescreen format - the pan and scan editions frequently cut off speaking characters photographed to the far left and right.