The White Buffalo

Last updated

The White Buffalo
WhiteBuffalo1977.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Written by Richard Sale
Based onnovel by Richard Sale
Produced byPancho Kohner
Starring Charles Bronson
Jack Warden
Will Sampson
Clint Walker
Slim Pickens
Stuart Whitman
Kim Novak
Cinematography Paul Lohmann
Edited byMichael F. Anderson
Music by John Barry
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • May 6, 1977 (1977-05-06)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6 million [1]

The White Buffalo is a 1977 fantasy Western film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Charles Bronson, Kim Novak, Jack Warden, Slim Pickens and Will Sampson. [2]

Contents

Plot

Wild Bill Hickok is haunted by his dreams of a giant white buffalo, so much that he travels the West to find the beast. Along the way, Hickok meets the great Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, who is also searching the plains for the giant white buffalo, which has killed Crazy Horse's daughter. Hickok and Crazy Horse team up to kill the elusive buffalo.

(In Plains Indians culture, the white buffalo is a sacred animal that has great spiritual significance; in particular, it plays a crucial role in the history and religion of the Lakota people through the story of White Buffalo Calf Woman.)

Cast

Production

The film was based on a novel by Richard Sale published in 1975. Reviewing the novel, Larry McMurtry said Sale "chose a topic with great possibilities, turned it into a sharpened stake and proceeded to impale himself on it." [3]

Film rights were bought by Dino De Laurentiis, who signed Sale to adapt the novel. Sale said De Laurentiis was, along with Daryl Zanuck, one of the finest producers he ever worked with. [4]

Bronson signed to make the film in July 1975. [5]

"It's a Moby Dick of the west," said director J. Lee Thompson. "It's a film we hope will work on many levels. On the first it is a wonderful, sensitive story between Wild Bill Hickok and the great Indian chief Crazy Horse. On the second it talks of a man having to find himself, seek his destiny, rid himself of fears and become more human." [1]

Much of the film was shot on a soundstage in Los Angeles, with location shots in Colorado and New Mexico. For the buffalo scenes, producer Laurentiis hired Carlo Rambaldi to design an animatronic full-size bison that would slide around on tracks. This was based on his larger-scale work on their previous collaboration King Kong (1976). [6]

Actors Ed Lauter and David Roya were similarly involved in King Kong, along with composer John Barry.

Reception

Critical response

The film had only a sporadic release in various "test engagements" and was not screened for critics. [7]

On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 25 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [8]

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and called it "a hunting story to be read in the broadest terms. Hickok, who hates Indians, and Crazy Horse, who hates white men, grow to respect each other through the film. Courage kills racism. It's a shame this theme isn't developed more. The script, based on a Richard Sale novel, instead takes side trips into a standard barroom shootout and a Charles Bronson reunion with an old lady friend (Kim Novak)." [9]

Arthur D. Murphy of Variety wrote, "Withheld for months from reviewers, 'The White Buffalo' is a turkey ... The trade has to wonder how a project like this gets off the ground, when the dialog is enough to invite jeers from an audience. The title beast looks like a hung-over carnival prize despite attempts at camouflage via hokey sound track noise, busy John Barry scoring, murky photography and fast editing." [7] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post stated that the film "is destined for almost instant obscurity in domestic release, a consummation that can't come a minute too soon for director J. Lee Thompson, star Charles Bronson and everyone else in an exposed position on this fiasco." He thought the buffalo looked very fake and "[t]he producer under a white sheet chanting 'boogie-boogie-boogie' would have been more effective." [10]

Jonathan Rosenbaum of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "One would have to consult Richard Sale's novel to determine whether the freakish gaps, detours and red herrings are ascribable (in whole or in part) to the original source. As the movie version stands, the bewildering lack of motivation for Hickok's recurring white buffalo nightmare—from which he invariably wakes blasting away with pistols in each hand—suggests, along with a lot of other inponderables, that a great deal of background exposition has either been eliminated or drastically reduced, leaving a peculiarly disassembled narrative in its wake ... Equally bizarre and inexact is the title beast itself—a clumsy mechanical contrivance resembling a giant shaggy toy whose roars bear an uncomfortable similarity to the sounds of a growling stomach." [11]

"The White Buffalo" holds a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on five reviews. [12]

Notes

The film screened on TV under the title Hunt to Kill. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Bronson</span> American actor (1921–2003)

Charles Bronson was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town in the Allegheny Mountains. Bronson's father, a miner, died when Bronson was young. Bronson himself worked in the mines as well until joining the United States Army Air Forces in 1943 to fight in World War II. After his service, he joined a theatrical troupe and studied acting. During the 1950s, he played various supporting roles in motion pictures and television, including anthology drama TV series in which he would appear as the main character. Near the end of the decade, he had his first cinematic leading role in Machine-Gun Kelly (1958).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry McMurtry</span> American novelist (1936–2021)

Larry Jeff McMurtry was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. His novels included Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations. He was also a prominent book collector and bookseller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White buffalo</span> American bison considered sacred in several Native American religions

A white buffalo or white bison is an American bison possessing white fur, and is considered sacred or spiritually significant in several Native American religions; therefore, such buffalo are often visited for prayer and other religious rituals. The coats of buffalo are almost always brown and their skin a dark brown or black; however, white buffalo can result from one of several physical conditions:

<i>King Kong</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by John Guillermin

King Kong is a 1976 American monster adventure film produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Guillermin. It is a modernized remake of the 1933 film about a giant ape that is captured and taken to New York City for exhibition. It stars Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange in her first film role, and features mechanical effects by Carlo Rambaldi and makeup effects by Rick Baker who also played the title character. It is the fifth entry in the King Kong franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crazy Horse</span> Lakota war leader (c. 1840–1877)

Crazy Horse was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by White American settlers on Native American territory and to preserve the traditional way of life of the Lakota people. His participation in several famous battles of the Black Hills War on the northern Great Plains, among them the Fetterman Fight in 1866, in which he acted as a decoy, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, in which he led a war party to victory, earned him great respect from both his enemies and his own people.

<i>The Legend of the Lone Ranger</i> 1981 film

The Legend of the Lone Ranger is a 1981 American Western adventure film directed by William A. Fraker and starring Klinton Spilsbury, Michael Horse and Christopher Lloyd. It is based on the story of The Lone Ranger, a Western character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronson Canyon</span> Canyon in Los Angeles, California, United States

Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the present.

<i>Telefon</i> (film) 1977 spy film

Telefon is a 1977 spy film directed by Don Siegel and starring Charles Bronson, Lee Remick and Donald Pleasence. The screenplay by Peter Hyams and Stirling Silliphant is based on the 1975 novel by Walter Wager.

<i>Orca</i> (1977 film) 1977 Italian thriller film by Michael Anderson

Orca is a 1977 American thriller film directed by Michael Anderson, from a screenplay by Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Donati, and starring Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson, Bo Derek, Keenan Wynn and Robert Carradine. The film follows a male orca tracking down and getting revenge on a fishing boat and its captain for intentionally killing the whale's pregnant mate and their unborn calf.

<i>Lawman</i> (film) 1971 American western film

Lawman is a 1971 American revisionist Western film produced and directed by Michael Winner and starring Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Lee J. Cobb and Robert Duvall.

<i>The Sicilian</i> (film) 1987 film by Michael Cimino

The Sicilian is a 1987 epic historical crime film directed by Michael Cimino. The film was adapted by Steve Shagan, and later rewritten by Cimino and Gore Vidal from Mario Puzo's 1984 novel of the same name. Christopher Lambert stars as Salvatore Giuliano, the infamous bandit who tried to liberate early 1950s Sicily from Italian rule. The film also stars Terence Stamp, Joss Ackland, John Turturro and Barbara Sukowa.

<i>Death Wish</i> (1974 film) 1974 American vigilante action thriller film

Death Wish is a 1974 American vigilante action film directed by Michael Winner. The film, loosely based on the 1972 novel of the same title by Brian Garfield and the first film in the Death Wish film series, stars Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, alongside Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, William Redfield, Kathleen Tolan and Christopher Guest. In the film, Paul Kersey, an architect leading a peaceful life, resorts to vigilantism after his wife is murdered and daughter raped during a home invasion.

<i>Death Wish 4: The Crackdown</i> 1987 American action thriller film by J. Lee Thompson

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown is a 1987 American vigilante action-thriller film, and the fourth installment in the Death Wish film series. The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson, and features Charles Bronson, who reprises his leading role as Paul Kersey. In the film, Kersey is once again forced to become a vigilante after his girlfriend's daughter dies of a drug overdose. He is recruited by a tabloid owner, Nathan White, to take down various crime figures of the Los Angeles drug trade.

<i>Hurricane</i> (1979 film) 1979 film

Hurricane is a 1979 American romantic adventure film featuring Mia Farrow and Jason Robards, produced by Dino De Laurentiis with Lorenzo Semple Jr., and directed by Jan Troell. It is a loose remake of John Ford's 1937 film The Hurricane, itself based on the 1936 novel by James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff.

<i>Love and Bullets</i> (1979 film) 1979 film by Stuart Rosenberg

Love and Bullets is a 1979 action crime film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. and starring Charles Bronson, it is based on a screenplay by Wendell Mayes and John Melson.

<i>Breakheart Pass</i> (film) 1975 film by Tom Gries

Breakheart Pass is a 1975 American Western film that stars Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, and Jill Ireland. Based on the 1974 novel of the same title by Scottish author Alistair MacLean (1922–1987), it was filmed in north-central Idaho.

<i>Caboblanco</i> 1980 film by J. Lee Thompson

Caboblanco is a 1980 American drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Charles Bronson, Dominique Sanda and Jason Robards. The film has often been described as a remake of Casablanca.

<i>Messenger of Death</i> 1988 film by J. Lee Thompson

Messenger of Death is a 1988 American vigilante action thriller film starring Charles Bronson. It is about an attempt by a water company to start a family feud among fundamentalist Mormons to take the family's land for the company.

<i>St. Ives</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by J. Lee Thompson

St. Ives is a 1976 American crime thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Charles Bronson, John Houseman, Jacqueline Bisset, and Maximilian Schell.

References

  1. 1 2 "An Intrepid Gunfighter Meets Fear" Gallo, William. Los Angeles Times July 25, 1976: c1.
  2. Paul Brenner (2008). "The White Buffalo". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on June 1, 2008.
  3. Two Not Quite Historic Books: Book World NIGHT OF THE SILENT DRUMS. THE WHITE BUFFALO. By John L. Anderson (Seribner's. 406 pp. $9.95) By Richard Sale (Simon & Schuster. 253 pp. $7.95) Reviewed by Larry McMurtry The Washington Post September 22, 1975: B5.
  4. "Looking Up to De Laurentiis" Sale, Richard. Los Angeles Times December 12, 1976: t2.
  5. "A Tribute to a Good Shepherd" Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times November 15, 1975: a8.
  6. "'Mad as Hell' in Beverly Hills" Lee, Grant. Los Angeles Times November 17, 1976: f17.
  7. 1 2 Murphy, Arthur D. (September 21, 1977). "Film Reviews: The White Buffalo". Variety . 18.
  8. "The White Buffalo (1977) reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  9. Siskel, Gene (June 8, 1977). "The White Buffalo". Chicago Tribune . Section 2, p. 6.
  10. Arnold, Gary (June 3, 1977). "The Movie". The Washington Post . B1, B9.
  11. Rosenbaum, Jonathan (February 1978). "The White Buffalo". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 45 (529): 32–33.
  12. "The White Buffalo - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes . May 5, 2015.
  13. He Rejects Peeping – Tom Comedies, Ryan, Desmond. Philadelphia Inquirer , August 14, 1983: H.4.