Battling with Buffalo Bill

Battling with Buffalo Bill
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ray Taylor
Produced by	Henry MacRae
Written by	George H. Plympton (adaptation)
Screenplay by	Ella O'Neill
Based on	The Great West That Was by William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody
Starring	Tom Tyler Lucile Browne William Desmond Rex Bell Francis Ford
Cinematography	John Hickson
Edited by	Alvin Todd
Production company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	November 28, 1931 (1931-11-28) (USA)
Running time	217 minutes, 12 chapters
Country	United States
Language	English

Battling with Buffalo Bill is a 1931 American Pre-Code Western serial film directed by Ray Taylor and starring Tom Tyler, Lucile Browne, William Desmond, Rex Bell, and Francis Ford.

Based on the book The Great West That Was by William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, the film is about a cowboy named Buffalo Bill who goes up against a shady gambler who is attempting to scare off the townspeople so he can gain possession of a gold strike. When a nearby Indian tribe is provoked into attacking the town, the cavalry rides in to the rescue. Cody's book was also used as the inspiration for the studio's highly successful 1930 serial The Indians Are Coming.^[1] Battling with Buffalo Bill was Universal Pictures's 78th serial, the 10th with sound and 4th with full sound, of the studio's total of 137 serials.

Plot

The plot is a variation on the standard B-Western "Land Grab" plot: Gold has been discovered in the area and gambler Jim Rodney intends to make sole claim to it by pushing the rightful owners off the land and taking it for himself. To do so he has his henchmen kill an Indian woman, provoking attacks from her tribe. This brings Buffalo Bill and the United States Cavalry into the town. Buffalo Bill proceeds to defeat Rodney and his schemes.

Cast

Tom Tyler as William "Buffalo Bill" Cody
Lucile Browne as Jane Mills, Buffalo Bill's love interest
William Desmond as John Mills
Rex Bell as Dave Archer, Buffalo Bill's sidekick.^[2]
Francis Ford as Jim Rodney, villainous gambler trying to illicitly claim a local gold strike
George Regas as 'Breed' Johns
Yakima Canutt as Scout Jack Brady
Bud Osborne as Joe Tampas, one of Rodney's henchmen
Joe Bonomo as Joe Brady
Jim Thorpe as Swift Arrow

Production

Along with the more successful The Indians Are Coming (1930) this serial was based on the book "The Great West That Was" by Buffalo Bill Cody.^[3]

Stunts

Chapter titles

Captured by Redskins
Circling Death
Between Hostile Tribes
The Savage Horde
The Fatal Plunge
Trapped
The Unseen Killer
Sentenced to Death
The Death Trap
A Shot from Ambush
The Flaming Death
Cheyenne Vengeance

_Source:^[4]

References

↑ Cline, William C. In the Nick of Time: Motion Picture Sound Serials. McFarland & Company, 1997, pg. 10; ISBN 0-7864-0471-X
↑ Holland, Ted (1989). B-Western Actors Encyclopaedia. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-89950-306-3.
↑ Cline, William C. (1984). "2. In Search of Ammunition". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 10. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
↑ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 204. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

Battling with Buffalo Bill at the Internet Movie Database
Battling with Buffalo Bill is available for free download at the Internet Archive
Battling with Buffalo Bill is available for free download at the Internet Archive
Battling with Buffalo Bill at AllMovie

Preceded by Danger Island (1931)	Universal Serial Battling with Buffalo Bill (1931)	Succeeded by The Spell of the Circus (1931)

Universal serials

Serials

Silent Serials (1914-1929)	Lucille Love, Girl of Mystery The Master Key The Trey o' Hearts The Black Box The Broken Coin Graft Under the Crescent The Adventures of Peg o' the Ring Liberty The Mystery Ship The Red Ace The Gray Ghost The Voice on the Wire The Brass Bullet Bull's Eye The Lion's Claws Lure of the Circus The Red Glove The Great Radium Mystery The Lion Man The Midnight Man The Flaming Disc The Moon Riders King of the Circus The Vanishing Dagger The Dragon's Net The Diamond Queen Do or Die The Secret Four Terror Trail The White Horseman Winners of the West The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe In the Days of Buffalo Bill Perils of the Yukon The Radio King With Stanley in Africa Around the World in Eighteen Days Beasts of Paradise The Eagle's Talons The Ghost City In the Days of Daniel Boone The Oregon Trail The Phantom Fortune The Social Buccaneer The Steel Trail The Fast Express The Fighting Ranger The Iron Man The Riddle Rider Wolves of the North Ace of Spades The Great Circus Mystery The Scarlet Streak Fighting with Buffalo Bill Strings of Steel The Winking Idol Blake of Scotland Yard The Fire Fighters The Return of the Riddle Rider The Trail of the Tiger Whispering Smith Rides Haunted Island Tarzan the Mighty The Vanishing Rider The Diamond Master A Final Reckoning The Pirate of Panama

Part-sound Serials (1929-1930)	The Ace of Scotland Yard Tarzan the Tiger The Jade Box The Lightning Express Terry of the Times The Indians Are Coming

Pre-war Sound Serials (1931-1942)	Finger Prints Heroes of the Flames Danger Island Battling with Buffalo Bill The Spell of the Circus Detective Lloyd The Airmail Mystery Heroes of the West The Jungle Mystery The Lost Special Clancy of the Mounted The Phantom of the Air Gordon of Ghost City The Perils of Pauline Pirate Treasure The Vanishing Shadow The Red Rider Tailspin Tommy Rustlers of Red Dog The Call of the Savage The Roaring West Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery The Adventures of Frank Merriwell Flash Gordon The Phantom Rider Ace Drummond Jungle Jim Secret Agent X-9 Wild West Days Radio Patrol Tim Tyler's Luck Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars Flaming Frontiers Red Barry Scouts to the Rescue Buck Rogers The Oregon Trail The Phantom Creeps The Green Hornet Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe Winners of the West Junior G-Men The Green Hornet Strikes Again! Sky Raiders Riders of Death Valley Sea Raiders

War-time Serials (1942-1945)	Don Winslow of the Navy Gang Busters Junior G-Men of the Air Overland Mail The Adventures of Smilin' Jack Don Winslow of the Coast Guard Adventures of the Flying Cadets The Great Alaskan Mystery Raiders of Ghost City Mystery of the River Boat Jungle Queen The Master Key Secret Agent X-9

Post-war Serials (1945-1946)	The Royal Mounted Rides Again The Scarlet Horseman Lost City of the Jungle The Mysterious Mr. M

See also

Film serials List of film serials List of film serials by studio

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