Although the Pony Express, a mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California, only operated for 18 months between April 1860 and October 1861, it has become part of the legend of the American West. Previous mail services had relied upon the stagecoach, but the Pony Express used relays of horse riders which made it during the brief period of its operation, before it was replaced by the telegraph, the fastest means of communication between California and the eastern states.
The film, set in 1860, tells a highly fictionalised, historically inaccurate, account of the origins of the Pony Express. It credits the formation of the service to "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, two real-life western heroes. In reality, although both men (at least by their own accounts) rode for the Pony Express, neither of them played any part in its creation, and both were considerably younger than the characters portrayed here; Cody would only have been fourteen in 1860. Cody, Hickok and their men have to battle not only hostile Indians but also separatists who are promoting California's secession from the United States and who try to sabotage the mail service in order to achieve this end. There is also a love-triangle involving Cody, his girlfriend Denny Russell, and Evelyn Hastings, the beautiful sister of one of the separatist leaders.
This was one of Charlton Heston's early films, made at a time when he had not yet established himself as a major star, and it is far from being one of his best. Although there are some decent action sequences, "Pony Express" never really rises above the level of the average Western. One reviewer describes Charles Marquis Warren as one of the worst western scriptwriters. I will not comment on the general truth of that allegation, as I have only seen two films for which he is credited as writer, but I must say that both of those films are mediocre ones. (The other was "Only the Valiant"). The script for "Pony Express" is a poor one; the story, especially towards the end, is difficult to follow and the sudden tragic ending to a romantic action/adventure film strikes a jarring note. As was common (although not universal) in Westerns from this period, "Only he Valiant" being another example, the Indians are cast as villains with no attempt to understand their point of view, and the importance of the Pony Express is perhaps over-emphasised; it is hard to credit, as we are asked to accept here, that California could have been persuaded to take the momentous step of seceding from the Union by the late arrival of a mail delivery. 5/10
The film, set in 1860, tells a highly fictionalised, historically inaccurate, account of the origins of the Pony Express. It credits the formation of the service to "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, two real-life western heroes. In reality, although both men (at least by their own accounts) rode for the Pony Express, neither of them played any part in its creation, and both were considerably younger than the characters portrayed here; Cody would only have been fourteen in 1860. Cody, Hickok and their men have to battle not only hostile Indians but also separatists who are promoting California's secession from the United States and who try to sabotage the mail service in order to achieve this end. There is also a love-triangle involving Cody, his girlfriend Denny Russell, and Evelyn Hastings, the beautiful sister of one of the separatist leaders.
This was one of Charlton Heston's early films, made at a time when he had not yet established himself as a major star, and it is far from being one of his best. Although there are some decent action sequences, "Pony Express" never really rises above the level of the average Western. One reviewer describes Charles Marquis Warren as one of the worst western scriptwriters. I will not comment on the general truth of that allegation, as I have only seen two films for which he is credited as writer, but I must say that both of those films are mediocre ones. (The other was "Only the Valiant"). The script for "Pony Express" is a poor one; the story, especially towards the end, is difficult to follow and the sudden tragic ending to a romantic action/adventure film strikes a jarring note. As was common (although not universal) in Westerns from this period, "Only he Valiant" being another example, the Indians are cast as villains with no attempt to understand their point of view, and the importance of the Pony Express is perhaps over-emphasised; it is hard to credit, as we are asked to accept here, that California could have been persuaded to take the momentous step of seceding from the Union by the late arrival of a mail delivery. 5/10