Movie Review: The White Buffalo (1977)

Genre: Western  

Director: J. Lee Thompson  

Starring: Charles Bronson, Jack Warden, Will Sampson, Kim Novak  

Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: Suffering from nightmares about a rampaging white buffalo, 'Wild' Bill Hickok (Charles Bronson) travels west to the rugged Black Hills. Along the way he renews acquaintances with ex-lover Poker Jenny (Kim Novak), and tangles with nemesis Captain Tom Custer (Ed Lauter) and new enemy Jack Kileen (Clint Walker). Concurrently, Lakota tribe leader Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) is hunting the same beast to avenge his daughter's death. Hickok, Crazy Horse, and old timer Charlie Zane (Jack Warden) team up for the hunt high in the snowy mountains.

What Works Well: Inspired by familiar man-versus-mythical-beast narratives (or more simply, Jaws), this Richard Sale adaptation of his own book benefits from razor sharp dialogue peppered with frontier era colloquialisms. Charles Bronson looks natty in cool specs and forges an eloquently uneasy bond with Will Sampson's Crazy Horse, while Jack Warden's old-timer is uncompromising in representing hardened racist attitudes. In the lead-up to the climax, the action highlights are sharp, and Hickok's encounter with Poker Jenny is resolved with unexpected vulnerability.

What Does Not Work As Well: The special effects used to create the titular white buffalo are hideous. The creature looks like an emancipated carnival prize set on a rocking horse base, severely undermining the drama's core and the fundamental sense of dread. Elsewhere, Hickok would have benefited from an expanded backstory, and no context is provided for his nightmares.

Conclusion: Grand ambitions compromised by a small-budget creature.



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