. . . thoughtful viewers may wonder after taking in ANNIE OAKLEY. About 60 years before RKO Studios released ANNIE OAKLEY, America's Racist Rich People's Party (the same folks who orchestrated the "Inside Job" facilitating the assassination of Abe Lincoln due to his Post-Civil War vision of repatriating kidnapped Blacks to their African Homelands while bringing the many egregious War Profiteers--who murdered hundreds of Union artillery men with their shoddy exploding cannon barrels--to Justice) filled the 1870s U.S. West with Job-Killing Corrupt Capitalist "Indian Agent" Crooks (not unlike Modern Day Child-Catcher Betsy DeVos running her national chain of For-Profit U.S. Charter Dumbing-Down Shacks out of OUR Education Department!) who bamboozled legendary Sioux War Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull into slaying the top Native American Booster they had among U.S. Whites, George Armstrong Custer. Though Crazy Horse, the more Visionary of the Pair, was quickly assassinated like Lincoln (presaging the One-Two Punch of the 1960s, when agents of the Rich People's Party first whacked our Beloved President, JFK, and then gunned down Martin Luther King, Jr.), ANNIE OAKLEY documents how the title character taught Sitting Bull the American Language and Culture. Buffalo Bill was more of a hindrance than a help during this process, in keeping with his Genocidal Role of starving many Tribal Nations to death by gratuitously killing off their meat, so that the only buffalo left were the ones on nickels. If only Annie Oakley had ridden with Custer, America may have gotten rid of the Trilaterals once and for all back then, instead of being left in Her Present Mess.

George Stevens directs this biography on the early career of sharp-shooter Annie Oakley as if it were a star-crossed lovers' tale, replete with heartache and self-sacrifice. Backwoods girl from Ohio in the 1890s enters a shooting contest against world's champion Toby Walker and nearly beats him; this leads to a co-starring spot in Buffalo Bill's traveling western show, where the primrose gal becomes a star and falls in love with competitor Walker. Barbara Stanwyck was born to play Annie Oakley, yet her performance isn't the raucous hoot one might expect (this is director Stevens' fault, who lingers on Annie's sympathy and compassion for others so long, it makes her seem like a bleeding-heart). Still, Stanwyck is the reason to watch, and she's best in the film's first-half--when Annie still has a little gumshun in her and playful self-assurance. Stevens seems more interested in the budding love story between Oakley and Walker than in creating an actual document of Oakley's colorful life (which we are told at the start was stranger than any fiction). Certainly a good try, with funny bits of business happening along the sidelines and plenty of blustery character actors in support. **1/2 from ****

While I am a history teacher and my friends and family HATE watching historical films with me because I often find fault with the way movies often handle the facts in a fast and loose manner, I still managed to like this film and kept my mouth shut about its many inaccuracies! Part of this is because when I watched the film I didn't know that much about Annie Oakley and another was because I was having too much fun to complain. I spotted a few errors but in researching more about her after the film was over, I found that most of the film was fiction. Despite this, I still am not complaining because I liked the film so much plus Miss Oakley is a rather mythic figure already and little impact on history (though she did a lot for women's rights--at least indirectly).It's interesting that Oakley (Barbara Stanwyck) is not the sole focus of the film. It's much more of an ensemble film and the movie is not about her entire life--just one small fictionalized portion involving her falling in love with another sharp shooter. Now the facts and the fiction aren't all that different in a few key ways, so it's obvious that the facts did at least inspire the film. According to the film, Toby Walker (Preston Foster) is acknowledged as the world's greatest shooter. However, when a contest is arranged with an unknown local girl (Oakley), she allows him to win but is invited to join Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as a featured star. Then, her budding love for Toby is hidden by her and Toby so that they can foster a publicity campaign that they are rivals. In reality, the real sharpshooter was Francis "Frank" E. Butler and Oakley beat him during this shoot-off. However, they did marry and they did travel with Buffalo Bill, though they first traveled with a different and less famous show. The romance, at least the way the film portrayed it, is pretty bogus.Another bogus aspect of the film is the involvement of Sitting Bull. While he did apparently know Miss Oakley and did nickname her "Little Sure Shot", he was only with the show a few months. Sadly, almost all the wonderful scenes featuring him in the film didn't happen and it's too bad, as he was the best character in the film! For an American Indian in the 1930s, this portrayal was amazingly sensitive and showed him as a rather decent and clever guy.There's a lot more to the film that is bogus, but as I said the film is so well written and fun, I found myself uncharacteristically NOT complaining as the truth wasn't quite as fun and exciting as fiction. A lovely film thanks to good but distorted writing, excellent acting and brisk direction.Interesting facts: Andy Clyde plays the hotel owner. In the 1920s, he was a big silent comedy star as well as director and writer. Also, Pert Kelton plays the lady who likes Toby at the beginning of the film. She was the first 'Alice Kramden' in the Honeymooner's segments of "The Jackie Gleason Show".

I've always loved Annie Oakley. I've always loved Barbara Stanwyck too. I'm sure one is related to the other. This used to be one of those old, mid-morning movies that was shown fairly often. If you stayed home from school, (ahem) SICK, you got to see it. Cowboys, Indians, Buffalo Bill, his Wild West Show, sharpshooting, a (yucky) love story, and the charming and beautiful Barbara Stanwyck. Hmmm, what a way to recover enough to return to school!!! Barbara Stanwyck was a liberated woman playing liberated roles long before it was in vogue.Great license is taken with history, but this film was made when heroes were bigger than life and legend ruled. It's a nicely told story, tracing the life of a young girl, from the backwoods to a life of world-wide celebrity (yes, and love too). "Annie's" skills were real, but she had lots of help learning "showmanship". There are a lot of funny moments, warm moments, and selfless (O Henry type) acts. These "flesh" out the story and lead you right into a joyous ending. (AIN'T LOVE GRAND!)Very nicely done, it will please "new" audiences and old-timers alike. The younger crowd should especially like "Annie Oakley". They don't make movies like this anymore. It's a fitting tribute to Annie Oakley, American legend, and folk hero.....PS--- I gave this a 9 out of 10 rating. I was tempted to give it a 10, after all, it was made in 1935 and is still good....