A spectacular and mighty adventure in the early 1860s when America's destiny rode in the saddle bags of the Pony Express . As the Pony Express was a mail service delivering messages , newspapers , mail, and small packages from St. Joseph, Missouri, across the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento, California, by horseback, using a series of relay stations . During its 19 months of operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days . When replaced by the telegraph, the Pony Express quickly became romanticized and became part of the lore of the American West . Its reliance on the ability and endurance of individual young, hardy riders and fast horses was seen as evidence of rugged American individualism of the Frontier times . Pony Express logo was used by stagecoach and freight company Wells Fargo, which provided secure mail service . Buffalo Bill (Charlton Heston) and Wild Bill Hickock (Forrest Tucker) work to establish the short-lived Pony Express and fight Indians along with stagecoach station owners and California Separatists who seek to destroy it . Meanwhile , they fall in love for two beautiful damsels , Evelyn Hastings (Rhonda Fleming) and Denny Russell (Jan Sterling) , Calamity Jane lookalike role .This traditional Western of the founding of mail routes westward contains thrills , rousing nice action , shootouts , Sioux Indian attacks and exuberant outdoors . Dealing with the glamorous Pony Express mail route between Saint Joseph , Missouri, and Sacramento , California during ten days , in which brave riders battling hostile Indians , cutthroats attempting on robbing , bad weather , astute bandits and many other things . As Pony Express became from April 3, 1860, to October 1861, the West's most direct means of east–west communication before the telegraph was established and was vital for tying the new state of California with the rest of the United States . The main protagonists result to be two Western legends , both of them historical figures , Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickock , and it doesn't check every fact . Although , the real Buffalo Bill , William F. Cody, and Wild Bill Hickock claimed to have won their spurs as young Pony Express riders, there is no evidence that they ever worked for the company ; in fact , concerning great adventures , bigger than they were in life , as the real Buffalo Bill was only 14 when the Pony Express was established . The film displays a colorful cinematography by veteran cameraman Ray Rennahan . In addition , thrilling and evocative musical score by Paul Sawtell. The motion picture produced by Nat Holt was decently directed by Jerry Hopper , but with no enthusiasm . Hopper firstly worked for Paramount , them he crossed to Universal and immediately proved himself on more intimate subjects , particularly those with veins of comedy or sentiment . Hopper directed all kind of genres such as Western : ¨Madron¨, ¨The Bull of the West¨ ; gritty Thriller : ¨Naked alibi¨ , ¨The Atomic City¨ , ¨The square jungle¨ ; Comedy : ¨The private war of Major Benson¨with Charlton Heston ; Adventures : ¨Alaska seas¨ , ¨The Sharkfighters¨ , ¨The secret of Incas¨ and ¨The Missouri traveler¨, it was the best of Hopper's later movies before he became entrenched in television . As Jerry Hooper also filmed a great quantity of TV episodes such as ¨Voyage to the bottom of the sea¨ , ¨The fugitive¨ , ¨Perry Mason¨ , ¨Shenandoah¨ , ¨Adams family¨ , ¨Caravan¨ and ¨Gunsmoke¨.

Fairly ordinary 1860s Western tells a fictional account of how the Pony Express Mail Delivery System was founded, helped along by Buffalo Bill Cody (Charlton Heston) and Wild Bill Hickok (Forrest Tucker). A young Heston's determined and self-assured characterization makes for some enjoyment early on in the picture, though the second half becomes somewhat routine with typical "Cowboys and Indians" confrontations. Forrest Tucker doesn't invest as much in his Hickok personage. The leading women are Rhonda Fleming and Jan Sterling, both of whom are rivals who are sweet on Buffalo Bill. Sterling's is the more engaging of the two, and we can't help but feel sorry for her as the young tomboy whose infatuation for Heston goes unrequited. ** out of ****

Paramount's PONY EXPRESS (1953) is a reasonably good fifties western. Produced for the studio by Nat Holt - it was made the same year as their pivotal contribution to the genre "Shane". And while never reaching the lofty heights of Steven's classic it was competently written for the screen by Charles Marquis Warren. Glowingly photographed in Technicolor by veteran Ray Rennehan and directed with a certain flair by Jerry Hopper it was all played out by a well chosen cast in some handsome Utah locations.It is 1860 and Buffalo Bill Cody (Charlton Heston) and Wild Bill Hickok (Forrest Tucker) are sent to California to set up a Pony Express system that will deliver mail from St. Joe. Missouri to Sacramento in the inconceivable time of ten days beating the Stagecoach time by 16 days. Of course the Stagecoach relay station owners are not going to take this destruction of their business lying down and set out to prevent, by any and every means, this "high speed" service from ever getting off the ground. Not only must Cody and Hickok fight off many attacks by unscrupulous gangs working for the business men but also must keep the trail free for the express riders from marauding Sioux Indians whose chief Yellow Hand (Pat Hogan) has a long standing feud with Cody. The feud culminates in a fierce Tomahawk fight to the death with Cody being the victor. (This famous duel is not as well depicted here as it was in Fox's "Buffalo Bill" (1944) where Anthony Quinn as Yellow Hand and Cody (Joel McCrea) meet half-way across a river to do combat. It was a much more elaborate and exciting sequence.) However I suppose we have to be thankful it was included at all here in this version.Performances are generally OK across the board. Heston makes a likable Cody but Forrest Tucker's Wild Bill Hickok is somewhat underwritten and in his mode of dress he looks like he just stepped off the set for a Gene Autry or Roy Rogers B movie. This is really my only crib with the film. Neither leading character looks authentic enough! Cody's hair should have been longer and where was his familiar goatee beard? Hickok's hair is short back and sides which should have been shoulder length and he is without that famous handlebar moustache as well as the three quarter length skirt coat - things the famous frontiersman was known for. However after awhile you get used to the way they look. The female lead is played by the ravishing Rhonda Fleming. An actress of limited talent she really doesn't have much to do except stand around and do what she always did best.....simply look ravishing. Better is Jan Sterling as a feisty gun tottin' tomboy, (obviously loosely based on Calamity Jane) who has the hots for Cody and vies, not very successfully, with Fleming for his attention. The best things about the movie are some good shootouts with baddies and Indians and the exciting scenes of the Pony Express riders racing across the deserted plains.A memorable aspect of the picture is the fine score by Paul Sawtell. Sawtell was one of the busiest composers in Hollywood's Golden era. Born in Poland in 1906 he arrived in Hollywood in the forties and started scoring films at RKO Pictures. He had a voluminous output of over two hundred scores which crossed over all genres from Noirs like "Raw Deal" (1948) to the Tarzan films of the forties, the Randolph Scott westerns "Fighting Man Of The Plains" (1952) and "Comanche Station" (1960), war pictures such as "The Hunters" (1957) and the science fiction epic "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" (1961). His main theme from the TV spin-off of the latter gained great popularity in the sixties. His score for PONY EXPRESS has a splendid main theme. First heard over the titles it is given some spirited variations throughout the picture and excitingly used in the closing scene as Cody, at full gallop, takes off on a mail delivery across a vast open plain. There is also a stately theme to underscore the colourful Indian sequences. Paul Sawtell died in 1971.PONY EXPRESS is not by any means a brilliant western but it is an enjoyable colourful oater that is worth watching and remains a fair addition to the genre's fifties output

Charles Marquis Warren is one of the worst western scriptwriters.Responsible(also for directing it) for the very mediocre -and a bit racist- "Arrowshead"-which featured Heston as well,he wrote an even more dreadful story here.Will Cody must be turning in his grave! The story is incoherent,every sequence seems to be the beginning of the film,there's the de rigueur (check "Arrowshead") Heston/Indian fight,and Jan Sterling's part is so thin it's a wonder she can do something with it(This actress found her best role in Wilder's masterpiece "the big carnival").Only the last sequences of the mail might redeem that,but the "writer" wanted a "moving" ending so he spoils everything .You'll always be better off with Cecil B.De Mille's "the plainsman"(1936)with Gary Cooper ,Jean Arthur and James Ellison,as far as Buffalo Bill is concerned.Hickock 's character is also featured,and on top of that ,Calamity Jane in the flesh.