Wild Bill (1995)

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers (WGA):

Peter Dexter (book)
Thomas Babe (play)

Release Date:

1 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Western

Tagline:

A legend never dies.

Plot:

Wild Bill Hickok, famed lawman and gunman of the Old West, is haunted by his past and his reputation...

Plot Keywords:

Cemetery | Caged Human | Fisticuffs | Story Telling | Legend

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok
Ellen Barkin	...	Calamity Jane
John Hurt	...	Charley Prince
Diane Lane	...	Susannah Moore
Keith Carradine	...	Buffalo Bill Cody
David Arquette	...	Jack McCall
Christina Applegate	...	Lurline Newcomb
Bruce Dern	...	Will Plummer
James Gammon	...	California Joe
Marjoe Gortner	...	Preacher
James Remar	...	Donnie Lonigan
Karen Huie	...	Song Lew
Steve Reevis	...	Sioux Chief
Robert Knott	...	Dave Tutt
Pato Hoffmann	...	Cheyenne Leader

MPAA:

Rated R for wild West violence and a sex scene.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Sioux | Cantonese

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Canada:R (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Norway:15 (video premiere) | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Spain:13 | USA:R | Germany:16 | UK:15 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Angeles National Forest, California, USA

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

The Preacher is played by Marjoe Gortner, who in reality was at one time a "church-tent" revivalist minister and evangelist.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Calamity Jane is making an Eggnog in the milkshake machine for an opium hung-over Wild Bill, she is seen cranking the machine in opposite directions in the cuts back and forth between her and Bill.

Quotes:

[Will Plummer sends in a woman to challenge Wild Bill to a gunfight]
James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok: What did he say?
Woman in bar: He said that you were a horse molester.
James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok: He say what horse?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Last Man Standing (1996/I)

What makes a hero?

Is it the will to fight? Is it the fear of failure? Quoting one of the most important lines in this movie: "Wild Bill had chosen a way of life, that demanded he´d walk down the muddy mainstreet, instead of using the sidewalks along the houses.", one begins to realize that legend has its price. Now, it may not be a historical correct version of the life and death of the great Wild Bill, but it´s a lesson on what happens when the your name gets to carry you, instead of the other way around. -and Jeff Bridges is simply superb as the uncompromising and stubborn gunslinger. Great Movie!!!