The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938) is a Columbia

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...

 movie serial

Serial (film)

Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...

. It was the fourth of the fifty-seven serials released by Columbia and their first western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 serial. The serial was the first from a new production company, the previous three serials had been produced by Weiss Brothers.

Plot

Wild Bill Hickok

Wild Bill Hickok

James Butler Hickok , better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame, although some of his exploits are fictionalized.Hickok came to the West as a stagecoach...

, U.S. Marshal

United States Marshals Service

The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...

 in Abilene, Kansas

Abilene, Kansas

Abilene is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,844.-History:...

, is sent to stop the mysterious "Phantom Riders" from disrupting the cattle drives across the Chisholm Trail

Chisholm Trail

The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the late 19th century to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The portion of the trail marked by Jesse Chisholm went from his southern trading post near the Red River, to his northern trading post near Kansas City, Kansas...

 and construction of a new railroad.

Cast

• Bill Elliott
  Wild Bill Elliott
  Wild Bill Elliott was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B-Westerns, particularly in the Red Ryder series of films.-Early life:...
  
   as Wild Bill Hickok
  Wild Bill Hickok
  James Butler Hickok , better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame, although some of his exploits are fictionalized.Hickok came to the West as a stagecoach...
  
  , U.S. Marshal
  United States Marshals Service
  The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
  
  . This serial was the source of actor Gordon Nance's subsequent screenname "Wild Bill" Elliot. He had previous worked under the name "Gordon Elliott". The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok was Wild Bill Elliot's first starring role. In addition to his screenname, he gained such trademarks as buckskins, reversed holsters and the catchphrase "I'm a peaceable man," from this serial.
• Monte Blue
  Monte Blue
  Monte Blue was a movie actor who began his career as a romantic leading man in the silent film era, and later progressed to character roles....
  
   as Mr Cameron
• Carole Wayne as Ruth Cameron
• Frankie Darro
  Frankie Darro
  Frankie Darro was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles in adventure, western, dramatic, and comedy films, and later became a character actor and voice-over artist.-Early life:Darro...
  
   as Jerry/Little Brave Heart
• Dickie Jones as Buddy
• Sammy McKim
  Sammy McKim
  Sammy McKim was a Canadian film actor.He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and died in Burbank, California from heart failure.-Selected filmography:* Heart of the Rockies...
  
   as Boots
• Kermit Maynard
  Kermit Maynard
  Kermit Maynard was an American actor and stuntman. He appeared in 280 films between 1927 and 1962. He was a younger brother of actor Ken Maynard. He was born in Vevay, Indiana, and died in North Hollywood, California, from a heart attack. He is interred at Valhalla Memorial Park...
  
   as Kit Lawson, Army scout
• Roscoe Ates
  Roscoe Ates
  Roscoe Ates was an actor and musician in primarily western films and television.-Early years:Ates was born in the rural hamlet of Grange, Mississippi, northwest of Hattiesburg. Grange is no longer included on road maps...
  
   as Oscar 'Snake-Eyes' Smith
• Monte Collins as Danny, printer
• Reed Hadley
  Reed Hadley
  Reed Hadley was an American movie, television and radio actor.Reed Hadley was born Reed Herring in Petrolia in Clay County near Wichita Falls, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one sister, Bess Brenner. He was reared in Buffalo, New York...
  
   as Jim Blakely
• Chief Thundercloud
  Chief Thundercloud
  Chief Thundercloud, was an American character actor in westerns.Information about Thundercloud is vague...
  
   as Chief Gray Eagle
• Ray Mala
  Ray Mala
  Ray Mala was the first Native American movie star and is the most prolific film star that the state of Alaska has thus far produced. Ray Mala was recently named a "Top Ten Alaskan" by TIME Magazine...
  
   as Little Elk
• Robert Fiske
  Robert Fiske
  Robert Fiske may refer to:*Robert Fiske *Robert B. Fiske , lawyer and Whitewater special prosecutor*Robert Fiske Bradford*Robert Fiske Griggs, botanistSee also:* Robert Fisk , British journalist...
  
   as Morrell, villain
  Villain
  A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
  
   and leader of the Phantom Raiders
• Walter Wills as Joshua Bruce
• J.P. McGowan as Scudder, trail Leader
• Eddie Waller
  Eddy Waller
  Edward C. "Eddy" Waller was an American film and television actor. He was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.-Career:...
  
   as Stone

Stunts

• Gene Alsace
• Chuck Hamilton
  Chuck Hamilton
  Charles Hamilton is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 4 games in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues.-External links:...
  
  
• Ted Mapes
• Carl Mathews
• Kermit Maynard
  Kermit Maynard
  Kermit Maynard was an American actor and stuntman. He appeared in 280 films between 1927 and 1962. He was a younger brother of actor Ken Maynard. He was born in Vevay, Indiana, and died in North Hollywood, California, from a heart attack. He is interred at Valhalla Memorial Park...
  
  
• Tom Steele
  Tom Steele (stuntman)
  Tom Steele was a stunt man and actor, best remembered for appearing in serials, especially those produced by Republic Pictures, in both capacities.-Early life:...
  
  
• Francis Walker

Influence

The name of Wild Bill Hickok stuck with Bill Elliot so much that Columbia made a series of Hickok westerns with him.

Chapter titles

1. The Law of the Gun
2. Stampede
3. Blazing Terror
4. Mystery Canyon
5. Flaming Brands
6. The Apache Killer
7. Prowling Wolves
8. The Pit
9. Ambush
10. Savage Vengeance
11. Burning Waters
12. Desperation
13. Phantom Bullets
14. The Lure
15. Trail's End

_Source:

External links