Charles Bronson is Wild Bill Hickok, a man whose dreams are being haunted by a vicious white buffalo. He decides the only way to end the nightmares is to track down and kill that white beast.

So he adopts a phony name — James Otis– and heads to the town of Fetterman, where he enlists the help of a one-eyed old-timer named Charlie Zane (Jack Warden) to assist in tracking down his prey.

Along his journey, he encounters a cavalry officer with a score to settle (Ed Lauter as Tom Custer), a stage passenger with thievery on his mind (Stuart Whitman as Coxy), an old enemy (Clint Walker as Whistling Jack) and an old lover (Kim Novak as Poker Jenny).

None can deter him from his mission. And when he reaches the wilderness with Zane, it becomes clear that the man-killing white buffalo of his dreams is very real.

But Hickok also finds an unexpected ally in that wilderness — a Sioux warrior ostracized from the tribe until he can wrap his dead daughter’s body in the hide of the white buffalo that killed her.

Review:

Producer Dino De Laurentiis scored a mega hit with 1975’s “Jaws” and followed it up by producing more monster movies — King Kong (1976) and Orca (1977). So here we have a man-killing buffalo apparently intent on getting even for the thousands of buffalo slaughtered for their hides.

Unfortunately, it all plays out as silly as it sounds, all the more so because it’s Wild Bill on the trail of the “white spike.” And because he winds up forming a bond with Crazy Horse, whose been forced to adopt the name Worm until he avenges his daughter’s death.

The film also features small roles for Clint Walker, Stuart Whitman, Kim Novak, Slim Pickens and John Carradine. Unfortunately, some of their scenes come off no better than the main plot.

The bottom line: If you’re tight on time, watch any other Bronson Western from the 1970s before this monstrosity.

Directed by:
J. Lee Thompson

Cast:
Charles Bronson … James Otis
aka Wild Bill Hickok
Jack Warden … Charlie Zane
Will Sampson … Worm
aka Crazy Horse
Clint Walker … Whistling Jack Kileen
Slim Pickens … Abel Pickney
Stuart Whitman … Winifred Coxy
Kim Novak … Poker Jenny
John Carradine … Amos Briggs
Shay Duffin … Tim Brady
Cara Williams … Cassie Ollinger
Ed Lauter … Tom Custer
Martin Kove … Jack McCall

Runtime: 97 min.

Memorable lines:

Lawman Pete to Wild Bill, now going by James Otis: “You scramble-brained son-of-a-bitch. Are you tryin’ to commit suicide? You think the Sioux have forgot how you shot the head off Whistler, the Peace Maker? … If you think a new handle and specs are goin’ to hide you, you’re up shit creek without a bull boat.”

Capt. Custer, to a bartender who disputes his Wild Bill story: “You want me as an enemy, Paddy?”
Paddy, the bartender: “You never did give me goosebumps, Tom.”

James Otis: “Why do you always call me Cat Eyes?”
Poker Jenny: “Ain’t you ever seen those wild eyes of yours when you’re knottin’ it up? Or when you’re hitchin’ your pistols on for a shindig?”

James Otis: “I’m a man of comedy. I’ve always dodged a fight.”
Poker Jenny: “Comedy? Sure, you’re the most polite-est shootist who ever blew a man’s brains out.”

Charlie Zane: “Now, now, sonny boy, didn’t your ma ever tell you your mouth wasn’t made for breakin’ wind.”

James Otis, as he prepares for a showdown with the White Buffalo: “Hell or heaven: If this is the night I was born for, so be it.”