Gloriously silly Western which pillages history like few others but is actually quite fun. Jean Arthur is adorable as Calamity Jane, who pines for Gary Cooper/Wild Bill Hickok, who does have Arthur's picture and at one stage says he loves her, but for the most past seems monumentally uninterested in her - or in any woman. He's far more focused on old mate James Ellison/Buffalo Bill, who has a new wife.
Even if this makes Cooper another in a very, very long line of gay cowboys, it's a decent enough set up for a Western, and Cecil B de Mille throws in some other standbys - to wit, an American selling guns to the Indians, a scene where the Indians complain about their land being stolen (just to cover those liberal bases before they're mowed down).
History buffs will just have to let go and enjoy the sheer gall of a movie where Abraham Lincoln's wife says "we'll be late for the theatre" and drags in Custer and his troops to be massacred. There is lots of decent action, an impressive cast (including Charles Bickford as a baddy and a young Anthony Quinn; I'm surprised Ellison didn't come a bigger star), terrific production values, a strong story, Arthur is cute. De Mille knew how to pour it on and he does here in spades.
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