Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west (1965)

The entertaining and colourful Eurowestern Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (1965) was a coproduction by Italy, France and West Germany. American bodybuilder and former Tarzan, Gordon Scott played the mythical hero taking on Indians and Cheyenne chief Yellow Hand. The cast also included German actors Hans Von Borsody, Jan Hendriks, Ingeborg Schöner, Italian actors Roldano Lupi and Mario Brega and French actress Catherine Ribeiro. Director Mario Costa was credited as John W. Fordson and cinematographer Massimo Dallamano as Jack Dalmas. The German film title, Das war Buffalo Bill, was used on the collector cards in this post.


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 21. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Colonel William Frederick Cody is about to embark on the most dangerous adventure of his daring life. The victor over white bandits and scalp greedy redskins with the honourable name Buffalo Bill wants to establish order in the Wild West with all his might.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 22. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill wanted to achieve peace through negotiations. The devious attack by the Sioux forces him, as so often in his perilous life, to fight with the lion's courage of the most famous man of the Wild West.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 24. Photo: Gloria Film. Scene from Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'In the Wild West, where the intrepid fighter Buffalo Bill has been sent on a special mission by the American president, the first signs of imminent danger become recognisable. Bill alone can prevent a new bloodbath between whites and Indians.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 25. Photo: Gloria Film. Mario Brega as Big Sam Donaldson in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Peace seems to reign in the Wild West after a bloody pioneer era. The Union soldiers at Fort Adam amuse themselves with harmless, crude jokes. Only Buffalo Bill knows: it's the calm before the storm...'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 28. Photo: Gloria Film. Hans von Borsody in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Captain Hunter of the Union troops at Fort Adam and Buffalo Bill want to find out if unscrupulous white traders have incited the Indians to their recent raids.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 29. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Fort Adam has been in a state of alarm since the fighting with the Indians flared up again. Buffalo Bill investigates whether Commander Peterson's inflexible behaviour has led to a new enmity with the redskins.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 30. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'During a reckless retaliation against the Sioux, the soldiers of Fort Adam are ambushed by the chief ‘Yellow Hand’. A daring coup by Buffalo Bill frees them from the deadly trap.'

A genuine hero or a cynical charlatan and shameless example of encroaching imperialism

Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) was not only the first Western of Gordon Scott, but also of veteran director Mario Costa. Costa, who had directed Scott in the Peplum Il gladiatore di Roma/Gladiator of Rome (1962), took the name of John Fordson. But the son of John Ford, the Italian was not exactly. Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west would turn out to be his only Western. Louis Agotay, Pierre Corty, Nino Stresa (Sigfrido Tomba) and Ernesto Gastaldi wrote the script for the film.

Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) is a fictionalised account of the life and career of mythical hero William F. Cody (Gordon Scott) better known as Buffalo Bill, legendary Western hero, from his days as an army Major. Cody is sent west by President Ulysses S. Grant to settle an Indian uprising started by Cheyenne Yellow Hand (Mirko Ellis) and his hostile tribe who are illegally sold guns and whiskey by Big Sam Donaldson (Mario Brega) and his outlaws. The local troops are led by the rigid Federal Colonel Peterson (Roldano Lupi) who lives at the army outpost with his beautiful daughter Mary (Ingeborg Schöner).

Cody goes to the chief of Yellow Hand's tribe, Wise Fox (Feodor Chaliapin Jr.), and tries to convince him to sign a peace treaty with the Federal troops. Along the way, Bill delivers justice by confronting nasties and brawls at the Gold Dust saloon, whose owner is the suspicious Monroe (Jan Hendriks). To avoid a peace treaty, Yellow Hand and Donaldson’s gun runners abduct Wise Fox's daughter, Moonbeam (Catherine Ribeiro), and try to blame Colonel Peterson's soldiers. Yellow Hand's deception succeeds and the Indians attack the army fort. The only way peace can be restored is by Buffalo Bill defeating Yellow Hand in a climactic, savage, one-on-one fight.

Buffalo Bill was the hero of many films in Hollywood and Europe. Tom Tyler played Cody in Battling with Buffalo Bill (Ray Taylor, 1931). Five years later Gary Cooper was Buffalo Bill in The Plainsman (1936) by Cecil B. De Mille. Often considered the best Buffalo Bill film is Buffalo Bill (William A. Wellman, 1944) with Joel McCrea, Thomas Mitchell, Maureen O'Hara and Anthony Quinn as Yellow Hand.

Other films are Buffalo Bill Rides Again (Bernard Ray, 1947) with Richard Arlen, Buffalo Bill a Roma / Buffalo Bill in Rome (Giuseppe Accattino, 1949), Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory (Bernard Ray, 1952) with Clayton Moore, and Aventuras del Oeste / Seven Hours of Gunfire (Joaquin Romero Marchent, 1965) with Rik Van Nutter as Buffalo Bill Cody and Adrian Hoven as Wild Bill Hickok. Underrated is the historical pastiche Buffalo Bill and the Indians or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (Robert Altman, 1976) with Paul Newman, who portrays Buffalo Bill as a cynical charlatan and shameless example of encroaching imperialism.


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 31. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott (left) as Buffalo Bill and Ugo Sasso as Snack in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). The German film title was Das war Buffalo Bill. Caption: "After his daring intervention in a Sioux raid, Buffalo Bill learns that the Indians are equipped with modern repeating rifles. Only a criminal white man could supply such weapons."


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 32. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott as Buffalo Bill in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill overhears a meeting of the Sioux, who are on the warpath again, in the mountain gorges. Accompanied by the chief ‘Yellow Hand’, he recognises an old acquaintance: the shady bar owner Monroe. He must be the real mastermind behind the hostilities.'


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 33. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). The German film title was Das war Buffalo Bill. Caption: "Buffalo Bill relentlessly pursues suspicious white men in league with the duplicitous chief 'Yellow Hand'. Their hasty escape is in vain."


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 34. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: Buffalo Bill has set himself on the trail of the white arms dealer who incites the redskins to fight. Fearless Bill holds a a superior force of rough boys at bay.


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 35. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill, the hero of the Wild West without fear and without reproach, did not fear even the most dangerous opponent. He is determined to put down the business of the illegal arms dealers.'


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 38. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott and Feodor Chaliapin Jr. in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill enjoys the admiration of the great chief ‘Wise Fox’, to whom he reports the disgraceful deeds of ‘Yellow Dog’. The treacherous breach of the peace treaty must be punished.'


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 39. Photo: Gloria Film. Jan Hendriks as Monroe in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'The dark man Monroe supplies the Sioux with firewater and firearms. The new Winchester rifles make the chief ‘Yellow Hand’ certain of victory. A diabolical plan matures between the two...'


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 40. Photo: Gloria Film. Jan Hendriks as Monroe and Mirko Ellis as Yellow Hand in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'The bar owner Monroe and ‘Yellow Hand’ both take advantage of the hatred between whites and Indians. To fuel this hatred, Monroe wants to kidnap the daughter of the peace-loving and influential chief ‘Wise Fox’.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 42. Photo: Gloria Film. Jan Hendriks in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: The bar owner, Monroe, spends a few rounds and lets the girls dance. By kidnapping the chief's daughter, Moonbeam, he has landed the coup of his life.


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 43. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill embarks with his companions in the lion's den. As a harmless guest, he listens around in the bar of the dark man Monroe to find out where 'Moonbeam', the chief's kidnapped daughter, is being held captive.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 44. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott as Buffalo Bill in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). The German film title was Das war Buffalo Bill. Caption: 'Buffalo Bill lets himself be pampered by dancers. Even the unscrupulous bar owner Monroe believes that the hero of the West has only entered his establishment for pleasure. But Bill acts quickly when it comes to ambushing bandits.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 45. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott as Buffalo Bill, Ugo Sasso (left) as Snack, Hans von Borsody as Captain Hunter (right) and Roldano Lupi (far right) as Colonel Peterson in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). The German film title was Das war Buffalo Bill. Caption: 'Buffalo Bill has freed the captive Indian girl 'Moonbeam' and brought her to safety at Fort Adam, the Union base. The villains' plan to reignite the Great Indian War by making her disappear fails.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 46. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'The first villain, Big Sam, is taken. Buffalo Bill has found the firearms for the Redskins. Big Sam is one of the bandits, on whose account comes the new fighting between Sioux and whites.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 47. Photo: Gloria Film. Jan Hendriks as Monroe in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Monroe's double game is over. With him, Buffalo Bill courageously puts the mean kidnapper of the chief's daughter, ‘Moonbeam’, harmless. Now, peace should return to the Wild West...'

Not a typical Spaghetti Western

Although Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) is a thrilling Eurowestern filmed in Italy, it is not a typical Spaghetti Western and has more in common with the Winnetou films.

It was made in 1964 when the Peplum (Sword and Sandal) films made in Cinecittà were going out of fashion, and Sergio Leone's Man With No Name trilogy was just starting to skyrocket to popular success. The film misses the items usually associated with Spaghetti Westerns, except for the badly dubbed dialogue, European locations substituting for the American West and Spaniards playing Native Americans.

The mini-biopic about the mythical frontier explorer and army officer Buffalo Bill has the style of the American Western of the 1940s and 1950s, from the standard Western plot right down to the musical score. Several elements make it an enjoyable film. The filmmakers had a budget and could film spectacular outdoors in widescreen, filmed in Spain and Italy.

There are dozens of extras, as well as a complete replica of an army fort built. The action sequences, with rousing Indian attacks against the Yankee fort and the realistic shootouts, are well done. The score by Carlo Rustichelli is moving. The story, despite the presence of the colourful Wild West figure Buffalo Bill, is sadly a bit flat and predictable with stereotypical dialogue.

Director Mario Costa, credited with the pseudonym J. W. Fordson, was a craftsman who directed several adventure films and Westerns, including some films starring Gordon Scott. Scott's endless fist fights with hulking brute Yellow Hand (Mario Brega) and their climactic battle are the highlights of Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west (1965). It was all spectacularly filmed by Massimo Dallamano, who was also the cinematographer for Per un pugno di dollari / A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964).


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 48. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill knows no mercy for the bad guys. Many threats have made the fair Indians' friend hard. His hardest adventure is still to come for the noble fighter.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 49. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott, Catherine Ribeiro and Feodor Chaliapin Jr. in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Moonbeam, the beautiful daughter of Chief 'White Fox', is devoted to Buffalo Bill, the famous brave man of the white. She cares for his wounds from the fight against the Sioux 'Yellow Hand'.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 50. Photo: Gloria Film. Ingeborg Schöner and Hans von Borsody in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Mary, the daughter of the commandant of Fort Adam, and the brave Captain Hunter give in to a deceptive hope in a romantic hour. The threat of war in the Wild West has not yet been banished.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 51. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Yellow Hand' of the tribe of Sioux sees his sneaky manoeuvre comprehended. He brings out the final blow to Fort Adam. The firearms, delivered by a white traitor, whom Buffalo Bill has done in, have to help the Redskins to a victory.


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 52. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'The warriors of the chief ‘Yellow Hand’ insidiously attack Fort Adam at dawn. The Redskin, a mortal enemy of Buffalo Bill, wants to seize control of all the Indians.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 53. Photo: Gloria Film. Ingeborg Schöner in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'When the Sioux Indians attacked Fort Adam, Mary, the commander's daughter, fell into the hands of the cruel redskins. The defeated warriors want to quench their thirst for revenge by torturing her at the torture stake.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 54. Photo: Gloria Film. Hans von Borsody in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Captain Hunter and some of his loyal followers make a daring escape from the fort. Although he can fend off the redskins, he is captured himself.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 55. Photo: Gloria Film. Hans von Borsody in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Captain Hunter drags desperately at the chains. The courageous friend of Buffalo Bill must watch how the daughter of his colonel will be martyred in the camp of the scalp-greedy Sioux Warriors.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 56. Photo: Gloria Film. Scene from Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'The raided fort can barely be held. The superiority is overwhelming. Buffalo Bill's soldiers have to finish off the invading Sioux warriors in hand-to-hand combat.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 58. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott and Roland Lupi in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Under the leadership of Buffalo Bill and Colonel Peterson, Fort Adam fought free against the warlike redskins. The treacherous chief ‘Yellow Hand’ has escaped and abducted Peterson's daughter, Mary.'

Refreshingly naïve charm and energy

As Buffalo Bill Cody, sporting a buckskin jacket, jeans and a goatee, Gordon Scott played a genuine hero, rather than the ambiguous anti-hero Clint Eastwood played in the Leone trilogy. Gordon Scott was tall with a lean waist but with muscular bulk and a likeable, almost innocent disposition. He played Tarzan six times from 1955 to 1960 and then became known for his Peplum roles, like Goliath, Samson, Remus and Hercules.

His short acting career lasted till 1967. D.B. Dumonteil at IMDb: “The hero is called ‘Buffalo Bill’, but they could have chosen Davy Crockett or Hopalong Cassidy or any legendary Wild West character. After Tarzan and the Sword and Sandals flicks, and before becoming, in the wake of James Bond, a secret agent, Gordon Scott (essentially remembered for his part opposite Steve Reeves, in an estimable Romolo e Remo) was cast as the fearless horseman on the right side of the law. (…)

The movie borrows a little from many American movies: of course, there's a fort with a bossy colonel who does not want his daughter to marry a nice captain - because marrying a military man would make her a widow too soon; a final fight between Bill and the nasty Indian is the Pièce de Resistance of a harmless entertaining Western, with rather nice cinematography and a good sense of space which makes up (a little) for the triteness of the plot.”

And Steven Nyland at IMDb: “Sure, it's silly and potentially offensive to see Spanish supporting actors dressed up like Injun braves and dubbed by voice actors with mid-Atlantic quasi-British accents. What the film may lack in terms of authenticity, it makes up for with wide-eyed innocence, and they even have Scott ride off waving to the crowd in the end to the applause & cheers of those he had saved, just like in his Maciste films. Not something you'd see Clint Eastwood do, that's for sure.”

Gordon Scott made one more Eurowestern for Albert Band, the tragic Spanish romantic range drama Gli uomini dal passo pesante / The Tramplers (Albert Band, Mario Sequi, 1965). Rumour has it that while preparing to make a third Western, his nose was broken by co-star Mario Brega. He found the disfigurement ruinous to his photogenic looks, and after two more Eurospy films, he abruptly retired from the film industry in late 1965. By the time Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (1965) was circulating, the Italian Western had changed by the more stylish approaches of Django and Sergio Leone's Dollar films. The more traditionalist approach of Buffalo Bill looked a bit old-fashioned by comparison, but its naïve charm and energy can be quite refreshing for today’s viewers.


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 59. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott and Catherine Ribeiro in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'The unsuccessful attack of the chief 'Yellow Hand' from Fort Adam, also applied to the daughter of the great Indian leader 'White Fox'. Her injury is from a fierce close combat, in which Buffalo Bill has intervened foolhardy.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 61. Photo: Gloria Film. Still from Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill knows that there will be no peace in Indian Creek until the chief ‘Yellow Hand’ has been brought to justice. Bill pursues him relentlessly to get the kidnapped Mary and his friend Hunter away from the redskin.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 62. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill bravely rides into the camp of the enemy Redskins, with whom he was involved in merciless battles just hours ago. Bill, a friend of the Indians, only wants to expose the cowardly chief ‘Yellow Hand’.'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 64. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott and Mirko Ellis in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Buffalo Bill's most dangerous mission was to restore peace between whites and Indians in the Wild West. The duel with the chief ‘Yellow Hand’ is the climax of this adventure. A Sioux duel to the death!'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 65. Photo: Gloria Film. Ingeborg Schöner ;and Ugo Sasso in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: Mary and one of Buffalo Bill's faithful companions are still under the spell of their intrepid friend's thrilling battle with the dastardly chief ‘Yellow Hand’!


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 66. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott and Mirko Ellis in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'In this murderous battle, only one person emerges alive - the victor. Buffalo Bill has lost his knife. After countless cowardly attacks, will he be defeated by the treacherous chief ‘Yellow Hand’ this time?'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 67. Photo: Gloria Film. Mirko Ellis and Gordon Scott (at right) in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'Again, the cowardly chief Yellow Hand shows his maliciousness in a breathtaking duel with Buffalo Bill. He smashes the Tomahawk on his unarmed opponent and therefore even his own tribesmen now despise him.'


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 68. Photo: Gloria Film. Gordon Scott in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'In a duel to the death, Buffalo Bill, the famous hero of the Wild West, has defeated his most dangerous enemy. The noble warrior gives his opponent his life. The Indians themselves have to determine his punishment.'


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 69. Photo: Gloria Film. Feodor Chaliapin Jr., Hans von Borsody and Ingeborg Schöner in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: 'The great chieftain, Wise Fox, has expelled the traitor Yellow Hand from his village. Indians and whites shake hands again in reconciliation. Buffalo Bill has accomplished his new great deed of glory...'


German collector card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 70. Photo: Gloria Film. Ingeborg Schöner and Hans von Borsody in Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west / Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: With his victory over the power-hungry chief ‘Yellow Hand’, Buffalo Bill has not only restored peace to the whites and Indians but also won freedom for his friends Mary and Hunter.'

Sources: D.B. Dumonteil (IMDb), Steve Nyland (IMDb), Wikipedia, SWBD and IMDb.

Gordon Scott

Good-looking and muscular American actor Gordon Scott (1926–2007) is best known as the eleventh Tarzan. He portrayed Tarzan in five films from 1955 to 1960. Then Scott moved to Italy, where he became a popular star of the Peplum film genre, the sword-and-sandal epics. As the Peplum faded, Scott starred in Spaghetti Westerns and Eurospy films.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, no. I 411. Photo: RKO. Publicity still for Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (Harold D. Schuster, 1955).


Italian 'vera fotografia' (real photo) postcard, no. 401. Gordon Scott as Tarzan.


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 68. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: "In einem Zweikampf auf Leben und Tod hat Buffalo Bill, der berühmteste Held des Wilden Westens, seinen gefährlichsten Feind bezwungen. Der edle Kämpfer schenkt seinem Gegner das Leben. Die Indianer selbst sollen seine Strafe bestimmen." (In a duel to the death, Buffalo Bill, the famous hero of the Wild West, has defeated his most dangerous enemy. The noble warrior gives his opponent his life. The Indians themselves have to determine his punishment.)

Handsome features, muscular physique, and imposing height

Gordon Scott was born Gordon Merrill Werschkul in Portland, Oregon, in 1926. He was one of nine children of advertising man Stanley Werschkul and his wife Alice. He was raised in Oregon and studied Physical Education at the University of Oregon for one semester.

Upon leaving school, he joined the U.S. Army in 1944. He served as a drill sergeant and military policeman and specialised in close-order drill, judo and hand-to-hand combat. After his honourable discharge in 1947, he took on a variety of jobs, including fireman, cowboy, and farm-machinery salesman. In 1953 he was working as a lifeguard at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas when he was spotted by Hollywood agents, Ed and Walter Mayers. They were impressed by his handsome features, muscular physique, and imposing height.

Scott then beat out 200 contestants to replace Lex Barker as Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan. Film producer Sol Lesser offered him a 7-year contract, a loincloth and a new last name. Reportedly, ‘Werschkul’ sounded too much like ‘Weissmuller’. Renamed Gordon Scott, he debuted in the low-budget Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (Harold D. Schuster, 1955).

It led to a romance with co-star Vera Miles, who became his wife in 1956. They divorced in 1959. Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle was followed by Tarzan and the Lost Safari (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1957), the first Tarzan film in colour. It was filmed in Nairobi, British East Africa. In his early Tarzan films, Scott played the character as unworldly and inarticulate, in the mould of Johnny Weissmuller.

In 1958, Sol Lesser sold Scott's contract to Sy Weintraub. The new producer took his star to Paramount Pictures and, fueled by bigger production budgets, made two of the most successful Tarzan films, Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (John Guillermin, 1959) with Anthony Quayle and Sean Connery, and Tarzan the Magnificent (Robert Day, 1960) with Jock Mahoney. In these later films, Scott played a Tarzan who was educated and spoke perfect English, as in the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. Gordon Scott was the only actor to play Tarzan in both styles.


German postcard by Kolibri/Friedrich W. Sander-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 2322. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Maciste contro il vampiro/Maciste Vs. the Vampire (Giacomo Gentilomo, 1961).


Small Romanian collectors card. Photo: Gordon Scott and Virna Lisi in Romolo e Remo/Duel of the Titans (Sergio Corbucci, 1961).


Vintage postcard.

Sword-and-sandal epics

Fearing he would become typecast as Tarzan, Gordon Scott moved to Italy. There he became a popular star of the Peplum genre, the sword-and-sandal epics featuring handsome bodybuilders as various characters from Greek and Roman myth.

Scott was an old training buddy of Hercules star Steve Reeves. Reeves had agreed to star in the Sergio Leone-penned saga Romolo e Remo/Duel of the Titans (Sergio Corbucci, 1961) about the two brothers of Roman Mythology, who founded Rome. The producer wanted Reeves to play both Romulus and Remus, but Reeves objected that the film would be more effective with another actor in the role of Remus. He recommended Gordon Scott, and the film co-starred Virna Lisi, Laura Solari, Massimo Girotti and Jacques Sernas. Scott was given the highest salary he had earned thus far for taking the role.

Next followed Maciste alla corte del Gran Khan/Maciste at the Court of the Great Khan (Riccardo Freda, 1961), which re-used the sets, extras and Yoko Tani as a princess from Marco Polo (Piero Pierotti, Hugo Fregonese, 1961) and Freda's I mongoli/The Mongols (André De Toth, Leopoldo Savona, Riccardo Freda, 1961).

Scott played Julius Caesar opposite Pascale Petit as Cleopatra in the historical drama Una regina per Cesare/A Queen for Caesar (Piero Pierotti, Victor Tourjansky, 1962) set in Egypt in 48 BC. Unlike other films about Caesar and Cleopatra, this film focuses entirely on the dynastic struggle within Egypt leading up to the arrival of Caesar, and in fact, we only see him in the closing scene of the film when he arrives at The Ptolemaic Palace in Alexandria. 20th Century Fox bought the rights for the film to keep it out of release lest it competed with their own Cleopatra, featuring Elizabeth Taylor. Scott also played Hercules in a couple of international co-productions during the mid-1960s.


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 34. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) with Gordon Douglas. Caption: "Buffalo Bill hat sich auf die Fährte des weissen Waffenhändlers gesetzt, der die Rothäute zum Kampf aufwiegelt. Furchtlos hält Bill eine Übermacht rauher Burschen in Schach." (Buffalo Bill has set himself at the trail of the white arms dealer who incites the redskins to fight. Fearless Bill holds a a superior force of rough boys at bay.)


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 35. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) with Gordon Douglas. Caption: "Buffalo Bill, der Held des Wilden Westens ohne Furcht und Tadel, fürchtete selbst die gefährlichtsen Gegner nicht. Er ist entschlossen den illegalen Waffenhändlern das Handwerk zu legen." (Buffalo Bill, the hero of the Wild West without fear and without reproach, did not fear even the most dangerous opponent. He is determined to put down the business of the illegal arms dealers.)


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 43. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) with Gordon Douglas. Caption: "Buffalo Bill begibt sich mit seinem Gefährten in die Höhle des Löwen. Als harmloser Gast horcht er in der Bar des Dunkelmannes Monroe herum, um zu erfahren wo die entführte Häuptlingstochter 'Mondstrahl' gefangen gehalten wird." (Buffalo Bill embarks with his companions in the lion's den. As harmless guest he listens around in the bar of the dark man Monroe to find out where 'Moonbeam', the chief's kidnapped daughter, is being held captive.)

Buffalo Bill

As the Peplum genre faded, Gordon Scott starred in other genre films. His first Spaghetti Western was Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1964) with Jan Hendriks.

He also starred in the Eurospy film Il Raggio infernale/Danger!! Death Ray (Gianfranco Baldanello, 1967). It was released at a time when the James Bond films, and spy films in general, were very popular internationally. His early military combat and martial arts training made it possible for him to do many of his own stunts.

His final film appearance was in the Spaghetti Western Gli uomini dal passo pesante/The Tramplers (Albert Band, Mario Sequi, 1966-1968) with Joseph Cotten and Franco Nero. He left Italy and never made another film. He was trailed by a reputation as a ladies' man who seldom paid his bills, according to a 1987 article in the Toronto Star. For the last two decades of his life, Scott was a popular guest at film conventions and autograph shows and sold knives.

In 2007, Gordon Scott died, aged 80, in Baltimore, Maryland, of lingering complications from multiple heart surgeries earlier in the year. Adam Bernstein in his obituary in The Washington Post: “He lived with a series of obliging friends and ‘Tarzan’ fans, most recently in Baltimore. He had a troubled marriage with Miles, who apparently was under the impression that she was his first wife. She was his second or third, by varying accounts. He was seldom in contact with his surviving family, which includes a brother and two sisters. He had a son with Miles, and it's unclear how many other children he might have had. He was estranged from nearly everyone.”

Scott was married three times. His first marriage was with Janice Mae Wynkoop, of Oakland, California. They met when he was a lifeguard at Lake Temescal, located in Oakland, California. The couple married in Reno, Nevada, in 1948, and had one child, Karen Judith Werschkul (1948), before divorcing in 1949. His second marriage was to a woman he met while they were both working at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. Gordon as a lifeguard and his wife as a PBX operator. They soon married and had a son, Eric, but the marriage ended once Gordon's acting career took off. With Vera Miles, he had one son, Michael (1957).


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 46. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965). Caption: "Der erste Schurke, Big Sam, ist gefasst. Buffalo Bill hat bei ihm die Schiesseisen für die Rothäute gefunden. Big Sam gehört zu den Banditen, auf deren Konto die neunen Kämpfe zwischen Sioux und Weissen kommen." (The first villain, Big Sam is taken. Buffalo Bill has found at his place the firearms for the Redskins. Big Sam is one of the bandits, on whose account comes the new fighting between Sioux and whites.)


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 51. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) with Gordon Douglas. Caption: "'Gelbe Hand' vom Stamm der Sioux sieht seine hinterhältigen Manöver durchschaut. Er holt zum letzten Schlag gegen Fort Adam aus. Die von einem weissen Verräter gelieferten Feuerwaffen, den Buffalo Bill erledigt hat, sollen den Rothäuten den Sieg erkämpfen." ('Yellow Hand' of the tribe of Sioux sees his sneaky maneuver comprehended. He brings out the final blow to Fort Adam. The firearms, delivered by a white traitor, who Buffalo Bill has done in, have to help the Redskins to a victory.)


German collectors card by J & M Serienbilder Produktion Saar, no. 67. Photo: Gloria Film. Publicity still for Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (Mario Costa, 1965) with Mirko Ellis and Gordon Scott (at right). Caption: "Wieder beweist der feige Häuptling Gelbe Hand'' im atemberaubenden Zweikampf mit Buffalo Bill seine Heimtücke. Er schmettert den Tomahawk auf den waffenlosen Gegner und deshalb verachten ihn jetzt sogar die eigenen Stammesgenossen." (Again the cowardly chief Yellow Hand hows his maliciousness in a breathtaking duel with Buffalo Bill. He smashes the Tomahawk on his unarmed opponent and therefore even his own tribesmen now despise him.)

Sources: Adam Bernstein (The Washington Post), Brian J. Walker (Brian’s Drive-In Theater), Bill Hillman (ERBzine), Mark Cerulli (Tarzan.cc), Wikipedia, and IMDb.