Annie Oakley (1935)

My Review

Barbara Stanwyck delivered a fresh and exciting performance as America’s most famous female sharpshooter in “Annie Oakley.” It follows her journey from a backwoods hunter to the star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Director George Stevens (“Swing Time” 1936) and the screenwriters Joel Sayre and John Twist gave her the best possible material and production values to work with.

The cast includes Barbara Stanwyck in the title role, Preston Foster as her boyfriend, Melvyn Douglas as a talent scout, Moroni Olson as Buffalo Bill, Chief Thunderbird as Sitting Bull, Dick Elliot as a reporter, and Richard Alexander as Crown Prince Wilhelm II of the German Empire. The immensely entertaining “Annie Oakley” was very popular at the Depression Era box office for RKO Pictures. It was filmed at the RKO Studios in Hollywood and at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth.