Movies Like The Plainsman (1936)

The Plainsman is a 1936 romance, war, western film from Cecil B. DeMille with a MovieMagicScore of 6.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Pony Express and Calamity Jane.

Romance War Western

Pony Express

1953

Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok join forces to establish a mail route that can get mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, in ten days. Along the way they must battle bad weather, hostile Indians and outlaws intent on robbing the mail and shutting down the entire operation.

5.6

MagicScore

Calamity Jane

1953

Sharpshooter Calamity Jane takes it upon herself to recruit a famous actress and bring her back to the local saloon, but jealousy soon gets in the way.

7.0

MagicScore

Wild Bill

1995

Biopic about famous gunslinger Wild Bill Hickock. The early career of legendary lawman is telescoped and culminates in his relocation in Deadwood and a reunion with Calamity Jane.

5.7

MagicScore

The Legend of the Lone Ranger

1981

When the young Texas Ranger, John Reid, is the sole survivor of an ambush arranged by the militaristic outlaw leader, Butch Cavendich, he is rescued by an old childhood Comanche friend, Tonto. When he recovers from his wounds, he dedicates his life to fighting the evil that Cavendich represents. To this end, John Reid becomes the great masked western hero, The Lone Ranger. With the help of Tonto, the pair go to rescue President Grant when Cavendich takes him hostage.

4.8

MagicScore

The Paleface

1948

Bob Hope stars in this laugh-packed wild west spoof co-starring Jane Russell as a sexy Calamity Jane, Hope is a meek frontier dentist, "Painless" Peter Potter, who finds himself gunslinging alongside the fearless Calamity as she fights off outlaws and Indians.

6.0

MagicScore

Dallas

1950

After the Civil War, Confederate soldier Blayde Hollister travels to Dallas to avenge the savage murder of his family. Discovering his enemy is now an esteemed citizen, Hollister plots to expose the outlaw and his syndicate.

6.5

MagicScore

Annie Oakley

1935

Awkward Annie loves her sharpshooting rival in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

6.3

MagicScore

The White Buffalo

1977

In this strange western version of Moby Dick, Wild Bill Hickok hunts a white buffalo he has seen in a dream. Hickok moves through a variety of uniquely authentic western locations - dim, filthy, makeshift taverns; freezing, slaughterhouse-like frontier towns and beautifully desolate high country - before improbably teaming up with a young Crazy Horse to pursue the creature.

5.9

MagicScore

Buffalo Bill

1944

Scout William F. Cody marries a U.S. senator's daughter, fights the Cheyenne and leads a Wild West show.

5.6

MagicScore

#10

Don't Touch the White Woman!

1974

A highly stylized surreal farce about the events leading up to Custer's Last Stand anachronistically reenacted in an urban renewal area in modern Paris.

5.5

MagicScore

#11

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson

1976

Buffalo Bill plans to put on his own Wild West sideshow, and Chief Sitting Bull has agreed to appear in it. However, Sitting Bull has his own hidden agenda, involving the President and General Custer.

5.4

MagicScore

#12

Rio Bravo

1959

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

7.8

MagicScore

#13

El Dorado

1966

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

7.4

MagicScore

#14

The Tin Star

1957

An experienced bounty hunter helps a young sheriff learn the meaning of his badge.

7.0

MagicScore

#15

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

1957

Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

7.0

MagicScore

#16

Silverado

1985

Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.

7.0

MagicScore

#17

Warlock

1959

A band of murderous cowboys has imposed a reign of terror on the town of Warlock. With the sheriff humiliatingly run out of town, the residents hire the services of Clay Blaisedell as de facto town marshal. He arrives along with his friend, Tom Morgan, and sets about restoring law and order on his own terms whilst also overseeing the establishment of a gambling house and saloon.

6.7

MagicScore

#18

The Proud Ones

1956

Robert Ryan plays an aging sheriff responsible for law and order in a frontier cattle town. Virginia Mayo plays his fiancee. As if handling wild cattle drovers isn't enough, a crooked casino operator from Ryan's past comes to town. An early scuffle in the casino leaves Ryan with vision problems that interfere with his duties. Jeffrey Hunter who came to town with a cattle drive encounters Ryan, who killed Hunter's father when Hunter was young. Feelings of animosity soon change as Hunter begins to sense Ryan is telling the truth about his father. What follows is a plot that continues to thicken to the inevitable showdown.

6.4

MagicScore

#19

Legends of the Fall

1994

In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel. Eventually, the unconventional but close-knit family are bound by loyalty, tested by war, and torn apart by love, as told over the course of several decades in this epic saga.

7.4

MagicScore

#20

The Unforgiven

1960

The neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their beloved adopted daughter was stolen from the Kiowa tribe.

6.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Plainsman?

The top films similar to The Plainsman by MovieMagicScore are Pony Express (5.6), Calamity Jane (7.0), Wild Bill (5.7). Each shares romance/war/western themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Plainsman worth watching?

The Plainsman holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.3/10 from 33 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Plainsman?

The Plainsman (1936) is a romance, war, western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, James Ellison.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Plainsman?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more romance recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Pony Express Movies like Calamity Jane Movies like Wild Bill Movies like The Legend of the Lone Ranger Movies like The Paleface Movies like Dallas

About movies like The Plainsman

This ranked list pairs The Plainsman (1936), a romance and war and western film from Cecil B. DeMille, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Gary Cooper take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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