The Thundering Herd (a.k.a. Buffalo Stampede) (1933
Plot Summary
Both Sprague (Harry Carey) and Jett (Noah Beery) and their crews are hunting buffalo. Doan (Randolph Scott) is with Sprague and is looking for the Jett outfit where his girlfriend Milly (Judith Allen) is being held against her will. In addition to the thieving Jett who is stealing Sprague's furs, the Indians are gathering to attack all the white buffalo hunters.
We now jump back to Randolph Scott's bread and butter with this well cast Western that doesn't quite pull everything together. That being said, the stars make it work and there's an element to the film that is pretty daring for the time period which i'll get into. Scott is his usual reliable self here. At this point in time he was just your typical "good guy" there was no real nuance to his characters which is something that kind of dogged him throughout his career even when he was doing more nuanced roles. My father is generally a fan of Westerns and he's told me that he's never liked Randolph Scott because of his stoic and at times one note acting. I, however have always liked Scott and while it's true his acting isn't going to knock you out, it at least conveys a message and he has a presence that makes up for it.
This movie really benefits from the supporting cast. Harry Carey is solid as the Buffalo hide trader Sprague but even better is Raymond Hatton who plays Jude Pilchuk who is Sprague's partner. Hatton's character is irascible and is a bit of a spitfire but the great thing about the portrayal is that he rides up against the line of comedy like George "Gabby" Hayes and Smiley Burnette but he never crosses it. It's a fine line but it's one that was walked very well. I especially like bit of dialogue that is even funnier taken out of context:
Jude Pilchuk, Spraque's Partner: Ah, well, being in love ain't going to hurt him. Ain't no harm in that. It's getting hitched is where the trouble begins.
This leads to one aspect of the film. Doan is in love with Milly who is the stepdaughter to Randall Jett and his wife Jane. She has a pretty bad relationship with both of them as Randall is a creep who is forcing Milly into an incestuous relationship against her will while Jane is jealous of the attention Randall gives her and thus hates Milly for the most part. I found it shocking that the insinuation of the stepfather having that kind of a creepy relationship with his stepdaughter made its way onto the screen. I'm sure if this movie came out a couple years later with the Hays Code enforced that aspect would've been neutered or outright omitted. Noah Beery was quite good as the evil, conniving Jett who has a buffalo hide stealing operation going on. Unfortunately this is where the movie has a disconnect. At one point early on, Doan goes to rescue Milly from Jett but gets shot at and sent off on horseback left for dead. The idea of Doan seeking revenge is brought up often but then it never happens!
Instead the climax of the film concerns Indians seeking revenge on the white man for killing off their buffalo and Sprague's outfit is caught up in a pitched battle with them as Doan eventually reunites with Milly and they get one of their buffalo hunter pals to bring his wagon train along to help rescue Sprague's group and the movie ends! Not once did we get a showdown between Scott and Beery which would've made for a satisfying ending. This obvious disconnect is enough to knock this movie down a half star and evade a "recommended" from me. It's unfortunate because the cast is wonderful and they do a great job with the material but alas the last 15 minutes killed it.
* 1/2 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment