Die Grosse Stampede

The Big Stampede casts John Wayne as a Deputy Marshal assigned by Governor Lew Wallace to stamp out lawlessness in the territory that President Hayes assigned him to govern. The chief villain of this western is Noah Beery, Sr. who is a John Chisum like cattle baron, but in Beery's case, he's acquired his big spread and large herd by doing a lot of rustling.

In the meantime Wayne falls for new settler Mae Madison who is also raising her younger brother Sherwood Bailey from the Our Gang series. He was the one thing I really did not like about The Big Stampede, he was one annoying little brat forever trying out his slingshot and causing more trouble than anything else.

John Wayne got to work with two players who later would have a much bigger impact on his career in The Big Stampede. Governor Lew Wallace who in his spare time was writing what would turn out to be Ben-Hur is played by Berton Churchill. Churchill as we know was part of that great ensemble cast John Ford put together for Stagecoach playing Gatewood the fatuous banker who was really an embezzler. And Beery's chief henchman is played by Paul Hurst who Wayne would cast in The Angel And The Badman. Later on the Duke would cast a dying Paul Hurst in Big Jim McLain in a small role so Hurst could pay his medical bills.

The most interesting part in the film is played by Luis Alberni as rival bandit Sonora Joe. Another reviewer said that this is highly unrealistic. But in real life around the same time Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday were forming an unusual friendship and in the real New Mexico territory Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid started out as friends before Garrett took on the task of bringing in Billy dead or alive. Alberni has the best lines in the film and he's of real help to Wayne. I guess Alberni just liked the Duke's style in this film.

The Big Stampede holds up pretty well though it well never make the list of the Duke's top ten films.

There existed a treasure-trove of action footage filmed during the silent movie era. When talkies arrived studios inserted portions of them into their new sound productions. Warner Brothers' October 1932's "The Big Stampede" with John Wayne, used the footage of a previous film of theirs, 1927's "Land Beyond the Law," showing giant herds of cattle and an ensuing stampede. The clips were perfect to splice in for the studio's 1932 movie about New Mexico Territory cattle barons attempting to steal a large herd entering their personal space. Wayne, the hero of the story, wore the same style of clothing the star of the 1927 version, Ken Maynard, had on so the two, filmed in the action wide shots, were indistinguishable.

After his starring role in the 1930 epic Western box office flop, "The Big Trail," Wayne was relegated mostly to low-budgeted Westerns. In one of his rare major studio appearances, Wayne plays Deputy Sheriff John Steele, who's hired by New Mexico's Governor Wallace (Berton Churchill) to protect the owners of a large herd of cattle grazing in unclaimed territory older cattle ranchers feel is theirs. Wayne, a former USC football player turned prop boy for Fox Films, possessed a portfolio consisting of mostly of Grade-B films after "The Big Trail." The actor signed on to play in six of producer Leon Schlesinger's lower budgeted movies with Warner Brothers. To minimize production costs, Schlesinger recycled several of Ken Maynard's silent Westerns. Wrote film reviewer Ryan McDonald of Wayne's acting skills. "Wayne's still raw. His scenes with Mae Madison, who plays Ginger, are stiff and awkward. But he's learning."

Opposite of Wayne is cattle baron Sam Crew, played by long-time actor Noah Beery. The older brother of Wallace, Noah first acted in film in 1915, ofttimes playing villains. One of his more visible roles was as Sergeant Gonzales in 1920's "The Mark of Zorro" with Douglas Fairbanks. He was the father of Noah Beery Jr., noted for his role as James Garner's dad in the 1970s television series 'The Rockford Files.'

Marshal John Steele (John Wayne) teams up with Mexican outlaw Sonora Joe (Luis Alberni) to take on villainous Sam Crew (Noah Beery). Paul Hurst plays one of Beery's henchmen. I'm used to seeing him in gangster pictures and other urban movies like that. He does fine here though. John Wayne made six of these B westerns for Leon Schlesinger that were distributed by Warner Bros. He appears with talented stunt horse Duke in each one. They're all watchable but nothing special. This is one of the better ones, thanks in large part to Noah Beery as the heavy. Luis Alberni is also lots of fun as the flamboyant Sonora Joe, even if he is Mexican by way of Madrid.

Big Stampede with John Wayne, in one of his earlier credited roles... as John, deputy, in the cattle driving days. he's out to catch Sam (Noah Beery) and Joe (Luis Alberni) rustling cattle. Co-stars Mae Madison, as the love interest. It's a shortie, at only 55 minutes, but they pack a lot in. early talkie western. early credited role for J. Wayne. and it seems to be about the time New Mexico was looking for state-hood. they keep talking about how they will never get statehood with all the violence and rustling still going on. horses. bad guys. hero. all the great western ingredients. Directed by Tenny Wright, in one of the seven films Wright directed! He and Wayne made this one and Telegraph Trail together. apparently filmed in the hills between Merced and Monterey. Original story by Marion Jackson, who had written a whole bunch of western stories, which were made into films from the 1920s into the 1930s. it's pretty good. Sound and picture are surprisingly good for a film from 1932... either a very good quality print, or maybe its been restored. check it out!

Through the 1930s, most of John Wayne's films were B-westerns--much like the films of the like of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers--though (in most cases) without the singing (don't even get me started on the silly 'Singing Sandy' films he made). In general, the films are above average for these sort of movies, though series B-movies were never meant as high art. The writing was extremely simplistic as were the characters, but thanks to Wayne's nice acting and some exceptional stunt-work, most of the films are a lot of fun for lovers of the genre. Now not all of his films of this type were created equal. Some (such as his Three Mesquiteer series) were very enjoyable while others (many of his films done for Leon Schlesinger) were really, really bad. As this is a Schlesinger film, my hopes were not set really high, as the last two I watched ("Ride Him Cowboy" and "Haunted Gold") were just awful--a surprise since the films were distributed by Warner Brothers-Vitaphone Studio--a bigger-name company and higher status company than than those that usually produced cheap B westerns. Is this one any better? I could only hope! The film begins with Wayne meeting with the governor and volunteering to become a marshal in New Mexico and bring its lawlessness under control. This is a very typical sort of plot but is interesting because the governor portrayed was a real-life guy--General Lew Wallace (Berton Churchill). Wallace was a Civil general, governor and author of "Ben Hur" and seeing him as a character surprised me.

Like his other films, his co-star is his horse, 'Duke'. This is a bit ironic, as 'the Duke' was later Wayne's nickname and, in general, this smart horse was the best thing going for these movies! It was so smart and talented, it could have rivaled Roy Rogers' beloved Trigger in intelligence and acting ability! As marshal, Wayne makes an apparently insane move and makes a low-down Mexican bandit-sort, Sonora, his deputy. Clearly, he must have read that he should do this in the script, as it made no sense--any sane lawman would have thought twice or three times before handing a badge to this guy! Yet, as I said, it was in the script, so you know it will work out for the better by the end of the film! And together they take on the chief baddie (Noah Beery). Can you guess who wins in the end?! The film has a better plot than most of the Schlesinger/Wayne films. The bad guy is also better and more memorable than most. As for the stunts, they are once again the highlight of the film. I assumed that it's Yakima Canutt in charge of the great stunt-work, but IMDb did not indicate this--meaning there must have been some other great stunt men doing some of these insanely dangerous and cool stunts OR it was a Canutt job after all but he just isn't credited. Regardless, the work is impressive even today and you wonder how they got anyone crazy enough to do these tricks! Overall, it's a very pleasant little B-film. Compared to other films in this crowded genre, it's very good. It certainly cannot be compared to a typical full-length western, but for what it is it's nice. My score of 7 is relative to other B westerns. What a pleasant surprise! By the way, if the name Schlesinger is familiar, it should be. He's the guy who oversaw production of cartoons for Warner Brothers for several decades. Apparently, I heard he hated cartoons and his job, but he was certainly a lot more successful with them than with B westerns.