The Thundering Herd

It's not too bad, but the good cast builds up expectations for this Western that are not really fulfilled. The story is just fair, and only the occasional good action scenes keep it going. It stars Randolph Scott, and has a good supporting cast that includes the likes of Harry Carey, Buster Crabbe, and more. The story has quite a bit going on, most of it focusing on rival groups of buffalo hunters. A lot happens, but much of the time it doesn't seem to fit together that well, and there are some slow stretches that could easily have been shortened or omitted. It's worth a look for the cast if you like older Westerns, but don't expect too much.

This is one of a group of westerns that Randolph Scott's home studio of Paramount assigned to him. Filmed previously as a silent and taking use of a lot of the action sequences from the silent version, Thundering Herd's source was one of Zane Grey's novels.

This is not the Randolph Scott we became acquainted with post World War Two in the westerns he did then. He plays a callow youth here, although he's 35 in real life. He's in the employ of a Harry Carey and Raymond Hatton, partners in a buffalo hunting outfit. Carey and Hatton run an honest group, but there's a rival outfit headed by Noah Beery, Sr. which gets hides the easy way, murdering whites and/or Indians for them.

Randolph Scott has a hankering for Judith Allen who's Beery's stepdaughter. Of course so has Beery to the discomfort of his wife, Blanche Frederici. Throw in a buffalo stampede and an Indian attack and I think you can figure the rest out.

It's good action from Paramount's B picture unit.

This very early film in Scott's career is the only one in which I've seen him sporting a pencil moustache(or any facial hair). Sometimes, I wondered if I was looking at Brian Donlevy, not realizing how much more they look alike with the moustache factor thrown in... Buster Crabbe is listed near the top of the credits, but only appears in the first segment, as a stage driver. Clearly, his brief appearance was meant to attract more female viewers...Harry Carey, a top cowboy draw during the silent era, has now been relegated to supporting roles, playing Clark Sprague, owner of the Sprague trading post, and bison shooting outfits. John Wayne had great respect for Carey's typical portrayal of westerners. Two of Carey's last film parts were in the Wayne-starring "Angel and the Badman" and "Red River"... Noah Beery played Randall Jett, boss of a hide- thieving buffalo shooting outfit.He and his more famous brother, Wallace, often played heavy villains...Jett's bossy, plain -looking, wife, Jane, is played by Bianche Friderici, who mostly played similar roles in other films...Judith Allen is the tomboyish Milly Fayre, stepdaughter of the Jetts, but with a bad relationship with both. She needs a good man(Randy's character) to rescue her from her intolerable life.

Randy's character, an experienced bison hunter, is a new hire for Sprague. Clearly, he has had a prior romantic relationship with Milly, as she jumps on a stage from her horse, looking for him. Later, they meet in the bush and plan to be married that night.But Randell catches her trying to ride out of the Jett camp, and she is put under guard. He has an incestuous relationship with her. Randy later catches up with the Jetts, on the move, but is wounded and knocked out trying to rescue Milly. The Jetts capture two Sprague wagons filled with hides.Later, the Sprague camp will be threatened by a bison stampede and a large 'Indian' war party. In contrast, the Jetts don't suffer from the bison, 'Indians', nor a reprisal from the Spragues. They are looking forward to more lucrative hide thievery during the early winter, as hide wagons get bogged down in deep snow.(Winter bison hides brought more money, as they were thicker-haired).But just then, as things are looking desperate for the Spragues, disaster hits the Jetts(see the film to find out their demise).

At the time this film was made, there were still only a relatively small number of American bison. Hence we didn't see any actual killings of bison, only stock footage of them being chased. In addition to the domestic market, there was a large European market for the hides at this time. They were especially valued as making a superior leather used as the belts for transferring steam power to machinery, as well as for personal items, such as hats, coats, boots and handbags.After the flesh disappeared, hunting parties returned to their killing fields to gather the bones, which were shipped east to make fertilizer and other products. Ironic that the meat, the most valued part of bison today, was the least valued under the technological conditions of those times(no refrigeration, no good substitute for machinery belts).

You may have noticed some rugged country in the foreground(especially the stage run) and background during parts of this film. Much of the action was filmed in the rugged Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine, with the high Sierras in the background. This was a favored location for filming many westerns, including most of the Hopalong Cassidy series. The often rounded granite boulders and monoliths are geologically similar to the granite in the Sierras, and represent the peaks of granite bodies buried within the sediments of Owens Valley.

Buffalo stampedes... Indian attacks... Plundering bandits... Doan braved them all when he rode into the badlands... and rode out with a beautiful girl!

Both Sprague, Jett and their crews are hunting buffalo. Doan (Randolph Scott) is with Sprague crew and is looking for the Jett outfit where his girlfriend Milly 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.

Thundering Herd is quite a raw and primitive western which has some drama and conflict, rugged scenery and the characters -the Jetts- are rather primitive and uncouth degenerates. They do come across real as does the landscape and experiences. There's some good camera angles - but it can be a bit ponderous and dull.

As I look over the several reviews that are available about "The Thundering Herd," what hits me first is that there is such a wide range of opinion about it, from bad all the way to great. Some say the acting is great, some say bad. So, if my review were the only one present for someone who wants to get an idea about whether he or she should take a look at the film, the following is what I would say. I think it is a good film, and worth the while of fans of westerns to take a look at it for two reasons. For starters, fans of filmed westerns should take a look at it to get a flavor of Zane Grey's work, for he is the father of the old West as portrayed in literature and the media. The detail that is portrayed in this movie of western life in the buffalo days is more detailed than one will see in 99% of B-Westerns, and that is because the story originates with Zane Grey. Rarely do you see wagon trains' and buffalo hunting parties' procedures and equipment portrayed with such care as in this movie. Zane Grey's western books are very detailed and exciting, and fans of westerns should certainly read at least one of them, if not more. Second, fans of westerns can use "The Thundering Herd" to begin to make comparisons of how simple B-Westerns of the early and mid- 1930's stack up to higher-end westerns from the larger studios during the same era. This is not an A-level Western, but it is a cut above the typical "B" and does draw together a more substantial and authoritative cast than the typical "B" and it also tries to present a story with greater breadth and import than the B's. Some of the action even takes place in the snow, which is a rarity in filmed westerns of the 1930's. But because it isn't an A-level film the producers also tried to cut corners and inserted a lot of stock footage, especially of buffalo and Indians, from earlier films. This is a dramatic film, and some of the moments in the culminating scene, and elsewhere in the film, too, are surprisingly brutal. If this film had been attempted a few years later, it probably would have been less grim and the various relationships within it a little more fully explored. Randolph Scott was a young chap, just coming along in the business, but this is not a Randolph Scott "hero" film like studios produced with the likes of Bob Steele or Buck Jones during the same era. Scott in this film is integral to the movie, and is the star, yes, but other people are doing and contributing important things in this film, too. I really enjoyed the opening scene, which in setting the stage seems to be chillingly realistic, with an overview of some ramshackle buildings nestled in a smoky glen all a-bustle with wagons and horses getting outfitted for the start of the hunting trips, with trading post owner Sprague (Harry Carey) making his way among and talking with the busy folks down there. Then the scene quickly changes to one of the most exciting "you-are-there" kind of stagecoach rides one will ever see! Thank you director Henry Hathaway for getting us underway. You will also see Noah Beery in one of his most vile and disturbing roles. So go ahead and watch the film, and see if you think the middle and ending of the film keep apace with the beginning! Maybe you will, maybe you won't, but I do indeed think it is a worthwhile western to see.