The Silver Horde

Fighting against great local opposition by going after THE SILVER HORDE - the magnificent schools of salmon which swarm past Alaskan shores - a decent young man finds himself caught between a bigoted society girl & a notorious prostitute.

A deft combination of action picture & soap opera, this early talkie boasts a fine, stalwart performance from a very young Joel McCrea, who displays some of the talents & charm which would soon make him a major star. A lively Evelyn Brent matches him dramatically as a lady with too much past. Poor Jean Arthur, in a strident, unsympathetic role, shows few hints of the celebrated comedienne she would become by the end of the decade.

Rough-hewn Louis Wolheim steals every scene he's in as a plug-ugly fisherman who's fiercely loyal to Miss Brent - here was an actor who was always fun to watch. Silent screen star Blanche Sweet makes one of her rare sound film appearances, playing a plain speaking harlot. Comic Raymond Hatton is amusing as a trapper with city slicker notions, while handsome Gavin Gordon makes a suave, dangerous villain.

Released in 1930, the first year of all-talkie films in Hollywood, THE SILVER HORDE displays its silent antecedents with the use of the occasional title card. This is not a weakness, however, and actually helps move the story along by explaining the plot a bit more fully.

Location filming on the Alaskan coast gives the ambiance of the film a terrific boost, while the scenes of catching & canning the salmon have a fascinating early-documentary feel to them.

Evelyn brent, louis wolheim, jean arthur. Even joel mcrea, in an early, credited role. In the cold north of alaska, history tells us there was a shortage of women in the territory. But here, a fisherman with big plans has to choose between two women, cherry and mildred. It's a remake of the 1920 silent film! With the brutal weather conditions, and shortage of jobs, there isn't much time for etiquette here. It's okay. A couple of the actors seem to be channeling wc fields when they talk. This was the first of three films that arthur and mcrea worked on together. People here are not who they seem to be. And may actually be working against their own "business partners". Will anyone be successful in love? Or in their work? Directed by george archainbaud, for rko. Arthur and mcrea would go on to huge film careers. Arthur will be nominated for the more the merrier fourteen years later. This was one of her early talkies; she had started in the silents way back. Check her out in "only angels have wings" with cary grant in 1939, for columbia. Louis wolheim died young at age fifty.

Although I enjoy old movies, this was just a bit to early for my liking. It was an early talky movie and you could tell by watching it that the equipment that it was filmed on and the actors and actresses were vintage. That being said, it was an interesting movie and easy to watch. Very simplistic plot with not much depth as was the case in this period of cinematography. It was very typical of the time period plot line where the guy gets the girl, even though she has a reputation of being a bad girl. The scenes that showed the actual canning of the salmon was of interest to me, in that it gave a glance back in history of the processing plant and early machinery.

Is there a fan of old-timey Hollywood films out there who is NOT in love with Jean Arthur? With her wholesome good looks, spunky demeanor, inimitable cracked voice and superb acting abilities, Arthur was certainly amongst the top-tier comedic actresses of the '30s and '40s. "The Silver Horde" is an early talkie that she appeared in five years before her breakthrough role in 1935's "The Whole Town's Talking." In this one she is third billed, and her part is a subsidiary one, playing a "pasty-faced namby-pamby" society dame; the fiancée of Joel McCrea, who is trying to get a salmon cannery up and running in the wilds of Alaska. McCrea is being secretly abetted by hooker turned businesswoman Evelyn Brent, while his chances of success are constantly being endangered by a rival operation across the bay. Anyway, this is a pretty taut little picture. It moves along briskly, and features some convincing exterior shots. It also boasts at least three very fine sequences: a dukeout between McCrea and a big Swede who wants to quit his job; a face-off between Arthur and Brent over their common love interest (the viewer's sympathies are wholly with Brent, in this case); and a fascinating look at just how salmon are caught, processed and wind up in cans. You'll never look at your salmon salad the same way again, I promise you! Oh...one other thing. The folks at Alpha Video have done it again; yet another DVD with poor picture quality and even lousier sound. This company has a huge catalog of films available, but when will it realize that quality is just as important as quantity?

One of the first talking films, this film has a mediocre storyline but is quite entertaining nonetheless. It was filmed on location in Ketchikan,Alaska and it is very interesting to see the nearly 80 year old footage of that area. It is also worth viewing to see Jean Arthur,even though not her best of roles, and to see a nice early performance from Joel McCrea. Evelyn Brent plays the earthy Cherry Mallott with great finesse.She is very believable in the role and does not over-act as some silent era veterans might.The plot,although average, is not boring at all and it is easy to sit through this delightful piece of cinematic history.