The Silver Horde

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?

After spending two, hard years searching for gold in the northernmost part of Alaska, two friends named "Boyd Emerson" (Joel McCrea) and "Fraser" (Raymond Hatton) finally decide to give up on their dream and head back south to civilization. On the way, however, they happen to stop in a small village where they meet a wealthy woman named "Cherry Malotte" (Evelyn Brent) who provides them with food and lodging for the next few days. It's during this time that Boyd is informed by Cherry that there is a lucrative business opportunity right there in that same village focusing on a totally different resource other than gold--salmon. The problem is that part of the bay where the salmon spawn is owned by a ruthless businessman named "Fred Marsh" (Gavid Gordon) who will do whatever it takes to prevent anyone else from setting up a rival fish cannery in that area. Even so, Boyd soon becomes intent upon opening one up and, with Cherry's help, he travels to Seattle to obtain the necessary money from a bank. While there he also runs into his girlfriend "Mildred Wayland" (Jean Arthur) who loves him very much and wants to marry him as soon as possible. What Boyd doesn't realize, however, is that Cherry has also fallen in love with him and that, sooner or later, he will have to make a choice between them. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a rather entertaining film--especially since it was produced so long ago. Admittedly, there were more than a few times the film showed its age, but even so, I enjoyed it for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

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.

The part of The Silver Horde that I like was the location filming in Ketchikan, Alaska and the realistic depiction of the salmon cannery over which our cast is battling. Unfortunately it's a most old fashioned story that doesn't wear well for today's audience.

Joel McCrea who was the noblest of all screen heroes and when cast right could be an admirable performer was given wrong direction here. He really comes off as a pompous self righteous clod, I can't believe both Jean Arthur and Evelyn Brent are fighting over him.

The film is based on a novel by Rex Beach who wrote the popular and many times filmed The Spoilers. In fact Evelyn Brent's character is named Cherry Malotte, the same as the heroine in The Spoilers.

Evelyn's a bad girl with a notorious reputation that our fastidious hero is repulsed by even though he's falling for her. Jean Arthur in the first film she did with Joel McCrea is totally wasted in the fluffy society girl he's first engaged to. This is hardly as good as The More The Merrier.

In this old fashioned drama you have an old fashioned villain and that's Gavin Gordon who's a villain in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition.

The best performers in the film are Louis Wolheim and Raymond Hatton, a pair of Arctic rustics is the best way you can describe them. Wolheim had he not died the following year probably would have shared a lot of the roles Wallace Beery did in the sound era.

Fortunately better films were on the way for Joel McCrea. Otherwise his career would have terminated in the early Thirties.

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.