I am a western fan, and I have seen many of the 50's westerns, so catching up with a western that I have not seen is a treat ( the fact it is pre-code os something else I like). I happen to consider The Conquering Horde to be a good but not great movie. The best scenes involve the cattle drive and the photography involved. I have read some complaints about Fay Wray ( Tassie Lockhart) in this movie. Fay gives a very realistic performance. She is not very nice nor is she a "Damsel In Distress" ( like in King Kong or Most Dangerous Game). The weakest link is Dan McMasters ( Richard Arlen), who is supposed to be the leading man, but is far too nice to be a Colonel ( which you find out he is), he is also a spy for the Government against carpetbaggers, but very unconvincing. For example: There is one scene where he waived a white flag to Indians. White flag means surrender, and I doubt Indians understand what that means ( a military man and a spy would know better). I can only imagine what Gary Cooper ( who was also at Paramount when this movie was made) would have done with the role. See Cooper ( and Fay Wray) in The Texan and you will get the idea. Spoilers ahead: You know it is a pre-code movie because McMasters actually turns the bad guy Marvin Fletcher over to the Indians ( it is heavily inferred he raped an Indian Girl). You would never see a Government man doing that in the 50's. Believe it or not, there is little romance in the movie ( until spoilers ahead) the final scene where Arlen says he is going to Washington, and Wray says she always wanted to see Washington, so of course, Arlen will take her with him. Finally this is an entertaining movie, that I doubt most western fans have seen, so it is well worth the time ( especially because it is available on Youtube). 7/10 stars.
Add a Review
-
djbrown-008972 April 2020
-
I count at least four variations of this story that has the reconstruction with the railroad bypassing Texas which creates an issue for the cattlemen there, basically threatening to bankrupt their main source of business. They have to get their cattle there by any means necessary which means taking them by foot or by calve. Richard Arlen and Fay Wray are childhood friends reunited after the war but she resents him for fighting on the side of the North while her father ended up being killed fighting for the South. Wray's guardian and adviser, Claude Gillingwater, is convinced that Arlen is up to no good trying to sabotage their journey to Abeline while in fact it's one of the trusted leaders, Ian Maclaren, causing all the trouble and using Arlen as a scapegoat. This includes killing an Indian woman which sets the Cherokees (said to be peaceful) to declare war.
A well done historical drama was remade by Paramount as "The Texans" and later independently as the classic "Red River". You know what kind of film you're watching when you have characters names Splint, Digger, Spud and Lumpy, as well as a friendly young Mexican boy played by George Mendoza who is completely on Arlen's side and aides him without the knowledge of anybody else in the camp.
While this is not a classic of the western genre (considering the better remakes), it doesn't have the technical gloss of those but being an early talking is pretty impressive with its cast of hundreds, lots of action and a believable conflict. That makes this one of the best westerns of the early sound era, considering the hundreds of D grade programmers that came out and worthy of historical value. Gillingwater is a far cry from the cranky rich men he played, although he's basically playing a cranky old cowboy. -
While it isn't a patch on the far more spectacular and engagingly characterized 1938 remake, The Texans, which Jimmy Hogan directed for producer Lucien Hubbard, the 1931 version, The Conquering Horde (based on the 1924 version of Emerson Hough's North of 36), is not without interest even though it's like watching The Texans through the wrong end of a magnifying glass.
Paramount were trying to build Fay Wray into a major star back in 1929-30-31, but Claude Gillingwater is allowed to steal the film and poor Fay comes off fourth best to hero Richard Arlen and chief villain Ian MacLaren.
Not only is the lovely Fay Wray's role inadequately characterized, but she is unattractively photographed and also rather lethargically directed (by Edward Sloman) to boot.
Vintage Film Buff formerly offered a very good 8/10 DVD of The Conquering Horde.
Universal has an excellent disc of The Texans, in which Joan Bennett and Randolph Scott are the leads, while Walter Brennan enacts the Gillingwater role. -
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre8 October 2005The title of this film is never explained; possibly 'The Conquering Horde' refers to a cattle stampede. Certainly the stampede sequence in this movie is one of its (few) highlights.
Taisie Lockhart (Fay Wray) and Dan McMasters (Richard Arlen) were chaste lovers up until 1861, when the American Civil War broke out and Dan upped sticks to join the Union side. This caused Taisie to fall out of love with him, as she's a loyal Texan. (I well and truly dislike Civil War movies that sympathise with the Confederacy. News flash: the Confederates owned slaves, and the ones who didn't own slaves were still dedicated to preserving the slaveholder system. The Union were the good guys, got it?)
Anyroad, Appomattox has come and gone, and Dan has returned to Texas, where Taisie is now the owner of the Del Sol cattle ranch. The state treasurer is Marvin Fletcher, and with a name like Marvin Fletcher you just know he can't be trusted ... especially as the actor who portrays him (Ian Maclaren) makes only a token attempt to conceal his stage-trained English accent. Sure enough, Fletcher has designs on both the fair young Taisie and her spread ... her ranch, I mean. If only the ranch would fail, he could seize it at poverty prices. And maybe Marvin can force Taisie to give him her head of cattle. Nyah-ah-ah! Pause here for moustache twirling.
Taisie does have one loyal ranch hand, whose name is Jim Nabors. (Gaw-lee, Sergeant Carter!) Nabors is played by Claude Gillingwater, who usually played ill-tempered misers ... either completely unsympathetic, or else becoming charmed by Shirley Temple in the last reel. It's deeply intriguing to see Gillingwater cast here so far outside his usual type: in a role that's entirely sympathetic, and actually more appropriate for a younger actor. (Gillingwater was past 60 at this point; a bit old to be playing a ranch hand.) Jim Nabors -- Gillingwater's character -- gets shot in one scene; I don't recall Gillingwater getting into many shoot-outs in his long movie career.
Taisie is doomed to default on her mortgage, unless she can get her cattle to Abilene. This is Richard Arlen's cue to arrive and save the day. Of course, we know that Marvin Fletcher will make trouble.
Much of this oater is purely by the numbers. However, along the cattle drive we get some fine photography by Archie Stout. There are several impressive desert vistas, as well as scenes depicting a sandstorm, a rainstorm and the aforementioned stampede. These scenes must have been difficult to film, if only for the large number of cattle involved.
The underrated Arlen is quietly impressive here, in a role very typical for him. Gillingwater is likewise impressive here, in the least typical portrayal I've ever seen for him. The biggest flaw in this film is Fay Wray's performance as the rancher. I found her entirely unbelievable as someone dedicated to the hard life and steady routine of a livestock rancher. With her makeup perfectly in place, Wray sulks her way through her scenes, creating the impression she'd rather be swanking in some nightclub. Cowboy movies are not one of my favoured genres, and I'll rate 'The Conquering Horde' only 5 out of 10.