''The Thundering Herd'' is a 1925 American silent

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film, now

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. It is directed by William K. Howard and starring Jack Holt, Lois Wilson, Noah Beery, Sr. and

Raymond Hatton Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures. Biography Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...

. Based on

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American fronti ...

's 1925 novel of the same name and written by

Lucien Hubbard Lucien Hubbard (December 22, 1888 – December 31, 1971) was a film producer and screenwriter. Biography Hubbard is best known for producing the 1927 film ''Wings (1927 film), Wings'', for which he received the first Academy Award for Best Pic ...

, the film is about a trader who uncovers a scheme to blame the Indians for a buffalo-herd massacre. It was one of a series of critically and commercially successful Zane Grey westerns produced by

Jesse Lasky Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer motion picture producer who was a key founder of what was to become Paramount Pictures, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky Jr. Early life Born in to ...

and

Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; hu, Zukor Adolf; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary '' Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of America' ...

for Paramount Pictures.

Synopsis

''Exhibitors Herald'', November 8, 1924: :Thousands of buffalo, collected in one huge herd through the assistance of the United States government, are ''The Thundering Herd'' that will play such a thrilling part in this new story of the old West written by Zane Grey. With Jack Holt, Lois Wilson, and Noah Beery, under the direction of William Howard, maker of those two big successes, '' The Border Legion'' and '' The Code of the West'', ''The Thundering Herd'' is certain to be thunderin' good Western melodrama. The beginning of the picture introduces an episode that is historic, if for no other reason that it shows the trend of the pioneer thought in the youth of 1850. Tod Doan at the age of 24 is left alone on a Kansas farm with heritage of $200. The $200 went for a gun and a horse, and Tod Doan joined a party of Buffalo hunters. This is Jack Holt's role in this new Zane Grey picture. Holt, as Tod Doan, finds himself in a party riding into Texas under the leadership of a fine old plainsman named Hudnall. He meets Milly Fayre, played by Lois Wilson, ward of a crooked gambler named Jett who together with a group of outlaws are making buffalo hunting a pretext to cover their banditry. Until she is 18, Milly is under Fayre’s guardianship, but when she falls in love with Doan she promises...that she will marry him as soon as she is of age. For a time, Tom loses sight of her as she is taken to a freighting station to be safe from the Indians. In the meanwhile Tod hunts buffalo with the Hundall party until Hundall is murdered by Indians. Then the buffalo hunters organize and drive the Indians from Texas. Looking for Milly, a year later, Doan is told that Jett has taken her away. Jett and his partners quarrel and shoot it out. All are killed. Terrified by the tragedy, Milly drives over the prairies toward the freighting station, but she is sighted and pursued by braves with hardly a chance of escape until she notices a stamping herd of buffalo bearing down across the plain. If Milly can widen the distance between her and the Indians there is a chance that the buffalos will cut off the Indians' pursuit. That is about as original a climax to a story as Zane Grey has ever devised. Cast of The Thundering Herd in character

Cast

Lists of Shoshone and Arapaho individuals who appeared in the film (and in ''

The Covered Wagon ''The Covered Wagon'' is a 1923 American silent film, silent Western (genre), Western film released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze based on a 1922 novel of the same name by Emerson Hough about a group of pioneers tr ...

'') are held in the U.S. National Archives.

Gallery

Context

* Jack Holt was the father of cowboy actor

Tim Holt Charles John "Tim" Holt III (February 5, 1919 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures. In a career spanning mo ...

. * Charles Ogle played the original screen

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compar ...

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

's 1910 version of ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

'', predating the

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

interpretation by more than two decades. * The film was remade in a 1933 sound version, '' The Thundering Herd'', with some of the cast (Beery and Hatton) playing the same parts but

Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...

playing Jack Holt's role, with Scott's hair darkened and a moustache added so as to match original footage featuring Holt that was incorporated into the later version to hold down costs. * Noah Beery Sr. was the slightly older brother of fellow screen legend

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' ( ...

and father of

Noah Beery Jr. Noah Lindsey Beery (August 10, 1913 – November 1, 1994) was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Be ...

("Rocky" in the 1970s television series ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...

''). *

was making a series of comedies as half of an unofficial comedy team with Noah Beery's brother Wallace Beery during this period. * It was also from the novel on which this film is based that

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges ...

took its unique nickname as the Thundering Herd. *

Tim McCoy Timothy John Fitzgerald McCoy (April 10, 1891 – January 29, 1978) was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life. McCoy is most noted for his roles in B-grade Western films. As a popular cowboy film star, he ap ...

directed the Native American actors. *

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...

appears in a small uncredited role.

Production

* The silent black-and-white film is 70 minutes (7 reels, 7,187 feet). * Filming locations included

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...

, the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

mountains, and

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' " gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains.Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United Sta ...

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' also referenced Remington and wrote: Location shot from The Thundering Herd 1925

Anges Smith in ''

Picture Play Picture Play (1941–1956) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare, who raced during World War II and was best known for winning the classic 1000 Guineas in 1944. As a two-year-old she won twice from four races before winning the 1000 ...

'':

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thundering Herd, The 1925 films American black-and-white films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by William K. Howard 1925 Western (genre) films Lost Western (genre) films Lost American films 1925 lost films Silent American Western (genre) films Films based on works by Zane Grey 1920s English-language films 1920s American films