''Thunder Over The Plains'' is a 1953 American

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 directed by

Andre de Toth Endre Antal Miksa de Toth, known as Andre de Toth (; May 15, 1913 – October 27, 2002), was a Hungarian-American film director, born and raised in Makó, Austria-Hungary. He directed the 3D film House of Wax (1953 film), ''House of Wax'' (1 ...

and starring

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

with Lex Barker,

Phyllis Kirk Phyllis Kirk (born Phyllis Kirkgaard or Kirkegaard; September 18, 1927 October 19, 2006) was an American actress. Early life Kirk was born in Syracuse, New York, although some sources state her birthplace as Plainfield, New Jersey. She contra ...

Henry Hull Henry Watterson Hull (October 3, 1890 – March 8, 1977) was an American character actor who played the lead in Universal Pictures's ''Werewolf of London'' (1935). For most of his career, he was a lead actor on stage and a character actor on scr ...

, Elisha Cook, Jr. and

Fess Parker Fess Elisha Parker Jr. (born F. E. Parker Jr.;Weaver, Tom.Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers p. 148 (McFarland 2012). August 16, 1924 – March 18, 2010)(March 18, 2010Daniel Boone Actor Fess Parker Dies at 85" '' CBS ...

. It was Barker's first film after starring in five ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'' pictures.

Plot

Set in 1869, during the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

following the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

had not yet been readmitted to the Union and

carpetbaggers In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical pejorative used by Southerners to describe allegedly opportunistic or disruptive Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War and were per ...

, hiding behind the legal protection of the Union Army of occupation, are levying high taxes through occupying local government positions and using the locals' financial distress to acquire assets at well below normal value. Federal Captain Porter (

), a Texan, has to enforce the letter of the law against the violent opposition of his own people. Porter also needs to contend with a strident fellow officer, Captain Bill Hodges. Porter arrests the rebel leader Ben Westman (

Charles McGraw Charles McGraw (born Charles Crisp Butters; May 10, 1914 – July 29, 1980) was an American stage, film and television actor whose career spanned more than three decades. Early life McGraw was born to Beatrice (née Crisp) and Francis P. B ...

) on what he knows is a false murder charge. In trying to prove Westman's innocence, Porter himself becomes a wanted man.

Cast

as Capt. David Porter * Lex Barker as Capt. Bill Hodges *

as Norah Porter *

as Ben Westman *

as Lt. Col. Chandler * Elisha Cook, Jr. as Joseph Standish * Hugh Sanders as H. L. Balfour * Lane Chandler as Mike Faraday *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

as Conrad *

as Kirby

References

External links

* * * 1953 films 1953 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films set in Texas Films set in 1869 * Films directed by Andre de Toth Films scored by David Buttolph Warner Bros. films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films {{1950s-US-Western-film-stub