The Silver Horde

source: The Silver Horde

"The Silver Horde" is an early sound film and it shows. It is memorable in that it was one of Joel McCrea's earliest roles as it was for Jean Arthur. The scene is Alaska and Boyd Emerson (McCrea) is returning from an unsuccessful hunt for gold with his new friend Fraser (Raymond Hatton) in tow. They are taken in by local girl of pleasure (with a heart of gold) Cherry Malotte (Evelyn Brent). Unaware of Cherry's past, Boyd's confidence is restored with her help and that of her friend the brawling George Balt (Louis Wolheim). Boyd, Balt and Fraser travel to Seattle to obtain a loan to set up a salmon fishing plant in competition with that of Fred Marsh (Gavin Gordon). It turns out that Boyd is engaged to socialite Mildred Wayland (Jean Arthur). Mildred's father (Purnell Pratt) favors her marriage to Marsh. Boyd manages to get the loan from banker Tim Hilliard (William Davidson) but is distraught when Hilliard later informs him that the loan has been denied. It seems that Mr. Wayland a highly influential figure has blocked the transaction. Cherry gets wind of the situation and goes to Seattle. She intervenes with Hilliard and "arranges" for the loan to be approved unbeknownst to the naïve Boyd. Boyd sets up his fishery and out performs Marsh in the harvesting of the salmon. Marsh sends his boats to destroy Boyd's operation but George leads Boyd's boats in retaliation. Mildred and her father arrive on the scene in their luxurious yacht. Boyd and Mildred make wedding plans in spite of her father's preference for Marsh. Cherry tells Boyd the he should marry Mildred but he is unsure. Boyd learns of Mildred's past and berates her and leaves for Mildred. Cherry brings in a former "associate" Queenie (Blanche Sweet) who has a surprise for Marsh. Boyd comes to his senses and realized what Cherry has done for him and is forced to choose between the two women and............................................... Both McCrea (he was only 25 at the time) and Arthur would both go on to be major stars for many years. Louis Wolhiem, one of my favorites would pass away pre-maturely in 1931.Similarly, Raymond Hatton., who had been in films since the teens would also have a lengthy career mostly as a western sidekick. By the way, "The Silver Horde" refers to the rush of salmon returning to their spawning grounds each year.

The Alaskan fishing industry comes to life in this pre-code adventure romance that takes the future stars of this screwball comedy classic, "The More the Merrier" and places them in a completely different setting. Gone are the crowded streets of wartime urban asphalt and in are the streams filled with swimming salmon just waiting to be canned. The handsome Joel McCrea is a struggling fisherman who is caught in the net of love by two fishing women, tough saloon girl Evelyn Brent and society girl Jean Arthur, daughter of the cannery owner. The romantic aspects of the plot are fortunately overshadowed by the background of how the fishing industry works, a fascinating subject that doesn't sound interesting in writing but looks great when documented on celluloid. Having been done as a silent, the talkie version has elements of melodrama and early sound static that often slow it down horribly. However, it still gives an exciting feel on occasion to the world that author Rex Lease was documenting. The art direction is pretty good, and in spite of barely moving at times, the camera picks up some pretty interesting footage. Historically important as a documentation of that industry as well as a glimpse into the early careers of McCrea and Arthur.

Wasn't this remade as a the Spoilers with John Wayne, and Randolph Scott? And Marlene Dietrich as Cherry Malotte?

In Alaska, handsome fisherman Joel McCrea (as Boyd Emerson) finds a place to stay with gun-wielding saloon girl Evelyn Brent (as Cherry Malotte). She falls in love with him, but he seems more interested in business, where she begins to help. A lot. "The Silver Horde" refers a big netting of silvery salmon. Thousands of them. This story is very rough going, with only a film buff's cast to keep you interested. A memorable future co-star for Mr. McCrea, young Jean Arthur (as Mildred Wayland) plays the home girl... Former "silent" film star Blanche Sweet (as Queenie) appears in the second half. This was the last feature for Ms. Sweet, until a 1950s comeback attempt; perhaps surprisingly, she looks and sounds fine. McCrea's nemesis is well-played by Gavin Gordon (as Frederick Marsh), who had just made "Romance" (1930) with Greta Garbo. You can also enjoy a couple of the era's more appreciated character actors, Louis Wolheim (as George Balt) and Raymond Hatton (as Fraser), mugging it up as a comic relief team. **** The Silver Horde (10/25/30) George Archainbaud ~ Joel McCrea, Evelyn Brent, Gavin Gordon, Blanche Sweet

In 1930, as films were making the transition from silent to talkies, this pre-code film was released. It even contains a few title cards. "The Silver Horde" refers to the running salmon as they attempt to make their way from the ocean to the rivers, improbably jumping upstream. The protagonist played by Joel McCrea is a man who runs a cannery. As he falls for a woman of bad reputation, he fights another canner who plays dirty. The scenes of harvesting fish and inside a cannery are snapshots of an industry's state of the art. The lily-white society girl who desires to reel in McCrea is played by Jean Arthur with no glimpse of the screwball comedienne she would become. She pales in comparison to the bad girl, played by Evelyn Brent, appropriately called Cherry. This average film is interesting for its place in the development in cinema.

I compared the characters to cartoon characters because, well, they are as flat and dimensionless as cartoons! George (Louis Wolheim) and Boyd (Joel McCrea) are both pugnacious galoots who mostly spend their time talking about fighting and fighting. Their goal (along with their wimpier partner) is to open up a salmon cannery in Alaska, but a one-dimensional baddie does everything he can to stand in their way--resorting to violence and underhanded tricks to stop them. It all just seemed very flat and unconvincing--mostly because none of these characters have a lot of depth. In addition, there are two women who are just gaga over Boyd--Evelyn Brent and Jean Arthur. While Boyd seems taken with the rich girl, the other lady is sweet and long-suffering--helping Boyd behind his back to be a success even though she knows Boyd has chosen the other woman. What a gal...but again, a bit simplistic. And, as far as Arthur and McCrea are concerned, although they both went on to become major stars, this film seemed to do nothing to help in this process. The film has few assets and mostly a relatively dull story. But, you can't deny that the Alaskan locations are just lovely--and it's ALMOST worth seeing just to catch these glimpses of old-time Alaska....almost. Dull---and this is a surprise, as Louis Wolheim was a very exciting and charismatic actor. Here, he just isn't used effectively, as his best characters were tough AND sweet--here he isn't given a chance to show off his sweeter side.

This is a pretty bad movie, so don't get excited about seeing an early film with Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea. He plays a young man who starts up a new salmon cannery in Alaska, without realizing that he's gotten help from a young woman he's met (Evelyn Brent), or that she's known in those parts for being a woman of ill repute. His cannery is threatened by a rival fishing gang, and his engagement to Jean Arthur is threatened by his friendship with and growing feelings for Brent, who has a good heart and hardly seems like a fallen woman. There are all sorts of problems with the film, which hasn't aged well. The dialogue is stilted, and both McCrea and Arthur's acting is awful. There is not a whole lot to the plot, and it is tedious in developing. The sound quality is tinny even for 1930, especially early on. I'm not recommending you stick this one out even though it's only 75 minutes long, but if you do, a little after the one hour point you'll be rewarded with Brent bawling out Arthur, which is easily the highlight of the movie. Midway through the film you may also like the footage of the salmon in Alaska, going from them happily swimming upstream to spawn, to being caught, and then processed in an assembly line, but to me, these scenes didn't add anything, and seemed like filler.

This is an excellent film. The location footage of Ketchikan, Alaska, the documentary scenes of salmon fishing and canning, and the clash on the water between the two fishing fleets are all first rate. The crucial dramatic question of the film, can a decent man fall in love with a woman who has had sex with other men, seems hopelessly outdated. But if you replace that question with the more general, which woman should a man choose, one who can offer him a life of ease, or one who can help him fight for success on his own terms, the dramatic crisis becomes not dated but timeless. Good acting and direction, a lesson in the history of film, and in storytelling, that transcends period.

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?