Thunder Over the Plains

Thunder Over the Plains
Directed by	Andre DeToth
Produced by	David Weisbart
Written by	Russell S. Hughes
Starring	Randolph Scott ; Lex Barker ; Phyllis Kirk ; Henry Hull
Music by	David Buttolph
Cinematography	Bert Glennon
Edited by	James Moore
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	October 27, 1953;
Running time	82 mins.
Country	United States
Language	English

Last updated April 21, 2019

Thunder Over The Plains is a 1953 western film directed by Andre DeToth and starring Randolph Scott with Lex Barker, Phyllis Kirk, Henry Hull, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Fess Parker. The tag line on the original film poster was “A tornado of adventure from Warner Bros.” Thunder Over The Plains was Barker's first film after starring in five Tarzan pictures.

Western is a genre of various arts which tell stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, often centering on the life of a nomadic cowboy or gunfighter armed with a revolver and a rifle who rides a horse. Cowboys and gunslingers typically wear Stetson hats, neckerchief bandannas, vests, spurs, cowboy boots and buckskins. Recurring characters include the aforementioned cowboys, Native Americans, bandits, lawmen, bounty hunters, outlaws, gamblers, soldiers, and settlers. The ambience is usually punctuated with a Western music score, including American and Mexican folk music such as country, Native American music, New Mexico music, and rancheras.

Endre Antal Miksa DeToth, better known as Andre DeToth, was a Hungarian-American film director, born and raised in Makó, Csanád County, Austria-Hungary. He directed the 3D film House of Wax, despite being unable to see in 3D himself, having lost an eye at an early age. Upon naturalization as a United States citizen in 1945, he took Endre Antal Miksa DeToth as his legal name.

George Randolph Scott 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 genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals, adventure tales, war films, and a few horror and fantasy films. However, his most enduring image is that of the tall-in-the-saddle Western hero. Out of his more than 100 film appearances over 60 were in Westerns; thus, "of all the major stars whose name was associated with the Western, Scott most closely identified with it."

Plot

Set in 1869, after the Civil War, Texas had not yet been readmitted to the Union and carpetbaggers, 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 (Randolph Scott), a Texan, has to enforce the letter of the law against the violent opposition of his own people. He arrests the rebel leader Ben Westman (Charles McGraw) on what he knows is a false murder charge. In trying to prove Westman's innocence, Porter himself becomes a wanted man.

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The most studied and written about episode in U.S. history, the Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U.S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the southwest, while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast.

Charles Butters, best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor.

Cast

Randolph Scott as Capt. David Porter
Lex Barker as Capt. Bill Hodges
Phyllis Kirk as Norah Porter
Charles McGraw as Ben Westman
Henry Hull as Lt. Col. Chandler
Elisha Cook, Jr. as Joseph Standish
Hugh Sanders as H. L. Balfour
Lane Chandler as Mike Faraday
James Brown as Conrad
Fess Parker as Kirby

Alexander Crichlow "Lex" Barker Jr. was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.

Phyllis Kirk was an American actress.

Henry Watterson Hull was an American character actor who is best remembered for playing the lead role in Universal Pictures's Werewolf of London (1935).

External links

Thunder Over the Plains on IMDb

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Fess Elisha Parker, Jr., was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1954–1955 TV miniseries, which aired on ABC, and as Daniel Boone in an NBC television series from 1964 to 1970. He was also known as a winemaker and resort owner-operator.

Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. was an American stage, film and television character actor who often specialized in roles as "cowardly villains and neurotics." He is perhaps best remembered for his portrayal of Wilmer in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon and the futile efforts made by his character to intimidate Sam Spade in the film. Cook's acting career spanned more than 60 years, with roles in productions such as The Big Sleep, Shane, The Killing, House on Haunted Hill, and Rosemary's Baby.

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Thunder Over the Plains

Contents

Plot

Cast

External links

Related Research Articles