The Big Stampede

The Big Stampede casts John Wayne as a Deputy Marshal assigned by Governor Lew Wallace to stamp out lawlessness in the territory that President Hayes assigned him to govern. The chief villain of this western is Noah Beery, Sr. who is a John Chisum like cattle baron, but in Beery's case, he's acquired his big spread and large herd by doing a lot of rustling.

In the meantime Wayne falls for new settler Mae Madison who is also raising her younger brother Sherwood Bailey from the Our Gang series. He was the one thing I really did not like about The Big Stampede, he was one annoying little brat forever trying out his slingshot and causing more trouble than anything else.

John Wayne got to work with two players who later would have a much bigger impact on his career in The Big Stampede. Governor Lew Wallace who in his spare time was writing what would turn out to be Ben-Hur is played by Berton Churchill. Churchill as we know was part of that great ensemble cast John Ford put together for Stagecoach playing Gatewood the fatuous banker who was really an embezzler. And Beery's chief henchman is played by Paul Hurst who Wayne would cast in The Angel And The Badman. Later on the Duke would cast a dying Paul Hurst in Big Jim McLain in a small role so Hurst could pay his medical bills.

The most interesting part in the film is played by Luis Alberni as rival bandit Sonora Joe. Another reviewer said that this is highly unrealistic. But in real life around the same time Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday were forming an unusual friendship and in the real New Mexico territory Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid started out as friends before Garrett took on the task of bringing in Billy dead or alive. Alberni has the best lines in the film and he's of real help to Wayne. I guess Alberni just liked the Duke's style in this film.

The Big Stampede holds up pretty well though it well never make the list of the Duke's top ten films.

This film essentially begins in New Mexico with a deputy sheriff by the name of "John Steele" (John Wayne) being ordered by "Governor Lew Wallace" (Berton Churchill) to investigate crimes being perpetrated on settlers as they head to a certain part of that territory. Sure enough, when he gets there, he gets involved in a gunfight with a cattle rustler by the name of "Frank Bailey" (Paul Hurst) who the locals call "Arizona." Unfortunately, although he manages to stop Arizona from stealing any cattle, the gunslinger manages to escape into the night--but only after shooting and killing one of the settlers beforehand. Not long afterward, recognizing that he is vastly outnumbered by the cattle rustlers in that area, Sheriff Steele cleverly convinces the leader of a rival band of cattle rustlers named "Sonora Joe" (Luis Alberni), to help him out. Not at all keen to this idea at first, eventually Sonora Joe comes around and joins forces with Sheriff Steele and the settlers to even the odds. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay Western which benefited, to a certain degree, from the performance of John Wayne and the presence of one of the smartest horses to ever make its appearance on screen. Other than "Mr. Ed" of course. Be that as it may, although this grade-B film is rather short (no more than 54 minutes), it served to pass the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

A number of John Wayne's early westerns looked alike, but that's not a criticism because the handful I've seen were all entertaining.

That's one similarity: others included the fact they only were about an hour long, had interesting (albeit strange) dialog, had a pretty lead female (here, Mae Madison) and a very talented horse named "Blue." Of course, the men were all tough guys.

There is a lot of action and interesting scenes packed into this one hour.

My only complaint was that Luis Alberini's character made the Mexicans look unnecessarily stupid.

There existed a treasure-trove of action footage filmed during the silent movie era. When talkies arrived studios inserted portions of them into their new sound productions. Warner Brothers' October 1932's "The Big Stampede" with John Wayne, used the footage of a previous film of theirs, 1927's "Land Beyond the Law," showing giant herds of cattle and an ensuing stampede. The clips were perfect to splice in for the studio's 1932 movie about New Mexico Territory cattle barons attempting to steal a large herd entering their personal space. Wayne, the hero of the story, wore the same style of clothing the star of the 1927 version, Ken Maynard, had on so the two, filmed in the action wide shots, were indistinguishable.

After his starring role in the 1930 epic Western box office flop, "The Big Trail," Wayne was relegated mostly to low-budgeted Westerns. In one of his rare major studio appearances, Wayne plays Deputy Sheriff John Steele, who's hired by New Mexico's Governor Wallace (Berton Churchill) to protect the owners of a large herd of cattle grazing in unclaimed territory older cattle ranchers feel is theirs. Wayne, a former USC football player turned prop boy for Fox Films, possessed a portfolio consisting of mostly of Grade-B films after "The Big Trail." The actor signed on to play in six of producer Leon Schlesinger's lower budgeted movies with Warner Brothers. To minimize production costs, Schlesinger recycled several of Ken Maynard's silent Westerns. Wrote film reviewer Ryan McDonald of Wayne's acting skills. "Wayne's still raw. His scenes with Mae Madison, who plays Ginger, are stiff and awkward. But he's learning."

Opposite of Wayne is cattle baron Sam Crew, played by long-time actor Noah Beery. The older brother of Wallace, Noah first acted in film in 1915, ofttimes playing villains. One of his more visible roles was as Sergeant Gonzales in 1920's "The Mark of Zorro" with Douglas Fairbanks. He was the father of Noah Beery Jr., noted for his role as James Garner's dad in the 1970s television series 'The Rockford Files.'

The Big Stampede (1932)

*** (out of 4)

Entertaining "B" Western has John Steele (John Wayne) taking over as the sheriff in a small town that has had an issue with local lawmen being murdered. He gets the help of Mexican bandit Sonora Joe (Luis Alberni) and the two try to track down the killer.

THE BIG STAMPEDE is the second of six Westerns that Wayne made while at Warner Bros.. The majority of these films have been forgotten because of what classics he would make throughout the next several decades but those interested in seeing where the legend started should enjoy this for what it is.

Obviously this isn't an Oscar-winner or any sort of ground-breaking film but it works as a small film. The film manages to keep you entertained through the short 54-minute running time thanks in large part to the cast. Wayne actually turns in a pretty decent performance here and especially early on when his character has some sympathy for wanting to take the job being offered. I thought Alberni stole the show in his supporting performance and Noah Beery is also good here. Yeah, Duke, the horse, is here too.

The film contains some nice shoot outs as well as some nice chases, which help keep the thing moving at a nice pace. Fans of Wayne or these early "B" Westerns should be entertained by this.