The Big Stampede

"The Big Stampede" was the second of six "B" westerns starring John Wayne and his horse "Duke" made by Warner Bros. for the 1932-33 season. As was the case in this series, this film was a re-make of a Ken Maynard silent (in this case, 1927s Land Beyond the Law).

Sam Crew (Noah Beery Sr.) is luring settler's wagon trains (and their cattle) to New Mexico where he rustles the cattle for himself. Governor Lew Wallace (Berton Churchill), who in real life wrote "Ben-Hur", assigns John Steele (Wayne) as a Deputy Sheriff to clean up the problem.

He drifts into town and poses as a shiftless drunk to gain knowledge of the situation. A wagon train led by Cal Brett (Lafe McKee) comes to town and turns to Crew for help in settling in the area. But Crew has other ideas.

When Crew's gunman, Arizona (Paul Hurst) murders Brett, Steele vows to bring in the killer. It just happens that Brett had a young daughter, Ginger (Mae Madison) and a sling shot slinging son Patrick (Sherwood Bailey). Steele naturally takes to the two.

Bandito Sonora Joe (Luis Alberni) and his gang compete with Crew for the settler's cattle. Steele for some unknown reason has enough faith in Sonora Joe to have him throw in with him to bring down Sam Crew. In the final showdown there is a "big stampede" (lifted from the Maynard film) and.........................................

Wayne's inexperience really shows In this film. His acting is mediocre at best but he would gain valuable experience over the next seven years in films like this. There seems to have been a scene or two cut from this film. Wayne's transition from the drunken drifter to heroic sheriff is missing. He just suddenly becomes the upstanding hero without explanation.

This film is boosted somewhat by the casting of Noah Beery Sr. as the snarling villain Crew. Alberni is also good as Sonora Joe, providing the film's comedy relief. Berton Churchill would appear as Gatewood the banker in Wayne's breakthrough film, "Stagecoach (1939).

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.

Marshal John Steele (John Wayne) teams up with Mexican outlaw Sonora Joe (Luis Alberni) to take on villainous Sam Crew (Noah Beery). Paul Hurst plays one of Beery's henchmen. I'm used to seeing him in gangster pictures and other urban movies like that. He does fine here though. John Wayne made six of these B westerns for Leon Schlesinger that were distributed by Warner Bros. He appears with talented stunt horse Duke in each one. They're all watchable but nothing special. This is one of the better ones, thanks in large part to Noah Beery as the heavy. Luis Alberni is also lots of fun as the flamboyant Sonora Joe, even if he is Mexican by way of Madrid.

Through the 1930s, most of John Wayne's films were B-westerns--much like the films of the like of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers--though (in most cases) without the singing (don't even get me started on the silly 'Singing Sandy' films he made). In general, the films are above average for these sort of movies, though series B-movies were never meant as high art. The writing was extremely simplistic as were the characters, but thanks to Wayne's nice acting and some exceptional stunt-work, most of the films are a lot of fun for lovers of the genre. Now not all of his films of this type were created equal. Some (such as his Three Mesquiteer series) were very enjoyable while others (many of his films done for Leon Schlesinger) were really, really bad. As this is a Schlesinger film, my hopes were not set really high, as the last two I watched ("Ride Him Cowboy" and "Haunted Gold") were just awful--a surprise since the films were distributed by Warner Brothers-Vitaphone Studio--a bigger-name company and higher status company than than those that usually produced cheap B westerns. Is this one any better? I could only hope! The film begins with Wayne meeting with the governor and volunteering to become a marshal in New Mexico and bring its lawlessness under control. This is a very typical sort of plot but is interesting because the governor portrayed was a real-life guy--General Lew Wallace (Berton Churchill). Wallace was a Civil general, governor and author of "Ben Hur" and seeing him as a character surprised me.

Like his other films, his co-star is his horse, 'Duke'. This is a bit ironic, as 'the Duke' was later Wayne's nickname and, in general, this smart horse was the best thing going for these movies! It was so smart and talented, it could have rivaled Roy Rogers' beloved Trigger in intelligence and acting ability! As marshal, Wayne makes an apparently insane move and makes a low-down Mexican bandit-sort, Sonora, his deputy. Clearly, he must have read that he should do this in the script, as it made no sense--any sane lawman would have thought twice or three times before handing a badge to this guy! Yet, as I said, it was in the script, so you know it will work out for the better by the end of the film! And together they take on the chief baddie (Noah Beery). Can you guess who wins in the end?! The film has a better plot than most of the Schlesinger/Wayne films. The bad guy is also better and more memorable than most. As for the stunts, they are once again the highlight of the film. I assumed that it's Yakima Canutt in charge of the great stunt-work, but IMDb did not indicate this--meaning there must have been some other great stunt men doing some of these insanely dangerous and cool stunts OR it was a Canutt job after all but he just isn't credited. Regardless, the work is impressive even today and you wonder how they got anyone crazy enough to do these tricks! Overall, it's a very pleasant little B-film. Compared to other films in this crowded genre, it's very good. It certainly cannot be compared to a typical full-length western, but for what it is it's nice. My score of 7 is relative to other B westerns. What a pleasant surprise! By the way, if the name Schlesinger is familiar, it should be. He's the guy who oversaw production of cartoons for Warner Brothers for several decades. Apparently, I heard he hated cartoons and his job, but he was certainly a lot more successful with them than with B westerns.

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.'