Thunder Over the Plains ** (1953, Randolph Scott, Lex Barker, Phyllis Kirk, Charles McGraw, Elisha Cook Jr, Henry Hull, Hugh Sanders, Lane Chandler, Fess Parker) – Classic Movie Review 6686

‘HIS WAS THE MOMENT HE HAD TO COUNT HIS BULLETS… because he couldn’t count on his friends!’ In Texas after the American Civil War, it is all happening to Randolph Scott’s fine, upstanding US Cavalry officer Captain David Porter. He finds himself having to face up against greedy carpetbaggers who have taken over Texas, evil renegades and stodgy Captain Bill Hodges (Lex Barker), the lover of his wife Norah (Phyllis Kirk). And Porter has a tough fight with his junior officer Hodges after he finds him making advances to his wife.

An ideally cast Scott is an excellent hero, and there are fine turns from the neat cast of Barker, Charles McGraw, Elisha Cook Jr, Henry Hull, Hugh Sanders, Lane Chandler, Fess Parker. However, despite the welter of events in a short running time of 82 minutes, unfortunately the film fails to engage the emotions fully and the cast is battling against the dull marshalling of the reasonable material.

Thunder Over the Plains remains thunderingly average, and the great Scott did many better Westerns, though it is more or less par for the course and Fifties Western buffs might not be too disappointed.

Also in the cast are  James Brown, Mark Dana, Richard Lightner, Jack Woody, Trevor Bardette, Carl Andre, Earle Hodgins, Charles Horvath, Monte Montague, Frank Matts, John McKee and Gayle Kellogg.

Thunder over the Plains is directed by André de Toth, runs 82 minutes is made by Warner Bros, is written by Russell S Hughes is shot in WarnerColor by Burt Glennon, is produced by David Weisbart, is scored by David Buttolph and designed by Stanley Fleischer.

Lex Barker (1919–1973).

Lex Barker (1919–1973) was coming off five Tarzan movies: Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (1949), Tarzan and the Slave Girl, Tarzan’s Peril, Tarzan’s Savage Fury and Tarzan and the She-Devil. Despite that, he still does not get on the poster.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6686

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com